February 2008 sees the auction houses start up again for what looks to be a busy year ahead - there are two well know local property auctioneers who hold regular auctions and advertise in the local press, namely:

Tops

Brown & Co.


They will be joined by a third, William H. Brown (part of the Sequence group) who are opening a new auction house at Barnham Broom Hotel & Country Club - the first auction takes place on Thursday, April 17, 2008.

Sequence (William H. Brown)


There are other auction houses outside of Norfolk that sometimes feature Norwich/Norfolk property, eg:

Savills

Barnard Marcus

Halifax


Note - Barnard Marcus is also part of the Sequence group, so it seems likely that Norwich/Norfolk property will in future be listed with William H. Brown come April. For other auctioneers and to find local property that might not be listed with any of these, then it's worth looking at the Essential Information Group website and registering to gain full access (assuming it's free)

Essential Information Group

Savills residential property auction - Monday 11th February 2008


Savills

Monday sees a number of Norwich properties go to auction, so it will be interesting to see what these go for:


Lot 48 - 7 Park Road, Wroxham, Norwich, Norfolk (Guide Price £100,000+)

Lot 94 - 27 Cyprus Street, Norwich, Norfolk (Guide Price £100,000+)

Lot 95 - 42 Brettingham Avenue, Cringleford, Norwich, Norfolk (Guide Price £220,000+)

Lot 103 - 41 Newmarket Street, Norwich, Norfolk (Guide Price £120,000+)

Lot 104 - 45 Newmarket Street, Norwich, Norfolk (Guide Price £95,000+)

Lot 107 - 64 Gloucester Road, Norwich, Norfolk (Guide Price £120,000+)


Lot 103 and 104 were almost certainly owned by the same person as they are within a few yards of each other (opposite and next to the hairdressers on the corner) and both seem to have had a recent fresh coat of white paint. Maybe lot 107 was also owned by this person as it is round the corner next to the fish and chip shop - looking at the condition of it, was this the next renovation project before the cash ran out?....

Good links, Catflap.

Like you say, it'll be very interesting to see what they reach. I'm presuming there will be a reserve price of some kind.

Some of the guide prices still sound like silly money to me, especially when there's that 'requires updating' thing hanging over your head.

Good post. Thanks for digging around.

No problems - I hope others here find it useful. Here's the results of the Savills auction:


Lot 48 - 7 Park Road, Wroxham, Norwich, Norfolk (Guide Price £100,000+) SOLD £124,000

Lot 94 - 27 Cyprus Street, Norwich, Norfolk (Guide Price £100,000+) SOLD £123,000

Lot 95 - 42 Brettingham Avenue, Cringleford, Norwich, Norfolk (Guide Price £220,000+) SOLD £230,000

Lot 103 - 41 Newmarket Street, Norwich, Norfolk (Guide Price £120,000+) SOLD £138,500

Lot 104 - 45 Newmarket Street, Norwich, Norfolk (Guide Price £95,000+) SOLD £141,500

Lot 107 - 64 Gloucester Road, Norwich, Norfolk (Guide Price £120,000+) SOLD £135,000


Nethouseprices shows us that neighbouring 41 Brettingham Avenue sold for £242,000 in July 2004 although it's impossible to know whether it is a similar type/size without going out there to look!.....

Neighbouring 42 Newmarket Street sold for £203,100 in June last year and that number 44 sold for £195,000 in October - obviously the two sold at auction are going to need some work doing to them, but what's that going to cost? £5k to £15k perhaps with a bit of DIY as well?

Neighbouring 67 Gloucester Street sold for £189,959 last October but the house sold at auction looks to need more than a lick of paint and was described as being presented in a poor decorative order.

TOPS residential property auction - Thursday 14th February 2008


TOPS


These are the only ones going to auction in Norwich tomorrow:


Lot 2 - 62 York Street, Norwich, NR2 2AW (Guide Price £160,000 - £180,000)

Lot 3 - 83 St Leonards Road, Norwich, NR1 4JW (Guide Price £100,000 - £120,000)

Lot 8 - 24 East Hills Road, Costessey, Norwich, NR5 0PE (Guide Price £110,000 - £130,000)

Lot 24 - 508 Earlham Road, Norwich, NR4 7HR (Guide Price £180,000 - £200,000)

Lot 25 - 7 Yew Court, Sprowston, Norwich, NR7 8LQ (Guide Price £120,000 - £140,000)

Resuts:


Lot 2 - 62 York Street, Norwich, NR2 2AW (Guide Price £160,000 - £180,000) SOLD £162,000

Lot 3 - 83 St Leonards Road, Norwich, NR1 4JW (Guide Price £100,000 - £120,000) SOLD £110,500

Lot 8 - 24 East Hills Road, Costessey, Norwich, NR5 0PE (Guide Price £110,000 - £130,000) SOLD £115,000

Lot 24 - 508 Earlham Road, Norwich, NR4 7HR (Guide Price £180,000 - £200,000) SOLD £229,500

Lot 25 - 7 Yew Court, Sprowston, Norwich, NR7 8LQ (Guide Price £120,000 - £140,000) SOLD £140,000


I don't think it will be long before north city terraces are going at auction for less than £100k - maybe towards the end of the year.

This is all good news - it used to be that we'd get excited (or I would at least...) about the TOPS auction, sure that the economic climate would show in that auction, and invariably the final prices would be considerably over the guide.

It looks like that's changing - all but one selling for within the guide range - and most at the bottom end.

Tops Auction 3rd April

This is the list for the next Tops auction.

