Commercial property for investors on Spennymoor High Street

Looking on Rightmove today I've noticed something a little different out there for the investor-

31 High Street, County Durham

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/commercial-property-for-sale/property-50598655.html

It's a commercial property with a current, national and long-standing tenant and a guide price in auction of £80,000. There is potential here and we can look directly at actual returns because we already know what the tenant is paying per month in rent.

Commercial property is a different beast to residential property so you need to do your research and ensure that you instruct a solicitor that really understands the ins and outs of commercial property transactions. And the mortgage market is also wildly different for commercial transactions so you'll need to ensure that all of your research is carried out before you commit to buy at auction.

The agent shows the following description-

Retail

Full Description

Tenure: Freehold

This lot is for sale by auction as lot 70 on 6th July 2015.

Freehold Shop Investment

- Let to Shoe Zone Ltd on a new 5 year lease expiring in 2020 
- Tenant in occupation for many years 
- Town centre location 
- No VAT applicable 
- Current Rent Reserved

£9,000 pa
SIX WEEK COMPLETION AVAILABLE

So we know it's freehold, we know the rent and that's there's a six week completion available.

Now it's time for the figures. The gross annual rental return, based on the guide price is 11.25%, which can always be seen as a good return - especially with the guarantee of a five year tenancy from the current tenants.

A property with the potential to rent out immediately in Spennymoor

New to the market this week is a recently built property near to Green Lane. It's on Watson Park and is being marketed by Robinsons-

Watson Park, Spennymoor

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51877109.html

It's a two-bedroom terraced house and has an asking price of a very strange £90,500. Why the estate agent has picked a price of just £500 over a property portal threshold is completely beyond me, but that's their decision.

They describe the property as -

"We offer to the market this recently constructed TWO BEDROOM MID-LINK property which is offered to the market in immaculate decorative order throughout. An ideal purchase for the FIRST TIME BUYER."

As a quite new property, and judging from the photographs, the chances that there is work to do in the property in minimal.

I think that the fact that the property is so new, you could be looking at an average rental return of between £400 and possibly pushing up to £500 per month. This equates to an gross annual rental return of between 5.3% and 6.6%, based in the asking price. This is a good solid return for an investor, with the property more than likely to still be covered by a new build guarantee.

Durham Road in Spennymoor always has strong demand from tenants

Although it's for sale by auction, so it's a little difficult to determine the actual selling price, this property on Durham Road definitely has investment potential-

DURHAM ROAD, SPENNYMOOR, SPENNYMOOR DISTRICT

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51785729.html

It's showing on Rightmove as offers over £49,950 and is being marketed by Dowen. The actual price will be determined by how the auction goes plus there's a buyers premium when you've bought the property - although the amount of this wasn't stated on the Rightmove listing. And the confusion continues a little further as, although the property on showed as uploaded in the last 3 days, the listing also states that the auction took place in 4th June. I'll attempt to clear up the confusion and post my findings on here.

In any case, the benefits of buying in Durham Road are evident, no matter what the property, as long as the price is right.  Durham Road always has a good demand for rental as it's good for transport links and close enough to the town centre. The only downside is the recent rise in attendances for Spennymoor Town football club and the parking issues this sometimes causes. But once a fortnight for a couple of hours through the football season isn't a major hardship.

The agent describes it as-

"A spacious THREE BEDROOMED end terrace property which has the benefit of TWO RECEPTION ROOMS and OFF STREET PARKING."

Although it appears to need some work to bring it up to modern rental demands, it is an end-terrace and it has the off street parking, so I'd suggest that when it has been modernised, it could a he ive a rental return in the region of between £425 and £500 per month.

This is where is usually give a rental return figure, but this one is a little more difficult than usual given the fact that the property is at auction and there is this unspecified buyers premium to consider.

I'll base the figures in £60,000 to cover these factors and the renovation costs. It works out as a possible gross rental return of between 8.2% and 10% per annum. A quite healthy return for your money.

As I've said before, I'll try to find out some more facts about the sale, the auction and the buyers premium and when I do I'll put a short post on here to confirm the details.

St. Andrews Road in Spennymoor could be an investors delight

I've been taking a look at what has become a growing Spring property market in Spennymoor. There are several auction entries this week, but it's this property below that's caught my eye as an investor-

St. Andrews Road, Spennymoor

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34358373.html

It's a 3 bed terraced house on St. Andrews Road Spennymoor with an asking price of Offers In the Region Of £69,950. It's on the market with Harringtons and they've got into this habit recently of listing property on Rightmove and using a photo of the interior as their lead photo. I would say that approximately 99% of properties on the property portals have a photo of the exterior as their lead photo - and for good reason. Being able to see the outside of a property gives the potential buyer a good idea of the size of the property, the parking and garden space and whether they perceive it to have kerb appeal. Photos really do paint 1000 words and I think that Harringtons have really missed a trick here. Especially with this property, as the interior is in need of some work and the room they have chosen is small, devoid of furniture and badly presented.

The agent describes it as-

"An ideal first time buyer purchase offering spacious living accommodation and in need of some cosmetic modernisation."

I see it as a property with much potential. From reading the description and looking at photos, the work needed here looks like redecoration rather than structural. It looks to have a big enough kitchen to fit a dining table in, which is a big bonus in today's market. People are seeing the kitchen as becoming more and more the most important room in the house. The house builders have tapped into this and now pretty much provide it as standard in new builds.

So, there's potential if you can spend a little money on it to bring it up to scratch. I see a monthly rental of somewhere between £395 and £475 for this property, after looking at what else is on the market. This equates to a gross annual rental of between 6.7% and 8.1%, based on the asking price of £69,959.

Even this level of refurbishment may put off some residential buyers, so there can be potential in this for the investor.

Spring turns For Sale boards into Sold By boards

The Spring weather has started to turn For Sale boards into Sold By boards in Spennymoor seemingly as quickly as bulbs into daffodils.

The change in weather brings about an interest in moving and viewing property again. One thing I've noticed during my time in Spennymoor is that people generally time time and pride in their gardens. This will ensure that the property is ready for viewings and that it looks better on the property portals such as Rightmove and On The Market. This in turn brings about more interest in the property, more viewings and potentially a better sale price, usually all in a quicker time. This blog shows advice to estate agents as the weather gets better-

http://eaboost.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-weather-turns-now-crank-up-your.html

So what can Spennymoor house vendors do differently to make their property stand out from the crowd?

Well firstly you need to ensure that the outside is up with the crowd, in terms of how the gardens look. And you need to make sure that your estate agent knows this and is prepared to market your property using this. If the flowers have bloomed since your home went in to the market, then get the estate agent back round to take their marketing photos again, otherwise they'll look dated. Get them to take the photos when the sky is looking good and when you're ready.

At the same time, you want them to take photos of the inside of your house. It's time for Spring cleaning (otherwise known as decluttering) and for any little jobs that need doing around the house. A viewer that sees several small jobs that need doing will also wonder what large jobs are hiding behind them, and this isn't the impression you want to leave on someone who you want to buy your home.

Some more ideas can be found in my Kindle book, How To Sell Your House-

How to sell your house: What estate agents don't tell you by Steven Thompson http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I5HOJAM/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_Zf.jvb00X4HX2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I5HOJAM/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_Zf.jvb00X4HX2

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.