A former residential care home with 20 bedrooms in the Lozells area of Birmingham attracted fierce bidding at SDL Auctions Bigwood’s sale last week, finally selling for £1.14m from a £400,000-plus guide price.
The vacant property, known as Brook House, was the first lot under the hammer at the 18 July sale, which raised more than £16.1m with an 89% success rate. So far in 2018, SDL Auctions Bigwood has raised £62m in sales, compared with £37m in the same period last year.
Andrew Parker, managing director and auctioneer at SDL, said: “This was a very varied catalogue for commercial properties and the results reflected the growing interest in business investments such as these.
“We had everything from a gym to a children’s home to a former mill and a church in this auction and had strong interest in our commercial lots.”
The former Sprintz Health & Fitness Club at the aptly-named Cramp Hill in Wednesbury, sold for £305,000 against a guide of £275,000.
An eight bedroomed former children’s residential centre, The Windmill Centre in Wolverhampton, sold for £480,000 against a guide of £450,000-plus.
A former mill converted into five commercial and nine residential units, with a current rental income of £71,140 per annum in Wednesbury, sold for £625,000.
Another retail investment on the busy A34 commuter road in Shirley, Solihull, which is occupied by Pizza Hut (currently paying an annual rental of £18,250) sold for £280,000. It had a guide price in excess of £200,000.
The former Grendon Methodist Church at Boot Hill, Grendon, near Atherstone, sold for £122,000. It had a guide price of £40,000-plus.
Residential properties in need of renovation and refurbishment continued to prove popular. A fire-damaged two bedroomed property in Perry Barr sold for £127,000 from a guide of £25,000-plus, while a semi-detached three bedroomed house in Walsall requiring refurbishment sold for £96,000 against a guide price of £20,000-plus.
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