Welcome Matt - there's 11 2/3 bedroom terraces in that auction which have been the favourite for Norwich buy-to-let 'investors'. About 1/3 of all property going to auction is BTL property so I suspect the majority of these are just that. It shall be interesting to see what these go for as they do set new margin prices in the area - the Newmarket Road one is opposite the Unthank Arms I think and is the one that I've got my eye on, because it's a typical GT terrace in that street. A quick check on Nethouseprices.com shows that some of the properties at the city end went for around £200k last year at the peak of the bubble - I'll try and find out which number it is.

I've had a quick look at the properties in the auction near where I live - Aylsham/North Walshm and found that there's two on there which have been for sale at higher prices for quite sometime now and the house in Aylsham in Red Lion Yard, number 6 is up for gp 100-110k - number 5 (which is identical) sold for £138K in feb 07 - so will be very interesting to see what it goes for.

Thanks for the welcome, Catflap.

Looks like the person who bought the above property is trying to flip it for a quick profit.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-197...49&tr_t=buy


So it's on for £164,950 - I'm sure it will sell reasonable quickly even if it goes for a bit less. It should leave a nice profit of £10K to £20k that will be taxed at the new CGT flat rate of 18% when it goes through in the new tax year - money goes to money and the rich get richer. No need to graft away in a full-time job and pay 11% national insurance and 20% tax - just flip a couple a couple of houses each year. No wonder this nation is so obsessed with making money from property, it's easy money as long as you know what you are doing and you pay less tax.

I'm sure that the seller would have to pay CGT if it wasn't his/her main residence?

Looks like a disused corner shop next door that is crying out to be turned into a house.

TOPS auction thread from the main forum for 3rd April.

Had been interested in what was happening with the "Breadwinner" in Onley St - went unsold in the end (pure nosiness you understand) Mr W&S was surprised at the cost of their sandwiches and cakes last time he went in there for a quick lunchtime bite!

That's the Golden Triangle for you.

TOPS residential property auction - Thursday 3rd April 2008

Resuts:

Lot 1 - 246 Aylsham Road, Norwich, NR3 2RG (Guide Price £80,000 - £100,000) SOLD £100,000
Lot 2 - 77 Patteson Road, Norwich, NR3 3EN (Guide Price £100,000 - £120,000) SOLD £122,000
Lot 3 - 11 Romany Road, Norwich, NR3 4RE (Guide Price £90,000 - £110,000) SOLD £111,000
Lot 4 - 172 Sprowston Road, Norwich, NR3 4JA (Guide Price £90,000 - £110,000) SOLD £100,000
Lot 18 - 47 Carlyle Road, Norwich, NR1 3AB (Guide Price £120,000 - £140,000) SOLD £120,000
Lot 20 - 152 Newmarket Street, Norwich, NR2 2DR (Guide Price £120,000 - £140,000) SOLD £144,000
Lot 22 - 13 Jubilee Terrace, Norwich, NR1 2HT (Guide Price £100,000 - £120,000) SOLD £112,000
Lot 28 - 46 Gertrude Road, Norwich, NR3 4SR (Guide Price £125,000 - £135,000) SOLD £127,000
Lot 30 - 31 Rockingham Road, Norwich, NR5 8HZ (Guide Price £110,000 - £130,000) SOLD £129,000
Lot 33 - 269 Dereham Road, Norwich, NR2 3TQ (Guide Price £100,000 - £120,000) SOLD £90,000


Considering where we were just over 6 months ago when we hit the top of the market, this is steady progress back to realistic prices for Norwich first-time-buyers. Still a long way off being affordable for the average person because even at reduced prices mortgage rates and fees are a lot higher now and all lenders are requiring large deposits - if anything, affordabilty is getting worse.

I never paid much attention to Lot 33 - Dereham Road. Curious to see why it went for less than the guide price. The house has been on a protected tenancy since 1969!

I take it that there is no way in hell that the tenant could be asked to leave, unless there's a breach of the tenancy itself?

And often protected tenancies have very good rental rates too (good for the tenants that is...)

There seem to be quite a few of these coming up for auction over the next few months - Arnolds had an ad in Thusday's paper - 10 properties in the ad, 4 of which were protected tenancies.

30 Northgate Way GP 75 - 85k, tenancy producing £1820 pa
7 St Leonards Terrace GP 70k, tenancy producing £1716 pa
8 St Leonards Terrace GP 60k, tenancy producing £1488 pa
Ivy Cottage Pirnhow St, Ditchingham GP 75-85k, long standing protected tenancy producing nominal income (review may be possible)

the others advertised were either investment potentials (old maltings etc) or equally low yield - 34 Colegate, GP £325 - 350k, Ground floor let for £6600 pa, 2 1st floor flats - leasehold sold) producing £200 pa and 2 top floor flats for refurbishment. Now unless they forgot to include a couple of zeros in there somewhere, it doesn't sound that good a proposition....

The Auction is 6th May at 12 noon.

As for the TOPS auction - do you think their guide prices are more professionally guessed at, or do you think buyers are getting more realistic about what they want/can afford to buy?

Edit - Just spotted! Right next to the Arnolds Ad, is a small retraction from Auction House (tops)



Seems like things aren't as healthy as they sometimes make out then!!!

I'm not sure how TOPS arrive at their guide prices, maybe it's just a gut instinct based on experience but I know they tend to overvalue the residential market and someone I know at Arnolds said much the same thing to me once!. If they have a whole chain of unrealistically priced properties then it's going to make the chain a lot weaker and liable to break - I've seen no end of their houses not selling for ages or selling and then going back on the market because the sale fell through.

I can't understand why people don't want to be totally realistic about prices in todays current economic climate where mortgage rates are shooting up and being pulled left right and centre - if EA's valued every house at 20% less than the Q3 07 peak, then everyone would benefit and properties would sell through. The only person who would lose out would be the guy at the top of the chain with the very expensive house looking to downsize or emmigrate - but even that person has already made huge paper gains and seen their property double or triple in value over the last few years.

