Parkside in Spennymoor is always popular

Just added to Rightmove is this property in the ever-popular Parkside-

Parkside, Spennymoor, County Durham

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51230369.html

It's a 3 bedroom semi-detached property with an asking price of £114,950. It's brought to the market by Robinsons and this agent seems to be popular in this part of town. According to their blurb-

" In our opinion this spacious home would provide an ideal purchase for the growing family"

When you cut through the vast amounts of agent speak in the description of this property (and there's a lot to cut through) it's a decent 3 bedroom semi-detached house. It's close to the town, the good primary schools and the third bedroom isn't a box room. From the photographs, it looks vacant, so if that is the case then a sale and completion could possibly be agreed quite quickly on this. Again from looking at the photographs and reading the actual facts in the description, there doesn't look to be a lot of work involved and it has a kitchen/diner which is a massive selling point and a bit of a rarity in properties of this age. Many of the really new build properties have this feature and it is a popular feature, as the family room.

From the point of view of an investor, I would expect a monthly rental return of £450 to £525 per month. This equates to an annual rental return of between 4.7% and 5.5%, based on the asking price. This is a reasonable return, and the property should hold value over the years, as the location will always be popular for investors and owner occupiers alike.

There will be initial interest in this property from people looking to buy and live in it, and from landlord-investors. It's worth getting an early look so you can make your mind up.

Expanding my Spennymoor property blog

I'm looking at ways of expanding and varying my Spennymoor property blog. Although the blog highlights opportunities for landlords and has got some positive feedback, I'm looking we was of giving the blog a wider audience and a slightly broader appeal. There are a few ideas that I've been mulling over in my mind and I think that one or more of these will give the blog some new life. For those that like the current format, I will continue to look at available properties in the Spennymoor area and looking at any work that needs doing and the investment and rental potential of these properties. The blog hasn't run for a couple of weeks now, as I've been formulating the ideas to expand and diversify.

The additional ideas have been plentiful, with some discarded quickly and others have developed into kernels of ideas to take forward. Here are some of the potentials-

Interviews and features with local estate agents

I've looked at this as an opportunity for both the estate agents and their customers and potential customers. Estate agents will have a chance for people to read about what they stand for, what they are doing and what they could do for you as a user of estate agency services. Customers can read what makes an agent tick, what marketing they are currently running and what properties they currently have available. I have no idea about what response the Spennymoor estate agents would give this idea, but I think that it's a great outlet for publicity, especially as customers are looking in different places to the traditional marketing methods such as local newspapers.

Property awards

I'm thinking that as a large part of my blog surrounds the availability of potential investment property for landlords in Spennymoor, and the fact that I use the blog to look a how these are marketed, that I might look at running some property awards. I'd look at one of two options - either investment property of the week/month or a weekly/monthly award based on the quality of the marketing. I think that either or both would be quite interesting and would involve the readership of consumers and property professionals alike.

The investment property would go further than just looking at a few properties a week, it would look at real potential and the opportunity for an investor to get a look at something that might be a great investment.

The marketing side of estate agency really interests me, and in think that a well-marketed property gets more interest, more chance of a sale and a higher price achieved when the sale actually comes through. If I could recognise the marketing efforts if the local estate agents then I believe that it will lead to improvements in marketing and a better deal for Spennymoor customers.

There are several big moves in the estate agency industry to allow consumers to bring their property directly to market without an estate agent as an intermediary. If I could build up my Spennymoor readership to a string level then maybe in the future I could give potential sellers access to potential buyers but we're a long way from that at the moment.

Semi-detached property in Deneside has investment potential

There seems to have been a small exodus of Spennymoor estate agents from Rightmove. There's nothing showing uploaded for the last three days. I've gone to the new estate agency property portal called On The Market, and found this property-

https://www.onthemarket.com/details/1198345/

It's a 3 bedroom semi-detached house on Deneside with an asking price of £69,000. The estate agent in question is a Spennymoor Property Blog regular, Dowen. As an agent with a presence in Spennymoor town centre, Dowen get their fair share of properties.

