Two similar properties in the same street can end up with
very different values. Below are 6
possible reasons for this which can affect both sales and rental:
Anti
social neighbours
You may
think a property is a perfect buy-to-let investment but if it has anti social
neighbours this will result in tenants not staying long and the property
possibly being difficult to sell on. If
you are considering a property, visit the area in the evening when it is
busiest and walk the area. Check out the
condition of neighbouring houses and gardens, if they don’t look good, walk
away. If you are buying a flat, make
sure it has good sound proofing in the floors and walls as this can be an issue
for you, a tenant and your neighbours and can cause issues.
Home
improvement
Lots of home
improvements require planning consent, sometimes even a fence will need
it. If you are buying a property or
considering improvements to an existing one, make sure all necessary planning
consents and building control sign off is in place.
Flooding
This is
becoming more and more of an issue with insurers. A property you have or are considering may be
considered at risk of flooding, even if you cannot see how! Always check with the local authority who
keep a register of “at risk” properties and run the post code past a few
insurers. They will quickly tell you if
the property has been black listed. This
issue can be researched quite easily on the internet now.
All important
kerb appeal!
This is so
important, both for sale and let. Always
keep the frontage tidy and looking fresh.
If this means a fresh lick of paint then so be it but it may be as
simple as a few plant pots.
Personal
taste
Poorly
decorated properties and those with odd colour schemes are both difficult to
sell and let and can affect value as people will just be thinking of the cost
and effort to put it right. With rentals
you are safest with neutral carpets and good old magnolia as the tenant will
then jazz it up with furnishings.
School
catchment area
More and
more families are buying and renting close to their preferred school. This can affect rents by up to 15%. For Landlords this is obviously great and
leads to tenants staying for much longer periods than normal. On the flip side however, properties in these
areas do tend to sell for closer to the asking price which is not great for
Landlords. Just bear in mind that if you
buy in an area with a struggling school, you are less likely to attract families. A good agent should be able to tell you which
schools in your area are performing well.
We hope this
has been helpful but if you are thinking of buying either a property to rent
out, or for yourself but are not sure of the area, pop in our office and we
will be glad to advise you.
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