Instead we've got people doing very small cuts that are not enough to secure a sale and are gradually chasing the market down - if you look at PropertySnake you will see this happening. Oh well, that's human nature at work and people not realising that prices are going to keep falling now..... for the next 4/5 years!

On the subject of regulated tanancies, I took the trouble to look that one up as I had often wondered how they came about - looks like they are tenancies that were agreed before the Housing Act of 1988 came into force which gave more power to landlords like we see today. As you can see, these regulated tenancies were a good deal for the tenant as they had more rights and cheaper rent (a bit like Germany) but being a landlord was'nt as profitable as it can be today. The landlord now holds all the power with an assured shorthold tenancy and can set much higher rents - this is one of the reasons why people want to buy their house even more than they did years ago.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/138295

Top work, Catflap! I had always wondered exactly how old-style tenancies worked. I've only ever had ASTs.

Like you say, proper tenancies are much more like the German system, and would provide a perfectly secure & long-term environment to (say) bring up a family. That sort of security would instantly get around any uncertainties about renting for people planning families, and would remove another argument for this daft UK obsession with owning houses. An added bonus would be to discourage short-termist BTL a$$holes - being unable to cry off from a proper tenancy agreement would discourage the amateur / dilletante / greedy types in favour of proper landlords, in it for the long term.

The change to ASTs must have contributed to the last HPI/HPC cycle - which hit the fan about three years after the 1988 Act was passed. I guess the comparative lack of security inherent in ASTs would have pushed a lot of people towards buying.

Predictably, proper tenancies were done away with under Thatcher. I promise not to start ranting...

Anyway, thanks for the leg-work in researching this.

I spotted that apology from Tops in Thursday's property section too. Whoops!

34 Colegate is a very forlorn looking art deco building. I think one of the flats on the 1st floor sold 2 or 3 years ago. Sadly, the rental properties won't fetch a lot while the building is in such a sorry state. Even so, £200 pa is still incredibly low. I tried looking for it on the Arnolds website but to no avail.

Good points - it would certainly lead to a more stable housing market if there were not so many BTL speculators looking to make big windfall gains on capital appreciation. Sadly, the new flat rate CGT tax rate of 18% makes it even more likely that people will speculate on property in the next cycle because people will now be taxed less for property speculation than they will be on earnings - crazy. I don't know why Labour doesn't want to create a more stable housing market which would make for more stable communities, or perhaps I do!..... because everyone in power knows how to enrich themselves through land/property ownership and land deals..... snouts in troughs again! (or perhaps I am too cynical?)

The 1988 Housing Act obviously went too far and swung in the opposite direction giving the landlord too much control of tenants housing, whilst it was obviously good in eliminating the problem of squatters it has taken away the good parts that secure tenancies afforded. I doubt the change to AST's had any impact to the last housing bubble as that peaked in Q2 89 but what had more effect back then was the abolition of double mortgage interest tax relief in August 1988. This made many couples go out and buy a house before the deadline ended after which they would no longer both be able to claim 30% relief on the first £60,000 of a mortgage - this sent house prices spiralling.

Unfortunately I don't see much future in this country the way it's going for renting privately, which is why I want to buy - BTL landlords are parasites just creating their own wealth whilst pushing out first-time-buyers and young famalies out of the market and into their properties. They have the advantage in that they can offset the interest payments against tax which is something homeowners used to be able to do under MIRAS until it was finally scrapped by this government in April 2000.

BTL speculators also don't need/want to own the property so they take out 100% interest only mortgages that give them the best tax advantage and lower monthly payments compared to a conventional repayment mortgage. I'm hoping that at some point in the next 2 or 3 years that some new form of MIRAS will come into effect, probably as an election bribe to appeal to the vast number of potential first-time-buyers out there who are either renting or living at home - one can only hope.

Well if you won't rant then I will

William H Brown Property Auction - Wednesday 17 April 2008


The eagerly awaited new auction house that is starting up at the Barnham Broom Hotel Golf and Country Club gets it's first test this week with around 50 lots from the East of England, seven of which are from Norwich.

http://www.propwld.co.uk/auction/whbrownnorwich.htm

OK, it's a long post, but I've been through and done the previous sold prices for the Wm H brown Auction on the 17th April :

I've not bothered with building plots, and some of them there were problems with the addresses (I used Zoopla! for the first time - I found it much quicker to use than Nethouseprices, which is a Good Thing!)

Lot 21 (and lot 26) is an interesting one in Ipswich....and lot 36 looks interesting too

