Buy to let - Bexley / Bexleyheath / Barnehurst

drlife

Hi all
We are considering buying a 2/3 bedroom house in Bexley / Bexleyheath / Barnehurst areas, which we would like to rent it out to families. I am not local to this area, so looking for guidance on any preferred areas, or neighbourhoods / streets to avoid.
Our budget is £360-410, so likely we will manage a terraced house. Hence wanted to get your feedback on if we would be able to attract good tenants if we get a 2-bed terraced house, or should we stretch for a 3-bed terraced house. I understand attraction of Bexley / Bexleyheath / Barnehurst is overall safety, reasonable commute, and good grammar schools.
Keen to get people's guidance on if this a good investment, considering rents, property appreciation (10-15 years horizon) etc.

Thanks

El_Torro

Are you landlords already? If so then you know what you are getting into. If not then it's worth looking at the pros and cons of this. For example why do you want to invest in BTL instead of your pensions and Stocks & Shares ISAs? Investing in the stock market isn't risk free but don't underestimate the risks involved in Buy To Let. Pensions are also a lot more tax efficient than BTL. 

I don't know the areas you are looking at so I will leave it to others to comment on that. However I don't think anyone will give you a reliable forecast of how house prices in that area will grow over the next 10 to 15 years. There are a lot of unknown variables that will affect house prices.

Albermarle

What led you to decide that you want to buy and run a BTL ?
Being a single property landlord is quite a risky business, and a lot of potential hassle/admin involved.

bouicca21

Quite apart from what others have said about the expertise and risk associated with btl, I suggest OP takes a look at what is actually available in those areas in that price range. Not a lot …

ReadySteadyPop

drlife said:

Hi all
We are considering buying a 2/3 bedroom house in Bexley / Bexleyheath / Barnehurst areas, which we would like to rent it out to families. I am not local to this area, so looking for guidance on any preferred areas, or neighbourhoods / streets to avoid.
Our budget is £360-410, so likely we will manage a terraced house. Hence wanted to get your feedback on if we would be able to attract good tenants if we get a 2-bed terraced house, or should we stretch for a 3-bed terraced house. I understand attraction of Bexley / Bexleyheath / Barnehurst is overall safety, reasonable commute, and good grammar schools.
Keen to get people's guidance on if this a good investment, considering rents, property appreciation (10-15 years horizon) etc.

Thanks

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c07mk59pzkpo

In the present economic climate this is not really a good idea in my opinion, unless you are getting the house at a good discount and really know what you are doing. The problem is that many of the cheap houses you might find will likely be landlords trying to bail out, but they are trying to get out for a reason, why would you want to get in?