They describe this on as spacious, in a quiet location with pleasant views to the rear. And they're right! The property itself looks lived-in and well-looked-after but is obviously quite dated. To buy and let this out to potential tenants, you will probably want to update the kitchen and possibly the bathroom. From the photos and description alone, everything else seems a lick of paint away from going to the rental market.

According to the nethouseprices website, the average selling price for a property in Deneside is £57,984 -

http://m.nethouseprices.com/soldprices/property_results?street=DENESIDE&town=SPENNYMOOR&outcode=DL16

The most recent, and possibly the most relevant sale is that of number 65 in March 2014 for £70,000.

Regular readers of my blog will know that this is the point at which we loom at the numbers. I would expect this property to achieve somewhere between £395 and £450 per month. This equates to an annual return of between 6.9% and 7.8% based on the asking price. Taking into account the fact that you may have to update the kitchen and bathroom, this is a reasonably healthy rental return for an investor.

It's probably well worth a look and an offer, based on the information you can gather from the estate agent on the On The Market website.

Detached property on a large plot in Spennymoor

With property starting to be diluted over the property portals with the advent of On The Market and their rules regarding signing up with them and the competition, the Spennymoor Property Blog will continue, but with feeds from more than one portal. On The Market is a new property portal that set out on the first of January 2015 and their proposition centred around three main areas, as far as I can see-

1- As an estate agent, you can only set yourself up with On The Market and one other property portal (large or small.)

2 - They charge less than Rightmove for what they provide for estate agents.

3 - They haven't got the saturation of the market that Rightmove have achieved - the majority if the general public haven't heard of the website and as such don't use it.

This property listing came from Rightmove and is a 2 bedroom detached house. There is potential to develop this property -

Barnfield Road, Spennymoor, Co Durham, DL16

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-48446104.html

It's on Barnfield Road and is in the market for offers in the region of £89,950. I am blue in the face with talking about portal pricing, so I won't go any further than to say that the agent isn't doing the property it's best by pricing it to the principles of portal pricing.

Its a 2 bedroom detached house that, in the words if the agent that has it for sale, is "in need of some internal modernisation and updating." This is generally agent speak for something that need a lot of work but in this instance, I fem that were looking at much more than a wreck. It's detached, has a detached double garage and what looks like, and is described by the agent as "a good sized plot." I know all of you developers out there like to add value and there is potential in this property. Potential to extend and possibly potential for more if the size is right and you can get the necessary planning permissions.

According to nethouseprices Barnfield Road is quite popular with 32 sales on their records, including 3 in 2014 and an average sale price of £78,021.

http://m.nethouseprices.com/soldprices/property_results?street=BARNFIELD+ROAD&town=SPENNYMOOR&outcode=DL16

I'd expect a rental return of between £375 and £400 per month for this property as a two-bedroom house. Based on the asking price, this would equate to an annual rental return of between 5.0% and 5.3%, which may be a little on the low side for an investor, but the potential to develop this property and make it into a large 3 bedroom house. This will change the rental potential into something more like £600 per month and the return starts to look like something more serious.

Why invest in Spennymoor?

After several blogs on different properties in Spennymoor, I thought it was about time to let investors know why to buy property in Spennymoor. The town has a lot of potential and through this edition of my blog I'll give you some reasons to look at Spennymoor as a potential investment town.

Firstly, and most importantly, there is a strong rental demand in the town. As an investor, this is the most important factor. The demand is a mix of housing benefit and non-housing benefit tenants but a good property well-priced will always attract the right attention and you will be able to let in a short period of time. As with most of the North East, there are plenty of families looking to rent and if you can pitch it right then you'll find a good match.

This leads on to the estate agents. There are a few lettings agencies in the town, and these are all quite active in the lettings market. As with many UK estate agents, lettings has become a larger part of their business since the crash in the housing market that started with the credit crunch in 2008. The main agents all conduct sales and lettings, so if you buy through them, you can sample their services before you choose a lettings agent.