Lot 1: 134 Borrowdale Drive, Norwich NR1 4NA – no details, (138 sold for £58K on 24/01/01, 120 sold for £157k on 18/04/05) GP £130 - 140k
Lot 2: Southbays, Well Loke, Aylsham Rd, Norwich NR3 2SP Last Sale: £175,000, 29th June 2007 GP £175 - 180k
Lot 3: 7 Hamlin Ct, 230 Aylsham Rd, Norwich NR3 2RE– no details GP £90k
Lot 4: 51 St Martins Lane, Norwich NR3 3AG– no details GP £295k+
Lot 5: 11 & 13 Fakenham Rd, Fakenham, NR21 7AW– no details GP £80k
Lot 6: 8 Park Road, Manea, March, PE15 0LL – sold 65,857 on 28th Oct 2002 GP £80k+
Lot 7: 12 Gaultree Square, Wisbech, Cambs,PE14 8DD last sold £85,000, 22nd April 2005 (No 18 sold for £150k, 18/05/07) GP £55k
Lot 8: Bldg Plot, Wisbech GP £50k+
Lot 9: 26 Cobbs Place, Gt Yarmouth NR30 2EE – Last sold £69,995, 10th Nov 2006 GP £55k+
Lot 10: The cottage, Groose Lane, Wainsfleet St Mary, Skegness PE24 4EZ – no details GP 95k
Lot 11: 9a Seaview Mansions, Skegness – couldn’t find address GP £48k
Lot 12: The Old Rectory Stables, Tattershal Bridge, Lincoln, LN4 4JL (Development “opportunity” -the Old Rectory sold for £285k, 25/06/07) GP £100k+
Lot 13: S&T Shipping (PP to turn in to Appts) GP £200k+
Lot 14 & 15: Bldg plots GP £75k each
Lot 16: 26 New Road, Sutton Bridge, Lincs PE12 9RA – last sold £180k, 6th July 2004 GP £130k+
Lot 17: 9 Wisbech Road, Kings Lynn PE30 5JN – last sold £76,500, 8th June 2005 GP £110k
Lot 18: The Barn, high St, Cawston PP development “opportunity” POSTPONED
Lot 19: 33 Impson Way, Mundford, Norfolk IP26 5JU – last sold 159k 11th Oct 2002 (No 32 sold £155k, 17/02/06) SOLD PRIOR
Lot 20: 15 & 17 Baxter Rd, Hingham, NR9 4HY – no details GP £240k + (£135k + 125k apiece)
Lot 21: Flat 24, Revetts Building, 59 Norwich Road, Ipswich IP1 2EP – last sold £250,000 21st Nov 2005 and before that £275,000 on 26th August 2005) GP £125k
Lot 22: Swiss Cottage, Malt house Yard, Reepham NR10 4NF – no details GP £225k
Lot 23: 8 Wensum Close, Watlington, Norfolk, PE33 0TT – last sold £151,500 on 20th Oct 2006 SOLD PRIOR
Lot 24: 133 Tennyson Ave, Kings Lynn, PE30 2QJ – last sold 14th June 2002, £105,000 GP £120+
Lot 25: Clumber Cottages, Chavalier Rd, Felixstowe IP11 7EY – no details GP £190k
Lot 26: Flat 23, Revetts Building, Norwich Road, Ipswich IP1 2EP – no details, but see flat 24 (lot 21) GP £125k
Lot 27: 11 Wethersfield Road, Sible Hedingham, CO9 3LB (wrong Postcode given in details) - no details, No 9 sold 13/10/06 £134,995 GP £110k
Lot 28: Bargate Cottage, Low Ground, Swineshead, Boston, PE20 3PG – last sold £154,950 pth October 2000. GP £500k+
Lot 29: Flat 24, Barnshaw House, Coxhill Way, Aylesbury HP21 8FH – last sold £162,500 2nd Feb 2007 GP £100k
Lot 30: Fir Tree, Farm house, Eastville, Boston PE22 8LU – last sold £288,000 3rd March 2004 GP £180k +
Lot 31: 17 Music House Lane, Norwich, NR1 1QL – no details, no 15 sold for £135,950 7/12/07 GP£95k
Lot 32: 37 Holt Road – no details, but 58 and 60 Holt road sold for £173,603 &167,880 in Nov 2006 GP £135k
Lot 33: 42 Carlton Road, Boston, PE21 8PA – no details, no 34 sold for £128k 17/10/05 GP £150k +
Lot 34: Beech Cottage Willington Rd, Kirton PE20 1NR – no details GP £115k+
Lot 35: 50 Old Palace Rd, Norwich NR2 4JQ – no details GP £85k+
Lot 36 7 Garage Lane, Kings Lynn PE33 0BE- last sold 27th October 2006 £235,000 GP £125k
Lot 37: Meadow View, Framlingham Earl, Yelverton NR14 7DD – can’t find any details GP £300k+
Lot 38: 20 Levishaw Close, Buxton, Aylsham NR10 5HQ – no details, no 18 sold for £145,450, 23/02/07 GP £110-120k
Lot 39: Flat 7, 4 Norwich Road, Cromer NR27 0AX – last sold 7th April 2006, £47,000, (flat 6 sold for £58k, 10/10/07) GP £50k+
Lot 40: Holly Farm, Well Hill, Clint Green, Yaxham NR19 1RX – no details GP £325k
Lot 41, The old Chapel, Foulsham Road, Hindolveston NR20 5BY – no details GP £160k+
Lot 42: The Old School, High Street, Fincham, Kings Lynn PE33 9EH – PP development opportunity -no details (“School House” sold for £100k, 31/08/06) GP £180k
Lot 43: Rose Cottage, The Street, Lenwade NR9 5SD – no details GP £180k
Lot 44: 3 Stow Rd, Kings Lynn – Bldg Plot GP £153k
Lot 45: Bldg Plot, Buxton Bldg Plot SOLD PRIOR
Lot 46: Bedale, Nethergate St, Hopton, Diss IP22 2QZ – last sold 13th July 2007, £125,000 SOLD PRIOR
Lot 47: 36 Nelson Street, Kings Lynn, PE30 5DY – 4 flats all listed but no sale prices SOLD PRIOR
Lot 48: 56 Sydney Street, Kings Lynn PE30 5RF – last sold £75,000 26th April 2002 GP £130k
Lot 49: 45 Pople Street, Wymondham NR18 0LW – no details, no 47 sold £165,000 05/10/07 GP £130k
Lot 50: Flat 4 Portland Street, Kings Lynn – can’t find address GP £40k
Lot 51: Ponderosa, Hill Road, Fair Green, Middleton PE32 1RN – no details GP £135k
Lot 52: Bldg Plot, Wisbech, GP £50k+
Lot 53: Sunnyside, Lynn Road, Walpole Highway, Wisbech PE14 7QU – no details GP £200k
Lot 54: 14 Kitchener Road, Melton Constable NR24 2BN – no details, no 12 sold £39,950 10/08/01, no 11 sold 05/03/07, £127,500) GP £80-90k
Lot 55: The Saltings, Coast Road, Cley NR25 7RZ– no details GP £350-370k

I'm presuming we'll be able to get the results after

Caution: 120 *might* be a 3 bedroomed semi-detached house very near Mossfield Close. In Valley Drive, there is a mixture of (unless extended) 3 bed semi houses, 2/3 bed detached bungalows and semi-detached bungalows. I used to hang around there in my yoof and even today still cut through the area every now and then.

