Musings of the Mayfair London Property Finders

With the plethora of Winter auctions upon us with another company releasing their catalogue day by day, we were expecting to have seen more larger ticket  houses on the auction market by now, but what there is is few and far between.

Barnard Marcus have a terraced family house in Hurlingham Road just north of Putney Bridge next week and it may be of interest to some.   Houses in that road generally go for £1.1 - £1.2m but the guide on this one is £900K however it needs to be totally refurbished, so there isn’t much room for manoeuvre or profit if it makes it’s guide.

Other than that there is nothing whatsoever in the November auctions for more affluent owner occupiers or developers wanting a bigger ticket project. 

It is however investor and first-time buyer city, with many lots not quite reaching their reserve prices in the room but being snapped up afterwards.  Everything from little flats in St Leonards for £38K to Hampstead period wonders for £500K and in need of work are going and there has been a good supply of stock between £200,000 and £350,000.

In our view as Property Finders, it seems that the big ticket properties are again being offered privately rather than suffering the ignominy of being offered to the world at auction.  Rather like the market as a whole really.  And while some parts of London and the South East are still in the doldrums, other parts are flourishing - and it’s all due to lack of stock.

Technorati Tags: London Property Auctions, London property finders, property auctions

Tags: London Property Auctions, London property finders, property auctions

A Property Finders auction property picks

With the buying season in full swing, we are getting several calls a day from first-time-buyers looking to engage us as Property Finders to help them make their first purchase.  With their deposits in hand, auctions are a good way for organised first time buyers to find their first property, as long as they know what they are doing are well advised and extremely well-organised.  Here is our pick of the property at Allsops sale in two weeks time. 

For first-time buyers hankering after a zone 1 pad or city workers who want a bolthole close to the office, 43 Roupell Street might be the answer.  Roupell Street is a quaint street of period cottages originally built for railway workers.  The houses are essentially 2 up 2 downs, tucked behind Waterloo East railway station and generally sell for in excess of £650,000.  Number 43 has a guide of £400 - £450,000 and presumably needs complete refurbishment.  A purchaser with change from £550,000 would have bought a bargain in our mind, although the refurbishment costs could be high - we’ve not been inside.

22 Longmoore Street in Pimlico may be a good option for those seeking an SW1 address.  This four floor 3 bedroom period home is on a quiet residential street, but this house is blighted by it’s proximity to the Prince of Wales pub, which will mean noise outside your bedroom window as smokers enjoy their pint outside.  For those who can put up with the disturbance, the guide is £700-£750,000 although we would estimate it will reach £800,000 maybe more.

Parents of first year Cambridge undergraduates may be interested in 86 Gwydir Street, another Victorian 2 up 2 down workers cottage in the centre of Cambridge.  The guide is £165+ although property here has been achieving £280,000+ for the last two years.  This house needs total refurbishment, including new windows and a new front door.  This should go for over £200,000 but anything under £250,000 wouldn’t be too bad a buy, and by the time you complete in early July - the offspring will have finished their exams and can get started honing their DIY skills ready for a paying house mate or two in late September.

For new parents keen to escape the rat race and buy more space for their buck, there is a large 4 bedroom detached 50s house on the outskirts of Pembury, between Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells.  It’s not very pretty and needs a complete facelift, but it sits on a large plot and increasingly the planners are allowing front and rear extensions which will make the house easier on the eye.    In our view a new set of Barratt style windows, a coat of coloured render and rebuilding the hideous porch would make a big difference.  The guide for this house is £225,000 - £250,000 which is about right in our view.

An alternative is Little Greystones, a new development of 5 3 bedroom town houses on the outskirts of Crowborough in deepest darkest Sussex.  The town is well known for fantastic schools in both the state and private sectors and each house is for sale with a guide of £140,000 to £150,000 although there is only one house vacant and the auctioneer will try to sell all five as one lot to an investor, before selling individually.

The next Allsops auction will be held on 2nd and 3rd of June at the Great Cumberland Hotel in Great Cumberland Place London starting at 10.30am.  If you need advice from someone who knows how to buy at auction then we are one of the few Property Finders who will be able to help you.

Technorati Tags: allsops, buying at auctions, Cambridge Property Finders, Crowborough Property Finders, First time buyers, Kent Property Finders, London Property Auctions, London property finders, property auctions, Sussex Property Finders, UK Property Finders

Tags: allsops, buying at auctions, Cambridge Property Finders, Crowborough Property Finders, First time buyers, Kent Property Finders, London Property Auctions, London property finders, property auctions, Sussex Property Finders, UK Property Finders

Musings of a London Propeerty Finder

A few weeks ago we reported on the Savills auction held last week and tipped you off about a few good value properties.  So what happened?

We picked out 2 period houses in Camden, a 5/6 bedroom mansion flat on the Finchley Road, 2 adjoining mid-terrace properties on Holloway Road which are currently a squat, a vacant HMO on the Talgarth Road and a cute 3 bedroom cottage on the Shaftesbury estate.  We also discussed the public lavatories very close to Fulham Broadway in a blog devoted to self-build.

The lavatories were later featured in Bricks & Mortar, the property supplement published by The Times.  Interest was exceedingly high - the property was sold for £403,000 - four times the guide price of £90,000+.  Despite being 3 minutes walk from the tube and a very attractive building, the Walham Green Toilets as they are officially known, were sold at rather an inflated price in our opinion at £885.71 per square foot!

The 2/3 bedroom cottage on the Shaftesbury Estate in Battersea made £322,000 - a superb bargain considering other houses in the road sold for well over £500,000.  An estate agent sold a neighbouring home 4 doors down during the summer for £half a million.

The HMO on Talgarth Road, with 11 rooms minutes from Barons Court tube was sold for £662,000 - not a bad result given that a conservative gross yield would be around 7%.  Upgrading the facilities could result in a much greater income stream.

The squat on Holloway Road sold for £515,000 - a good price for one vacant freehold house in that location, never mind two!  The large mansion flat on the Finchley Road didn’t reach it’s reserve price we suspect, but we will update you when we hear more.  The Camden houses sold for £800,000 and £655,000, approximately £150,000-£200,000 and £100,000 less than their values in good condition and sold through an agent.

We didn’t mention the star of the show because we thought there was some interest from one of our Clients - a first time buyer looking for her first home.  The property was a 2 bedroom second floor flat on a Peabody Estate in Bloomsbury with 123 years remaining on the lease.  It sold for £306,000 which while not being completely recession proof, presents an excellent medium to long term investment with a 7% gross yield.  Interested parties should refer to the auction run by Allsops this week, where similar flats are on offer.

This London Property Finder regards Auctions as a sound barometer of proerty price movements.

Technorati Tags: Auction property, bargain property, London auction, London Auction bargains, London Property Auctions, London Property Finder, Svaills London Property Auction

Tags: Auction property, bargain property, London auction, London Auction bargains, London Property Auctions, London Property Finder, Svaills London Property Auction