SOLD CHEAP FREEHOLD £115k

Having written last week that you can't buy a freehold for £115k, I'm pleased to advise the market has listened and we have here a freehold for £115k!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-68443025.html

This will have investors all over it, so don't delay if you're interested - you have little to lose by buying it blind. There are very few freeholds that trade at anywhere near this price which is why it will be gone in 5 minutes.

It's a 1 bed cluster in Linacre Close - tiny but very rentable and the type of thing that has appeared on this blog umpteen times over the years - for a cheap rental you can't really go wrong. A really nice one of these would be worth about £122,500 at the moment - this one is clearly dated so £115,000 is reasonable and if you can shave anything off that price (which I doubt) then good for you. It will rent for between £500 and £550 depending on how good a finish you get.

richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk

Market Update : Squeeze at the bottom end continues

I quickly flicked through Rightmove today as I'm aware a number of investors are struggling to find things to buy. The results were interesting:

• Only 32 FREEHOLD properties for sale with an asking price of £160k or less. 
• The cheapest freehold property is £132k - a 3 bed in Blackthorn that's on with 2 agents. 

If you're from further south these may not sound like big figures, but for there to be nothing available at less than £130k is unusual and also shows that whilst the media says the property market is struggling (Brexit / Stamp Duty / Mortgage Criteria / etc) that's certainly not the case in Northampton. 12 months ago you'd have picked something freehold up for £120k so the bottom end has moved upwards by about 8%. 

There's still some value to be had though if you filter through carefully although it's mainly leasehold properties that are looking cheap. I noted:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67831799.html

This is a 1 bed flat for £50k (don't pay more) that will rent for £430PCM which is just short of 10% return. The catch is that the building is notoriously bad - so my approach would be to take the return and never visit the property(!). Ask me if you want to know more. 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65034935.html

This has been around for a while too, and should make a perfectly decent investment even if it's lacking a bit of kerb appeal. The lease length and charges would need looking into to ensure they aren't an issue, but assuming they are are fine I'd expect this to rent for £450. It's in a perfectly good location also. 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-68255096.html

This is worth a look also in that it's a 2 bed apartment for less than 100k. It's in a good location but given previous experience of the building it's possible the service charges may be a little high and the lease length a little low. Irrespective, this needs costing out because we'd let this for no less than £600PCM so it's possible it may STILL offer a decent return when the leasehold situation is factored in. 

Happy to talk to investors about these or any other properties they may have seen themselves - richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk. The ketchup bottle is something that gets squeezed by the way - not the best illustration maybe, but it's been a long day!