Number 134 is a 3 bed detached bungalow (for reference after the auction is done and the details are gone) so, thanks - I don't know the street well enough to know if they're all the same round that way...

The lots where the Guide Price is the same or lower than the last known sale price for that particular property are:

Lot 2, 7, 9, 16, 21, 26, 29, 30, 36. And that's not including those where the neighbours houses have sold for more than the current guide - just in case it's not the same type of house/it's been modernised/whatever.

This could be a very interesting auction, TOPs ones always seem to do very well, and it would be nice to see a few under GP - if a few Norwich speculators see the fens ones going for low ball prices that could shake things up a bit!!

That


Looks


Like


Lots


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Work





You can always be lazy and just do the Norwich ones or at most the Norfolk ones But excellent work W&S - the results will also be there after the auction.

Brown & Co. Property Auction - Thursday 27 March 2008


Seem to finally be able to get the results of their auctions - their auctions are held at the Maids Head Hotel, Norwich and the future auction dates, catalogues plus results can be found here:

http://www.brown-co.com/auctions_residenti...on_calendar.php


Results

16 Drayton Road, Norwich (Guide Price £120,000 - £125,000) SOLD £141,000
31 Waterloo Road, Norwich (Guide Price £70,000 - £75,000) SOLD £70,000
14 Thorpland Road, Fakenham (Guide Price £200,000) SOLD £200,000!!
108 Northgate Street, Gt Yarmouth (Guide Price £80,000 - £90,000) SOLD £84,000
199 College Road, Norwich (Guide Price £275,000 - £300,000) SOLD £382,000

Auction catalogue details here


Once again, the people of Norwich overpay for property going to auction without fully appreciating what's happening in the wider economy and house prices in general - I don't think the auctioneers have undervalued the properties on Drayton Road or College Road one bit, it's just the stupid 'investor' muppets in Norwich who have once again outbid each other!..... fools.

Yes, I know a few amateurs who are recent dabblers in residential property - one person I know told me to 'sling my hook before I lose my rag' when I told him what was going to happen to house prices - fecking idiot, he will get badly burnt because he knows nothing about the housing cycle and is new to the game (less than a year, doing it with his new partner who is apparently loaded). Again, greed is usually peoples downfall as the opposite psychology starts working against them - FEAR.

14 Thorpland Road, Fakenham (Guide Price £200,000) SOLD £200,000!!

It looks very run down - and like lots of work is going to be needed - I wonder how much profit they're hoping to make from that...

I was fairly disturbed at the 199 College Road too - it says its currently 4 flats - I spent quite some time counting bedrooms (there's only 3 in the floorplans) thinking that they must have messed up on the plans - I'm now presuming one of the flats is a bijou "studio" affair.

Although having said that, I can count 4 bathrooms - but none on the top floor - where there's a lounge a bedroom and a kitchen, but no bathroom (or even toilet!).... Someone either has to be friendly with the neighbours or the local cafe!

Edit: Do you think they're bringing the Wm H Brown auction to Norwich because investors here overpay? Are they hoping that maybe they'll get a better price for the fens stuff if they sell it in Norwich? I'm hoping for the reverse psychology of that of course - but you would have thought that it would be better to have the auction in Kings Lynn or somewhere with that bunch of properties.

I did the whole lot, as it was fairly easy going on Zoopla (the houses are organized into house number, not date sold for starters) and most of them, while not being Norwich, are in the "area" (in the broad sense of the term!) and I thought it might be good to get a bigger picture - like you say, the Norwich ones always seem to sell well, could be useful to see if ones locally, but further out sell equally as well.

Re: College Road property - Nice to see that the market in the Golden Triangle is as red hot as ever. Haven't seen the details for this one but at the price that it went for, I sincerely hope that it was already renovated... I have seen the details for the Drayton Road house but the lack of parking would have put me off it straight away. Didn't deserve to get much further than minimum guide price, IMHO.

Spotted this on the Anecdotals board, might be of interest:

http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/ind...showtopic=74429

Thanks F&L, sometimes it's easy to miss these things!

Also went through the details of the auction and (following on from a comment on one of M21er's thread) took a look to see if I could see if they were repos or not...

From the M21er auction thread, it would seem that "AMG" would be some repo company, and a few lots had their logo on - 4, 9, 16, 21, 23, 29, 35. Not too many, but we'll have to see whether it makes any difference to the reserves. Also lot No 1's solicitors is listed as being Norfolk County Council...

Yeah, sorry guys, I could/should have posted it here, but there again, it got a wider audience/response in the Anecdotals section.

Glad to see you're keeping an eye on the local market, keep it up!

Welcome Luigi!

The results of the Wm H Brown auction are up on their site. Seems no point in doing all the leg work beforehand if none of them sell! Lesson learned!!!

