Your next buy to let should be in...

Drumroll please!

Recently we've covered Gravesend, Dartford, Rochester, Meopham. What about the smaller areas with dreamy futures? Who’s looked at property in Northfleet, for instance? Would you purchase something there, because it’s cheap and has a higher yield? And risk tenants preferring something a bit snazzier? Or would you purchase something in Swanscombe, an area with a relatively battered reputation, but close to some heavy investment works (Paramount Park, Ebbsfleet’s Garden City, anyone?), and wait it out until the area becomes what so many hope it will?

So what about Northfleet? Well, over the last year, 244 properties have sold, mostly terraced houses, which went for an average of £163,000. The semis went for an average of £189,000, while the flats were on average £107,000. BUT Northfleet’s prices have only risen 5% in the last year.

Swanscombe, on the other hand, has had 82 properties sold in the last year. Again, mostly terraced, averaging at £170,000, the semis at an average of £208,000, and the flats at £101,000. Overall, the Swanscombe property prices have SHOT UP by 18% since last year! Perhaps a bit of a coincidence after the announcement of Paramount Park… Perhaps all you savvy investors are getting in there quick, snapping up the cheaper properties and waiting it out!

In Swanscombe, there are currently 11 properties available to rent, with an average rental of £707.00pcm. So, you purchase a terraced house at an average of £170,000, rent it for £707.00pcm, you have yourself a yield of 4.1% - just above the average yield for Gravesend (4%). In Northfleet, there are currently 43 properties available, with an average rental of £799.00pcm. So again, you buy your terraced investment for £170,000, rent it out (with River & Country) to a lovely tenant for £799.00pcm, and you have a slightly more respectable yield of 4.7%.

Would you go for Swanscombe’s slightly lower yield, seeing that prices have risen 18% in the last year, or do you go with a comfort purchase like Northfleet, with a steady yield of 4.7%, but a slow riser?

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