Spennymoor itself has lost a lot of their big employers as the main factories have closed. The retail area in the town centre is a little disjointed but provides employment. In terms of employment, one of Spennymoor's great advantages is it's proximity to Durham and it's links to the A1. This means that large parts of the population live here but work elsewhere in the North East. By travelling up and down the A1, it means that places such as Newcastle, Leeds and York can be reached in a commute. Although train services are relatively poor in comparison with other parts of the country, the East Coast Main Line connects durham quickly and regularly to Edinburgh, Newcastle and routes down to London. Again, this provides a potential commute for your tenants.

For me, as a Spennymoor resident, one of the main "selling points" of living here is access to the wonderful  North East and the leisure activities it offers. We are on the doorstep of such natural beauty and being able to reach and experience this quickly is a major selling point for any landlord looking to attract people from around the country.

Whether you're from Spennymoor or not, I hope this sheds some light on why you should consider an investment property in our town.

Grange Estate will generate strong rental demand

In amongst the new build properties that have been brought to market this week, this one on Witton Drive stands out as investment potential-

WITTON DRIVE, SPENNYMOOR, SPENNYMOOR DISTRICT

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50205161.html

It's a 3 bedroom terraced property, although the estate agent (Dowen) describes it alternately as a mid link property and a town house. The asking price is £99,950.

Witton Drive is on the Grange Estate and property here usually sells quickly and demand for rental is strong. The property has 2 reception rooms, double glazing and a garage.

The average sold price for a property on Witton Drive is £64,392, according to the nethouseprices website, and there has been only one sale there in the last three years - at a price of £100,000-

http://m.nethouseprices.com/soldprices/property_results?street=WITTON+DRIVE&town=SPENNYMOOR&outcode=DL16

I would expect this property to achieve a monthly rental of between £525 and £575 per month. Based on the asking price, this equates to a gross annual return of between 6.3% and 6.9%. This is a strong return on an investment.

With any potential house purchase, it's best to go and view the property several times and ask lots of questions. Investors may have to move quickly and fend off owner-occupiers for this one though.

Parkside in Spennymoor will attract families and investors

A new property to the market is this 3 bedroom family home that's just come to the market via Dowen-

PARKSIDE, SPENNYMOOR, SPENNYMOOR DISTRICT

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50169509.html

It's in the ever-popular Parkside and has gone on the market at £118,500. Although it's another example of an estate agent not getting to grips with portal pricing, there's definitely potential here. It may appeal more to a family than an investor, but there's probably value here for either.

It's got three bedrooms and a kitchen/diner, which is popular for current buyers. Personally I'd get the estate agent back round to re-take some of the photos - a car on the drive is never a good start, for example.

For an investor, this property would attract a monthly rental return of between  £525 and £600. This equates to an annual rental return of between 5.3% and 6.1%, based on the asking price.

For a family home, there is always a demand for homes on Parkside. There have been 8 sales on Parkside in the last 5 years, with sold prices ranging from £86,000 to £130,000 but recent sold prices have been towards the lower end of this range-

http://m.nethouseprices.com/soldprices/property_results?street=PARKSIDE&town=SPENNYMOOR&outcode=DL16

It's definitely worth viewing for investors and owner-occupiers, so call the agent and make an appointment!

This property stands out from the crowd this week

There is a plethora of properties come to the market this week as the first property season of the year starts to really tak hold. There have been 24 properties uploaded into Rightmove in the last 3 days alone. One that caught my eye is this on Jackson Street-

JACKSON STREET, Spennymoor, DL16

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-48072358.html

It is a 4 bedroom terraced house that has gone in the market for Offer In The Region Of £84,950. That's a lotoif bedrooms for the money!

The property is marketed by Harringtons and they have put a full description and a full set of photographs on their listing. The property is double fronted and the agent states that it is double glazed with central heating. Of course, you will have to view yourself to establish what refurbishment is needed, if any, but from the description and photographs it looks like it is in a good state of repair and could probably be let out pretty quickly.

Now with so many properties coming to the market at the moment, there is a lot of competition for every property in terms of finding a buyer but this property definitely has investment potential.

I wpd expect a monty rental return of between £575 and £650 per month. This is a gross annual rental return of between 8.1% and 9.2%, based on the asking price. A standard expected rental return is quoted as 6%, so this looks like a much better bet than that.

It's probably worth a look and a potential 9% rental return is always worth consideration.