Lot 1: 134 Borrowdale Drive, Norwich NR1 4NA – no details, (138 sold for £58K on 24/01/01, 120 sold for £157k on 18/04/05) GP £130 - 140k SOLD POST
Lot 2: Southbays, Well Loke, Aylsham Rd, Norwich NR3 2SP Last Sale: £175,000, 29th June 2007 GP £175 - 180k
Lot 3: 7 Hamlin Ct, 230 Aylsham Rd, Norwich NR3 2RE– no details GP £90k
Lot 4: 51 St Martins Lane, Norwich NR3 3AG– no details GP £295k+ SOLD £295,000
Lot 5: 11 & 13 Fakenham Rd, Fakenham, NR21 7AW– no details GP £80k SOLD POST
Lot 6: 8 Park Road, Manea, March, PE15 0LL – sold 65,857 on 28th Oct 2002 GP £80k+ SOLD £78,000
Lot 7: 12 Gaultree Square, Wisbech, Cambs,PE14 8DD last sold £85,000, 22nd April 2005 (No 18 sold for £150k, 18/05/07) GP £55k
Lot 8: Bldg Plot, Wisbech GP £50k+
Lot 9: 26 Cobbs Place, Gt Yarmouth NR30 2EE – Last sold £69,995, 10th Nov 2006 GP £55k+
Lot 10: The cottage, Groose Lane, Wainsfleet St Mary, Skegness PE24 4EZ – no details GP 95k
Lot 11: 9a Seaview Mansions, Skegness – couldn’t find address GP £48k
Lot 12: The Old Rectory Stables, Tattershal Bridge, Lincoln, LN4 4JL (Development “opportunity” -the Old Rectory sold for £285k, 25/06/07) GP £100k+
Lot 13: S&T Shipping (PP to turn in to Appts) GP £200k+
Lot 14 & 15: Bldg plots GP £75k each
Lot 16: 26 New Road, Sutton Bridge, Lincs PE12 9RA – last sold £180k, 6th July 2004 GP £130k+
Lot 17: 9 Wisbech Road, Kings Lynn PE30 5JN – last sold £76,500, 8th June 2005 GP £110k
Lot 18: The Barn, high St, Cawston PP development “opportunity” POSTPONED
Lot 19: 33 Impson Way, Mundford, Norfolk IP26 5JU – last sold 159k 11th Oct 2002 (No 32 sold £155k, 17/02/06) SOLD PRIOR
Lot 20: 15 & 17 Baxter Rd, Hingham, NR9 4HY – no details GP £240k + (£135k + 125k apiece) SOLD POST
Lot 21: Flat 24, Revetts Building, 59 Norwich Road, Ipswich IP1 2EP – last sold £250,000 21st Nov 2005 and before that £275,000 on 26th August 2005) GP £125k
Lot 22: Swiss Cottage, Malt house Yard, Reepham NR10 4NF – no details GP £225k
Lot 23: 8 Wensum Close, Watlington, Norfolk, PE33 0TT – last sold £151,500 on 20th Oct 2006 SOLD PRIOR
Lot 24: 133 Tennyson Ave, Kings Lynn, PE30 2QJ – last sold 14th June 2002, £105,000 GP £120+ SOLD £135,000
Lot 25: Clumber Cottages, Chavalier Rd, Felixstowe IP11 7EY – no details GP £190k
Lot 26: Flat 23, Revetts Building, Norwich Road, Ipswich IP1 2EP – no details, but see flat 24 (lot 21) GP £125k
Lot 27: 11 Wethersfield Road, Sible Hedingham, CO9 3LB (wrong Postcode given in details) - no details, No 9 sold 13/10/06 £134,995 GP £110k SOLD POST
Lot 28: Bargate Cottage, Low Ground, Swineshead, Boston, PE20 3PG – last sold £154,950 pth October 2000. GP £500k+
Lot 29: Flat 24, Barnshaw House, Coxhill Way, Aylesbury HP21 8FH – last sold £162,500 2nd Feb 2007 GP £100k
Lot 30: Fir Tree, Farm house, Eastville, Boston PE22 8LU – last sold £288,000 3rd March 2004 GP £180k +
Lot 31: 17 Music House Lane, Norwich, NR1 1QL – no details, no 15 sold for £135,950 7/12/07 GP£95k
Lot 32: 37 Holt Road – no details, but 58 and 60 Holt road sold for £173,603 &167,880 in Nov 2006 GP £135k
Lot 33: 42 Carlton Road, Boston, PE21 8PA – no details, no 34 sold for £128k 17/10/05 GP £150k +
Lot 34: Beech Cottage Willington Rd, Kirton PE20 1NR – no details GP £115k+
Lot 35: 50 Old Palace Rd, Norwich NR2 4JQ – no details GP £85k+ SOLD £85,000
Lot 36 7 Garage Lane, Kings Lynn PE33 0BE- last sold 27th October 2006 £235,000 GP £125k
Lot 37: Meadow View, Framlingham Earl, Yelverton NR14 7DD – can’t find any details GP £300k+
Lot 38: 20 Levishaw Close, Buxton, Aylsham NR10 5HQ – no details, no 18 sold for £145,450, 23/02/07 GP £110-120k
Lot 39: Flat 7, 4 Norwich Road, Cromer NR27 0AX – last sold 7th April 2006, £47,000, (flat 6 sold for £58k, 10/10/07) GP £50k+ SOLD £50,000
Lot 40: Holly Farm, Well Hill, Clint Green, Yaxham NR19 1RX – no details GP £325k SOLD PRIOR
Lot 41, The old Chapel, Foulsham Road, Hindolveston NR20 5BY – no details GP £160k+
Lot 42: The Old School, High Street, Fincham, Kings Lynn PE33 9EH – PP development opportunity -no details (“School House” sold for £100k, 31/08/06) GP £180k
Lot 43: Rose Cottage, The Street, Lenwade NR9 5SD – no details GP £180k
Lot 44: 3 Stow Rd, Kings Lynn – Bldg Plot GP £153k
Lot 45: Bldg Plot, Buxton Bldg Plot SOLD PRIOR
Lot 46: Bedale, Nethergate St, Hopton, Diss IP22 2QZ – last sold 13th July 2007, £125,000 SOLD PRIOR
Lot 47: 36 Nelson Street, Kings Lynn, PE30 5DY – 4 flats all listed but no sale prices SOLD PRIOR
Lot 48: 56 Sydney Street, Kings Lynn PE30 5RF – last sold £75,000 26th April 2002 GP £130k SOLD £135,000
Lot 49: 45 Pople Street, Wymondham NR18 0LW – no details, no 47 sold £165,000 05/10/07 GP £130k
Lot 50: Flat 4 Portland Street, Kings Lynn – can’t find address GP £40k
Lot 51: Ponderosa, Hill Road, Fair Green, Middleton PE32 1RN – no details GP £135k
Lot 52: Bldg Plot, Wisbech, GP £50k+
Lot 53: Sunnyside, Lynn Road, Walpole Highway, Wisbech PE14 7QU – no details GP £200k
Lot 54: 14 Kitchener Road, Melton Constable NR24 2BN – no details, no 12 sold £39,950 10/08/01, no 11 sold 05/03/07, £127,500) GP £80-90k SOLD £93,000
Lot 55: The Saltings, Coast Road, Cley NR25 7RZ– no details GP £350-370k

