Thursday 23 July 2015

Do Apartments in WA5 make good investments for Buy to Let?




I was talking to a potential landlord who lives in Appleton the other day. She wants to purchase her first Buy to Let property and has noticed our rental index and previous articles, so was interested in getting to know the industry a little bit more. She had also noticed that quite a few apartments are coming up for sale in the WA5 area at quite reasonable prices in comparison to some areas of Warrington.

She wants to try and get a property with quite a good return on her investment, as it’s not really doing anything in the bank. She had noticed on The Warrington Property Blog, that some of the apartments in the WA5 area get quite a good yield, so I thought I would look into this in a bit more detail for her. This is what I found.

In the last year, 97 apartments have been sold in the WA5 area, 73 of these were two bedroom apartments, selling for an average price of £112,472. Two bedroom apartments in this area rent on average for £600, which could produce a fantastic 6.4% annual yield. The remaining 24 sales were one bedroom apartments with an average selling price of £89,268. The one bedroom apartments in this area have an average rental price of £450, which can produce an almost equally good yield of 6.0%.

However, this isn’t the full story. The reason that the selling prices in WA5 are quite reasonable is due to the fact that many of the apartments have short leases, due to being built in the 1960’s/1970’s. This can restrict the way you purchase the property as some mortgage lenders won’t lend, or the interest rates will be quite high if the lease is less than 70 years.

Leases can be extended though and can cost around £12000 to do (depending on leasehold company). If you are buying the property to let though, you won’t necessarily have to worry about extending the lease straight away as the plan normally is to keep the property for a few years. Rent it out for 5-10 years, and then when you are looking to sell, renew the lease at that stage. This means you can ask for top money, as the property will have a brand new extended lease.

Property values for 2 bedroom apartments in WA5, Warrington have risen on average by around 10% in the last 5 years, which is below the Warrington average of 17%. But this is one of those classic examples of ‘What is more important, high yield or capital growth?’

With potential annual yields in the high 6.0% - 6.4% bracket, this area is great for the quick investor.

I am always giving advice to my existing and new landlords in Warrington on what to buy (or not as the case may be). Having this detail of information at my fingertips, allows me to spot trends in the local market, which then enables me to give the very best advice to my clients. 


I don't charge for that advice as I have plenty of opportunity to earn money by finding the best tenants for my landlords in the years to come, so if you would like some advice about buying to let, whether you are a landlord with an existing portfolio or someone thinking of investing in the Warrington rental market for the first time, please email me Manoj Patel on Manoj@hamletwarrington.co.uk or pop into our office on 6 Bankside, Crosfield Street, Warrington, WA1 1UP
If you enjoy reading my articles please visit the links below to view back dated issues. 







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