Musings of a London Property Finder

Most London Property Finders steer clear of auction houses but in our quest for value, we have always kept a close eye on them, as they provide rich pickings, particularly for intrepid first-time buyers, investors and those with several houses, who are prepared to call in the builders or hone those DIY skills.

Allsops have just released their December catalogue and once again, we weren’t disappointed.  

The first lot to catch our eye was a pair of artists workshops in Cloudesley Road in Barnsbury for £325,000 to £350,000.  It’s definitely not the most desirable road in Barnsbury - there are a great deal of housing association properties in need of work but it is close to the Angel and walking distance to Kings Cross, which bodes well for future valuations.  Those wanting  to create one or two family houses should be aware that planning permission may not be forthcoming.

Staying in Islington, for those who are happy to compromise on attractive buildings for space and location there is a 3 bedroom flat in sought after Canonbury, 10 minutes walk from Highbury & Islington tube and Upper Street.  These flats often have odd-shaped rooms but offer value for money.  This flat is up for £225,000 but should reach £250,000 at least, regardless of the amount of work required.  Number 19 was sold for £377,500 in July.

Zone one afficionados might like the 2 bedroom Peabody Trust flat in a period block on Vauxhall Bridge Road for £300K -£320K, although this should go for alot less in our opinion - more like £250 - £275.  Another good buy can be found in Burton Street, Bloomsbury.  There is a 2 bedroom flat in a period conversion for £200,000 - £220,000 although flats here usually start at £300,000.

The same amount would buy a 2 bedroom period cottage on the popular Shaftesbury Estate, 10 minutes walk from Clapham Junction station and the shops and amenities of Northcote Road. 

Bargain hunters who want space could head to Plumstead where a 4 bedroom 3 storey house is at auction for £120K plus.  It needs gutting and similar houses in the road have sold for upwards of £200,000, presumably in a much better state.

There is also a 3 bedroom Victorian house in Woolwich just down the road for £95,000.  This is likely to make closer to the £250K normally asked for these houses but it begs the question why anyone would think shared ownership is a good idea (apparently available to people earning up to £72K a year!!!!) when with a bit of , or maybe a lot of elbow grease or a bit extra for builders, you can have a freehold house.  And not have to worry about service charges.  Or ground rents.  Or the doubling of the above!

Lot 252 is also of interest  - it is a 2 bedroom first floor flat in Maida Vale, 10 minutes walk from the tube and with 122 years on the lease.  It needs to be gutted but it sold for £415,000 in June 2005 and is now on sale for £170,000 - £180,000.

All property sold prices are from house price website www.ourproperty.co.uk.

http://www.auction.co.uk/residential/onlinecatalogue.asp?A=0&S=C&O=A&P=3

The London Property Finder is just waiting for your call

Technorati Tags: Auction property, bargain flats, bargain London property, bargain property, First Time Buyer Bargains, First Time Buyer properties, London Auction bargains, london auction property, London Property Finder

Tags: Auction property, bargain flats, bargain London property, bargain property, First Time Buyer Bargains, First Time Buyer properties, London Auction bargains, london auction property, London Property Finder

Musings of a London Property Finder

Allsops have announced an additonal auction to their published schedule, in view of the high number of lots they have been asked to sell this month.  The new sale will be held on the 12th and 13th of November and we have added a link to the bottom of the blog.  Most entries are repossessions and so there are a number of bargains available for buyers who don’t want to do the renovation work normally associated with properties offered at auction.

Property bargains include lot 702, a 2 bedroom flat currently on sale through Hamptons with a list price of £325,000 which appears to be neutrally decorated with wooden floors and It would suit someone looking for a buy-to-let or a noise-tolerant owner occupier as it is situated on busy Finborough Road, which is one of the main routes out of West London to the M4.

Other London property bargains are likely to include Appartment 42, 2 Point Wharf Lane in Brentford, although the guide wasn’t published as we went to press.  Convenient for anyone working in West London, this 1 bedroom new-build 2nd floor appartment is 10-15 minutes walk from Brentford or Kew overland stations and was sold in 2004 for £249,999 according to Our Property.co.uk.  There is 117 years remaining on the lease and the ground rent is £175 per annum.  Prospective buyers should definitely check out the service charge prior to purchase, as these can add a few thousand pounds to your annual living costs.