6 lots out of 55 isn't exactly the usual success rate of, say a local Tops auction though (and of the ones that did sell, they're all pretty much on guide), so at least that shows that the tide must be turning - it's just a shame that the properties aren't selling to show how bad things are...

Well that auction was as well received as a fart in a lift

I suppose it's early days and there might not have been that many people there, but for only 13% to have broken through the reserve price and sell is bloody amazing. The ones which were SOLD POST obviously didn't make the reserve either but were close enough for the vendor to negotiate a sale. I think it also shows just how quickly the whole property market is rapidly deteriorating and I was really surprised that lot number 32 didn't sell:

http://www.propwld.co.uk/auction/pdfs/agen...ch/LOT%2032.pdf

If you wanted to pick an average house when refering to average prices then you might pick something like this 3-bedroom semi or a 3-bedroom terrace, albeit in a better location. The average price for a house in Norwich according to the BBC site is £176,815 and MousePrice (page 4, 37 Holt Road) says the average current value is £171,500 for houses in this row. Not far off, but it's on a busy road and a little way out..... interestingly, it's just a few yards away from where Christopher Hall (remember him? ) has his estate agency.... he could comfortably walk to this house from his estate agency (which is just around the corner) in under a minute without even breaking a sweat!. I wonder what he thinks of this local house not even making the £135,000 guide price?!.... maybe he tried to sell it for the vendor last year with an asking price of £1/4 Million!

Glad to see Lot 1 Borrowdale Drive sold. Hopefully for not too much money. Go back about 12-18 months ago and the auction rooms were all packed to the rafters!

Tops auction 22nd May

Has Lot 23 been listed with Tops before? Its a studio flat in Catton View Court.

Lot 30, Tusting Close, Sprowston looks like the one that would most interest me if I had the cash.

Mind me asking - why the interest in Borrowdale Drive ? Sprowston a nice area, always liked that side of city

I know the area quite well as some friends from school came from the area. Also, my sister and brother-in-law are renovating a similar type of bungalow in Catton. I work as a courier and deliver parcels in Sprowston and it seems like a nice, community-oriented area. I certainly will consider the area for my next step up the property ladder.

On the weekly tally, I noticed this property and had a feeling of deja vu...

Yep, lot 2 of the Wm H Brown auction is now up for sale for OIRO £180k

Link - obviously they recommend a viewing at your earliest convenience to avoid missing out on this lovely property

Whilst tracking down where I 'd seen it before I noticed that a property from an early April auction is now back in the may TOPS auction. If I get the chance, I'll take a look to see if the guide prices have been downgraded...

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-197...49&tr_t=buy


This was bought at auction and then put onto the market almost straight away for £164,950 - it hasn't sold and now has a lower asking price of £159,950 but the way the market is collapsing it's not worth anywhere near this now. I doubt any money has been spent on it since it was bought from auction - bathroom looks pretty skanky, brickwork has been rendered and carpets all look badly worn. No picture of the kitchen so this probably all needs replacing - looks like it was probably rented out for many years so would need several thousands spent on it to make it nice, unlike this one which looks quite sound and in good order:

http://www.propertysnake.co.uk/site/detail/11882217

http://www.propertytoday.co.uk/Details.asp...amp;PrePage=423


This property is round the corner on Essex Street and has now been reduced to £145,000 which is significantly cheaper, but even that might not be enough to shift it. Like we have seen in some of the previous auction results, people have overpaid for auction property by not appreciating just how quickly the mortgage market was changing with lenders upping rates, pulling products and now requiring substantial deposits. Golden Triangle properties are already back down to 2006 prices it would seem and it's not even a year after the peak of the housing market.

The person who bought 45 Newmarket Street will be lucky if they don't lose money - looking at the small cuts being made compared to the more impressive ones on the Essex Street property (which is cheaper/better and still not selling) makes me think we will see this person chase the market down and sell for less than they paid!

Only just found this thread. I was at the WHB auction at Barnham Broom - it reminded me of the old wild west...tumbleweed blowing through the room. The assembled crowd even cheered when one lot was finally sold. Can;t find the link but the one at West Winch is up for sale on a price drop (thanks property bee!) for only £5k more than the bidding reached.

