SOLD, 2 bed apartment, £127,500 FIXED PRICE

An opportunity here that's open to those who use Belvoir's managed service only (with the vendor's approval).

This is a tenanted 2 bed apartment in Far Cotton, being sold with tenant in situ. Key figures are:

• £127,500 fixed price
• 115 years on the lease
• Total annual service charges and ground rent are £920.
• Tenant paying £640PCM. 
• Return of 6% before, and 5.3% after charges

This is a block that rents really well and has done for the 10 years we've had it under management. Void periods are almost zero. The asking price of £127,500 is fixed, but reasonable. Have a look at what other 2 bed apartments you can buy for less than £130k and you'll find it's mainly ex-local authority stock, blocks in the town centre with 'problems' or blocks where the service charge is high. 

This flat suffers from none of those drawbacks - it's a modern, well presented unit with a decent lease length and a moderate service charge - if modern flats is what you're after I don't think you'll find one that's better value - by all means check Zoopla and tell me what you find!

This isn't formally advertised and in the short term isn't going to be. Enquiries to me direct - richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk 

LOW BUDGET PROPERTIES - 5.5%+ return after charges

With property prices in Northampton continuing to creep up, it's increasingly difficult to find something at the bottom end of the market that offers good rental potential. A quick flick through what's available does show a couple of these things advertised currently, so if you're trying to purchase under £100,000 these are worthy of consideration.

> http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-63937981.html
> http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-62639563.html
> http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-70105679.html

In this price band you're always going to be in ex Local Authority areas, but those highlighted above would be properties that are perfectly rentable. Whether you're in love with the are yourself doesn't really matter - we'll find someone to rent it that is. You should be mindful of the lease length which ideally should be somewhere around the 100 year mark and the service charge which, for a 1 bed would usually be less than £70 per month. Any serious deviation from either of these 2 figures would mean the value of the property needs re-assessing.
You're looking at £475 to £500 in rent for one of the above. It looks as though all need an element of improvement so let's assume that once this is done you end up around the £85,000 mark all in. If you put those figures through a calculator that's a return of 5.5% to 6.0% AFTER the service charge is deducted which isn't shabby compared to what else is available locally.
Any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me. richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk