Home Reports and Buy to Let Properties
It’s just after 10 AM and we are just back from viewing a potential new Buy to Let property in a road where we already own other property. My 15 year old son is on holiday from school for the summer so also attended the viewing- I think he is catching the passive income bug at an early age!
On initial inspection, the property appears to be a good Buy to Let property candidate. If is for sale for £50,000. The rental income is likely to be £350 per month / £4,200 per year, so a good gross yield of 8.4%.
The person from the estate agent who showed us around the flat mentioned that there had been a offer made on the property the previous week, but this had been rejected by the sellers. Myself and my son summised this was probably for 2 reasons:
- The other buyer had offered way below the £50,000 asking price and this had been rejected. This meant that potentailly there was still room for negotiation on price.
- The other buyer was either in a chain or wasn’t prepared to purchase it within the seller’s timescales. This meant that since we had no chain, we would be perceived as strong, cash buyers.
The estate agent emailed us a copy of the Home report at? 10:30 on Tue 26th July 2011, so it was waiting there for us to review when we arrived home after the viewing. The home report ??had the following General Comments:
- The property forms part of an established residential area close to the town centre and all amenities.
- The building is of stone and rendered brick construction under a pitched and slated roof.
- The building is generally in an order commensurate with age and type. This is an old building which will require periodic repair and ongoing maintenance.
- Evidence of previous movement, within the limitations of inspection we found no evidence to suggest that the movement appears serious or that there were obvious signs of recent movement.
- The flat has been altered. the situation regarding consents should be confirmed although the alterations may be fairly historic.
Overall this wasn’t too bad. Movement in the road was common, but historical and had settled down many decades ago.
The home inspection report also highlighted the following problems:
Dampness, rot and infestation
In the common close there is significant staining at the front, presumably there is a concealed timber lintel here with risk of rot. There is a lot of staining on the front wall externally, this would appear to have been coming from previously defective ogee gutter on the front of the building. There is a high risk that water penetration will have occurred with risk of rot both to roof tructure and front elevation rooms in the building. Staining to ceiling at common close. I have not inspected the sub floor and cannot comment on conditions in that area. Without inspecting the sub floor I cannot comment on the condition of the solum or the
adequacy of any seal. The provision for sub floor ventilation is very limited. A proper relationship between sub floor ventilation and damp proofing measures is required if problems are to be avoided. There is condensation at bedroom. Woodworm at outbuildings, I assume by now that this has been treated and investigated in the flat itself.
Chimney stacks
The other chimney on the building, the one not used by this flat, is of rendered brick construction, it is affected by cracking and in poor condition. At the chimney used by this flat there is eroded stonework and open stone joints along with displaced stonework.
Main walls
Cracked and missing rendering. Deterioration to stonework and pointing at gable. Open stone joints.
The estate agent advised that the seller was looking to resolve the damp problem prior to the sale completion date. Overall a property with some issues, but not too difficult to resolve.
The interior of the flat was in good repair and required little work.
On exiting the property, we recalled that the estate agent mentioned it had been viewed the day before and the seller was considering an offer…..