Can this Tudhoe Moor property be one to add to your portfolio?

There always seems to be the better potential of higher rental returns on property at the lower end of the property market. To explore this, I'll take a look at a house that has come to market this week with an asking price of £52,000.

Tudhoe Moor, Spennymoor, County Durham, DL16

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-57429539.html

It's is up for sale with Robinsons and can be found on Tudhoe Moor. As I've already said, it's available with an asking price of £52,000. The property is a 2 bedroom semi-detached house.

Aside from the standard comments, the estate agent states -

"Corner plot with extra large Gardens to rear and side. Patio area, Off street parking to the front 

Brick outhouse in rear garden"

It's interesting to know some detail about a property, especially if you are intending on letting it out in the future. A selling point for a sales estate agent will be a selling point for a landlord looking for tenants.

From the description and photographs it looks like it would be ready to rent out straight away, so the expenditure would only be linked to the purchase of the property. You may want to add a lick of paint and put a few plants in the garden but nothing of great cost by the look if it from here. Of course you'll want to go and check it out yourself before making an offer.

It's time for the financials, so let's take a look at what it will bring in rent. There looks to be quite a bit of competition for 2 bedroom properties to rent, so I think that you would get somewhere between £325 and £375 per month. This equates to a gross annual return of between 7.5% and 8.7% based in the asking price. This is a good solid rental return for any investor but beware the competition - there are a lot of 2 bedroom houses available for rent at the moment.

See the rental potential of this flat in Dundas Street, Spennymoor

I'm going back to the basics of the blog this week and looking at a lower-priced property that has the potential for a good rental return. This property is a converted flat in Dundas Street-

Dundas Street, Spennymoor

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37229916.html

It's a 2 bedroom flat on the market at Offers In the Region of £89,950. It looks like quite a stylish conversion and the estate agent described it as-

"CITY LIVING AVAILABLE IN SPENNYMOOR

A fantastic opportunity to purchase this unique ground floor apartment in a characterful building."

The estate agent is called Venture Properties and is based in Durham City, not based in Spennymoor. As with some of the properties I feature on here, the photographs and the description show a property that needs little or no work to have it ready to rent out. I think that rental demand for it would be strong as I agree with the estate agents - the apartment is akin to one you would normally find in a bigger city. I'm not sure why there have been two photographs included of the front door (one of it open and one of it closed) but generally the photographs show a well-maintained flat.

I'd expect a rental return of between £450 and £500 per month. This equates to a gross annual rental return of somewhere between 6.0% and 6.7%, based on the asking price.

This is a good, solid return on a residential property investment and I think that you could make a good long-term return on this property. There may also be a little play in the price. Nethouseprices show 2 properties sold in the street, but both freehold houses-

http://nethouseprices.com/house-prices/streets-details/county%20durham/spennymoor/dundas%20street/dl16/6ar/dundas%20street%20spennymoor

Comparing purpose-built 2 bedroom flats in Spennymoor, we have asking prices from around £60,000 to just under £100,000 so this one is towards the top end of that.

It's well worth a look.

Can an investor make a good return from this Spennymoor new build home?

I've been keeping an eye in the Spennymoor housing market this week and this property started me thinking.

Whitworth Road, Spennymoor, DL16 7QF

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-55510805.html

And what it got me thinking was can a new build be an investable property? The reason I ask this is because there's often a premium to be paid for new build. The developers have prices higher than a resale property but offer incentives such as legal fees paid, stamp duty paid, white goods and carpets. So for the investor, a new build property is usually avoided.

This property is on Whitworth Road and has an asking price of £169,995, which is a lot of money for a 3 bedroom property in Spennymoor. The selling agent describes it as-

A flexible THREE BEDROOM DETACHED HOME featuring a beautiful OPEN-PLAN KITCHEN and DINING AREA with a GLAZED BAY leading to the REAR GARDEN.

With a new build there's a guarantee and the place should be totally ready to move in to for your tenants. The photographs look great, but the show homes always do.

In terms of rental potential, tenants will probably be queued up for the prospect of renting this property, as long as the price is right. I think that this property would command a monthly rental figure of between £475 and £575 per month. Based in the asking price, this equates to a gross rental return of between 3.3% and 4%. It's an okay return but may not be what the seasoned investor is looking for.

Can a new build provide a good rental return? Maybe, but probably this one will go to a owner occupier.

See a real bargain in Front Street, Tudhoe in an unusual property sale

This property below has really caught my eye this week, as it's price looks unbelievable and the way in which it's being sold is interesting-

Front Street, Spennymoor, County Durham, DL16 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-36747867.html

The agency selling the property is Livin Housing Ltd (resale) which is the selling arm of the local housing association. They describe the property and condition as-

Offered for sale by informal tender, a 2 bedroom end terrace house in need of structural repair and renovation so ideally suited for a Builder or Property Developer.

The only photograph of the property is the one of the front included, so you'll definitely need up visit the property with a builder to see what work needs to be carried out. The budding process is described as-

Offers are to be made in writing on form to be provided and returned to Livin Housing Ltd no later than NOON on FRIDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2015.

I'd suggest from this description and the low price that the property is being advertised at that there will be some interest in the property. And as such, the final sale price won't be as low as £25,000 but there's sjestsca chance!

In terms of rental return, I'd expect a monthly rental figure of between £375 and £425 per month for this property. That's a gross annual rental return of between 18% and 20%, based on the figure of £25,00 - an amazing rental return.

You'll have to see the property and have a think about how much you'll need to spend in it before making a bid, but this looks like one that definitely needs to be considered. And unlike many properties at a great price, you may not have many owner occupier as competition.

You'll find owner occupier interest in Parkside, Spennymoor

There's only one property showing on Rightmove as new so far this week-

PARKSIDE, SPENNYMOOR, Spennymoor District, DL16 6SA

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53096759.html

It's not actually new to the market, but when a property is reduced in price by a certain amount (I think it's 10%) then it appears as new on the website. It's a useful tool for estate agents to get an existing property some more exposure.

This one is being marketed by Dowen and is available for Offers In Excess Of £145,000. It's a 3 bedroom detached house on Parkside, which is always a popular location as long as the price is right.

The agent describes the property as-

"An EXTREMELY MODERN and SPACIOUS three bedroom detached property which has a "WOW FACTOR" kitchen as well as EN SUITE FACILITIES, ENCLOSED REAR GARDEN and a GARAGE."

From the photographs and description it looks like there's no real areas to renovate, repair or decorate to have the place ready for tenants, but you'll obviously have to view the property at least once to confirm this.

There are 6 house sales showing on the nethouseprices website for Parkside-

http://nethouseprices.com/house-prices/streets-details/county%20durham/spennymoor/parkside/dl16/6sa/parkside,%20spennymoor,%20county%20durham

None are for detached houses but none are in excess of £125,000. The most recent sale on the website is 

20 Parkside, Spennymoor, DL16 6RX Semi Detached, Leasehold, Non‑Newbuild

£87,500

27th March 2015

I would think that this property would rent out for somewhere between £475 and £550 per month. This would give an annual rental return of somewhere between 3.9% and 4.5%, based in the asking price.

On this basis you may want to negotiate hard on the asking price, but bear in mind that it's advertised as 'Offers In Excess Of.'