How Important is Proximity to Local Amenities

When it comes to buying a property anywhere you’re always going to have a checklist of the things you want and the things you don’t want. You want to have a nice big garden for the kids to play in. You don’t want to be near a busy main road. You want to have a huge farmhouse kitchen to cook Sunday roast for all the family in. You don’t want a noisy railway line running round the back of the house.

The same goes for the area you’d be living in. You want friendly neighbours and a sense of community. You don’t want busy-bodies who will interfere in every part of your life! You want some young children for the kids to play with. You don’t want gangs of surly teenagers causing trouble on the street corners.

When you’re buying at auction it's the same thing. Just because you are buying at auction and on the day it seems spontaneous, there is actually a lot of planning involved. You will, or at least you should have, viewed the property before hand and done your research into the area. Like anything you have to pay to get the benefits and to be near local amenities you will probably have to pay more than you would for a house that was a two-hour drive form the nearest shop.

Who Wants What?

What you need to decide when you are buying a property at auction however is whether you intend on living in it or renting it out. This will determine what amenities you need to consider and what area you should buy in.

If you are buying for yourself and you are part of a young couple looking to settle down and raise a family then schools will probably be important. You may want an area with good nurseries and if you don’t drive they would have to be close by.

If however you want to buy a bungalow and rent it to an elderly couple then schools probably won’t be top of the priority list! But, if there is a mobility problem, then having shops close by would be a necessity. A post office may be important. And perhaps a doctors surgery or local healthcare.

If you are thinking of buying and renting to commuters then it may be necessary to have good road access in the area and things like nice restaurants and bars may be high on their priority list.

Whenever you buy a property you need to consider what it needs to have and where it needs to be. If you are buying a buy-to-let property then you must consider the needs of the type of tenants you want to get into the property. Only by doing this will you manage to attract the right tenants and rent your house out profitably. Make a list of what the property and area must have and check the list when you go and view the property.