Call me a funny old bugger but I really don't like it when they put porches on the front of these terraced houses. I can understand why it was put on - to eliminate draghts from the main house when going in and out of the front door. I just think these porches detract from the Victorian architecture too much. Look at the house to the right - it even cuts right across the semi-circular decor above the original front door frame. I would be tempted to dismantle the porch, reinstate the front door into the orinal door frame and make a feature of the semi-circular window light. Other than that, the house seems quite a bargain compared with the Newmarket St one. Bear in mind that Essex St doesn't appear to have a box room at the back - its just the 2 bedrooms upstairs.

TOPS residential property auction - Thursday 22nd May 2008


Full results of the days auction can be found here - neither of the north city terraces sold which is hardly surprising when you consider that private sale prices have shifted further downwards. An example of this has appeared this week on Rightmove.co.uk.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-211...13&tr_t=buy

Look at the condition of this terrace - not some tired old ex-rental just vacated and now needing lots of time and money spent on it as the seller has done all that for you. Not surprising the two terraces didn't sell if you can now buy properties like this for the same money - realistically what does that make the north city auction terraces now worth?..... not £90,000 that's for sure.


Results:

Lot 12 - 34 Bathurst Road, Norwich, NR2 2PP (Guide Price £175,000 - £225,000) SOLD £192,000
Lot 18 - 35 Mousehold Lane, Norwich, NR7 8HL (Guide Price £180,000 - £220,000) AVAILABLE AT £200,000
Lot 21 - 242 Silver Road, Norwich, NR3 4TL (Guide Price £90,000 - £100,000) AVAILABLE
Lot 23 - 6 Catton View Court, Norwich, NR3 3TF (Guide Price £40,000 - £50,000) SOLD £58,500
Lot 24 - 23 Victoria Street, Norwich, NR1 3QY (Guide Price £200,000 - £250,000) SOLD £236,000
Lot 30 - 15 Tusting Close, Sprowston, Norwich, NR7 8TD (Guide Price £80,000 - £100,000) SOLD £91,000
Lot 34 - 3 Silver Street, Norwich, NR3 4TT (Guide Price £90,000 - £110,000) AVAILABLE AT £90,000

I saw that Tusting Close house in the flesh just over a month ago and it looked in a sorry state from the outside. It looked like it had sagged. I wonder if £91k was even a low enough price for it.

Dixons Fold
This bungalow appears to have been withdrawn from the recent TOPS auction. I assume that the sellers were not happy with the Auctioneer's cautious guide price. I cannot recall what it was but possibly £120-140k from the Auctioneer?

Homes Under the hammer on iPlayer

Not completely off-topic, but todays episode of the programme was discussed on the main forum here. 59 Robin Hood Road, It was a Savills auction on 19/6/2006, with a guide price of £100k, sold at auction for £126k.

It sold for £126k at auction, the guy did it up with the intention of renting to students, but in the end decided he'd get on and sell it. He eventually sold in Feb 2007 for £144,500. That £18,500 profit in Homes Under the Hammer calculations, but I'm guessing that unless he rented it out for 6 months, he didn't make much money out of it (although he should have made some)...

Thanks for that, W&S. Haven't seen HUTH for yonks! They always used to frequent London, Derby and Kent a lot when I used to watch it regularly.

There was another a few years back that I caught of a victorian terraced house in Norwich bought by a woman (possibly North City?). I think she sought advice on moving the bathroom to box room but EAs advised her against it. Sadly I didn't catch the end result of that as I had to go out.

Ah ha ha

Thanks for posting that otherwise I would have missed it!. This is what I posted to the thread on the main forum:



Another fine programme for the mindless sheep to go with that other brainless programme 'Bargain Hunt'. Yes, definitely NOT the place you would want to be if you were at the UEA - maybe they were thinking City College which is nearby, but don't think so somehow since further education students are usually living at home!.

Pi$$es you off though - people who know nothing about an area coming in thinking they can simply buy an ex-LA 3-bedroom semi, quickly do it up and then either:

a, rent it out privately to a family for £600 a month
b, rent it out to students for £900 a month
or
c, sell it on for a quick profit

Wages in Norwich are some of the lowest in the country - average earnings are around £21k mark. This guy made a small profit by sheer luck (and of course hard work) rather than judgement because he bought and sold in a period that Fred Harrison describes as being 'The Suckers Rally'.... that final upward leg of mania before the bubble bursts. But taking into account all the fees, stamp duty (£126k tipped him into the 1% rate), loss of interest on his money invested and mortgage interest payments you have to ask yourself - was it really all worth it?.

Probably not - 18 hour days means he was probably working around 90 hours a week, using fuel to go backwards and forwards between Norwich and where his young family were plus all the trips to places like B&Q etc. If it took 2 or 3 months to complete and the guy was previously earning £30k plus per year working in London then he lost a considerable amount of earnings in the process - astonishing then that he believes he has made a profit

Fool

The William Ha Brown Auction on the 3rd of July got a large article in the supplement this week -

"LOTS TO ATTRACT THE EYE IN NEXT SUMMER AUCTION SALE"

With snippets such as:

Since the last auction in April and the hardening of the market, sellers have listened to advice and have entered the auction with sensible guide prices reflecting today's auction expectations.

And lots of praise as to how efficient they are at getting the property sold, without the problems of seeling privately/through an EA.

They have a new website - property details aren't available till 2 weeks before the auction, but they have summaries etc of previous auctions - click here

Well, I can't wait to find out the results of the Brown & Co. auction this Thursday - there's two north city terraces in there with guide prices which are now too high (the last two at the TOPS auction failed to sell with £90K plus guides) plus a terrace in the golden triangle that has been split into 2 small flats both of which are on assured shorthold tenancies.

http://www.brown-co.com/auctions_residenti...es/19.06.08.pdf