Which townhouse in Tangmere is the best buy?

Long-term readers of my articles will know that I like Tangmere; with its pleasant setting, close-proximity to the A27 and the fact that housing is more affordable than nearby Chichester.

With this in mind, I was chatting with a potential landlord who was thinking about buying a three bedroom townhouse in Tangmere and wondered if it would prove to be a good buy-to-let. Knowing there were a few on the market at the time I had to ask…which one?

The landlord’s response seemed reasonable - “whichever one I can get the cheapest!” He explained that all three were listed at £300,000, were within 100 yards of one another and each had three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a garden and a garage. When I looked a little closer though, things weren’t quite as equal as they first appeared…

My main bone of contention were the comparative size of the three properties. Whilst the details listed the same number of bedrooms (even though one claims a downstairs room as a fourth bedroom), the properties sizes varied wildly. They each have a garage, so I’ll take that out of the equation and look purely at living space.

I found the three properties have 1,000, 1,131 and 1,255 square foot of living space respectively. Bearing in mind they’re all the same price; surely you’re getting more for your money by choosing the largest property (25% more in fact!).

I also considered the size of one of the key rooms in a modern household - the kitchen. The smallest house had a kitchen of just 69 square feet, whereas the other two have desirable kitchen/diners with 180 and 200 square feet of space respectively.

Another telling statistic was looking at the previous purchase price for each of the three properties.Again, the smaller home started to look overpriced considering it was sold for £225,000 four years ago (prices have not increased 33% since then!)

The 1,131 square foot property sold for £235,995 over six years ago (a 27% rise in six years is more in keeping with recent trends), whilst the largest home seemed even better value considering it had sold for around £265,000 in 2010.

All in all, what first appears to be a toss-up between the three properties actually becomes a bit of a no-brainer when you dig a little deeper.

If you’re thinking of investing in buy-to-let and would like me to undertake a free and impartial analysis of your shortlist of potential properties, please get in touch.

(This article was featured in the Chichester Observer's property section on 29th September 2016)

Clive Janes, CRJ Lettings.  

www.crjlettings.co.uk

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If you are looking for an agent that is well-established, professional and communicative in Chichester, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.

E-mail me on clive@crjlettings.co.uk or call 01243 624 599.

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