For buyers without deep pockets, one of the lowest price lots is a 1 bedroom flat with a guide between £10,000 and £20,000 in Port Glasgow, 20 minutes max from Glasgow Airport.  Clearly, we haven’t viewed it, but a flat was sold there in April for £45,000 and a rough guide for 1 beds in the area is £30,000 to £55,000, so as a first step on the investment ladder, it might turn out to be a good investment.  We think this particular flat may have sold for £19,500 in 2004, hence the guide.  Interested parties should download the deeds from the land registry which would resolve the matter once and for all.  It was offered for rental at £325 pcm but even allowing for 6 weeks void each year and having to lower rental expectations, within 10 years an investor would have paid off the flat and it would become a nice little earner.  The London Property Finder casts a wide net and has lanf standing connections  with the Scottish Property Market

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Tags: bargain flats, Glasgow respossessions, greenock investment property, london auction property, London investment property, london property bargains, London Property Finder, London repossessions, low price investment property, low priced investment property, low-priced London property, property auctions, Repossessions, Scotland property bargains, Scottish auction property, Scottish investment property, Scottish repossessions, West London bargain properties

Musings of a London Property Finder

The Allsops auction today sold well with bargains galore but at reasonable prices for an auction, which proves there is an appetite for property priced correctly in London and the South East.  The plethora of residential investments were selling at approximately 8% yield.  Most of the vacant residential stock was at the lower end of the market but there were a few more desirable gems sold for a song.

Lot 87, a five storey house on busy Kennington Park Road was sold for £600,000, approximately half that of neighbouring 237 and 335 which sold for £970,000 and £1.15m respectively, last August.  Presumably even a canny investor would want to spend upwards of £100,000 on the property but doing so could make it a spacious 3 or 4 bedroom family house with further bedrooms /playroom/ independent flat or gym and media room in the basement.

Lot 92, a four bedroom house in Wooten on the Isle of Wight, looked over-priced for an auction at £320,000 and didn’t sell.

A freehold 2 storey Victorian 3 bedroom house was sold in Walworth for £215,500, less than a new-build 2 bed flat on the market round the corner and only a little over the price of a 3 bed flat in a period housing association block.

Lot 135 also looked good value for a 2/3 bed Victorian cottage in Newhaven.  Not since 2002 have homes on this road been sold so low - this made £105,000 and would have sold for circa £160K last year, done up.  The problem is that renovations cost the same at this end of the market, but there is little room for profit unless the buyer plans to do the work themselves.  For this reason, auction prices in London and the South East still aren’t low enough to attract investors in droves, which bodes well for the ability of property prices to continue to stand up in these areas.

Good quality new build also made an appearance with 2 four bedroom houses sold in Oxley Park, Milton Keynes.  But despite the gloom mongering in the press, at least one of the owners still made money:  Number 2 sold for £189,995 in June 2006 - presumably the ‘brand new’ price and made £267,000 today at auction, so hopefully after paying off the mortgage and other debts, the owners will still be able to pocket a tidy sum.  But the trick is in the buying.  Another new-build repossession in Knight Road in Rendlesham, Suffolk was bought in 2005 for £340,000 and was sold today at auction for £185,000.

A speculative bidder picked up a backland site with vehicular access in Northolt, London for £30,000 which should net a minimum 300% profit in a few years or double that if they decide to build. 

All in all, this was a solid auction, with c. 50% investment property.  Vacant residential stock was mostly priced under £400,000 and sold for around the guide price or 20-25% below the price if sold through an estate agency.  Given that at the bottom end there is little room for making profit since inevitably renovations are required, this shows the appetite for property in London and the South East and bodes well for the housing market in these areas.  The London Property Finder says auctions are good places to buy!

Technorati Tags: Auctions, Bargains in Souh East, House price bargains, london auction property, London Property Finder

Tags: Auctions, Bargains in Souh East, House price bargains, london auction property, London Property Finder