Are there any property bargains in Eastwood?

Newspapers report property prices in England have soared to a record high – sparking predictions that the country is facing another dangerous property bubble. Values in the East Midlands are still 13.5 per cent lower than their previous peak in the Autumn of 2007. Even with that news, I have been speaking to a couple of landlords over the last few weeks who had concerns in some quarters that the state-backed schemes to boost the supply of mortgages such as Funding for Lending and Help to Buy are inflating a new housing bubble. Those landlords are asking if this means the end of property bargains in Eastwood (and the surrounding towns such as Ilkeston, Belper and Heanor)?

Well, if you do your homework, there are still plenty of good buys in Eastwood. Don’t expect them to come on the more popular streets in the town. The first rule of buy to let investment is that it is isn’t you that is living in the property, it’s the tenant, and there is always demand for every street in Eastwood.

Back in November 2012 a three bed link detached house came up for sale in Acorn Avenue, in Giltbrook with an asking price of £104,950.  I kept the brochure and it had an average white modern bathroom suite, modern kitchen but with tired decor and even more fatigued carpets. The property also offered gas central heating and double glazed windows.  It sold in April 2013 for a very reasonable £100,000 just over one year later, and the new owners replaced the carpets, gave the place a lick of paint, spent a few thousand pounds on the kitchen and sold it again for £130,000 in June 2014.  An uplift of 30% (not bad when you consider that average property values in the same time frame in the Eastwood area only rose by approximately 7%!).

By keeping an eye on the local market, I am able to judge if a property is good value to buy for a landlord. I give this advice and opinion freely to anyone who asks, be they an existing landlord of ours or of another agents. I will also give it to anyone thinking of becoming a buy to let landlord for the first time.

I do not charge for this service, because if I offer you an honest and straight forward opinion, you may consider using me to manage your property. However, I must stress there is no obligation to do so. Feel free to pop your head through our door in Heanor or email me on lettings@sprucetree.co.uk or telephone on 08456 86 0499 to chat about the ups and downs of the property market in Eastwood.