Warrington Property Blog: December 2015

Tuesday, 29 December 2015

Lovely 2 bed end terrace in Warrington for Buy to Let...7.6% yield

I saw this property this morning and thought it looked a little bit tasty, so I wanted to share it with you all.

It's a well presented 2 bedroom end terraced at the bottom of Fairclough Street, big ticks on the location front. Looking at the photos, the condition looks to be pretty good and well presented, another big tick on the letting front!

I would expect a property like this to be let for at least £475 pcm, which if you calculate it against the asking price of £75,000, could potentially generate you an annual yield of 7.6%. This would be an ideal rental for a small family or couple.

Looking through the pictures I cant really see anything that starts to ring alarm bells. Maybe stuff may need stripping out int he bedroom however overall this looks like it is ready to let after a little bit of TLC.

The last two bedroom house in this area sold for £88,000 Below is a link to that property and the condition it was in when sold.

Click here to view previous property sold on this street.

If you would like any advice on a particular property you have seen and wanted an honest opinion on what it would rent for, feel free to pop the web link on an e-mail to me. manoj@hamletwarrington.co.uk or give me a call on 01925 235 338

Happy hunting!

Thursday, 24 December 2015

Merry Christmas!

Thursday, 17 December 2015

Has 2015 been a good year for Warrington landlords?

This is a question I have been asked often over the last few weeks by landlords.

I think most of you will give a resounding yes to this question!

Substantial property value increases have given good capital growth to most landlords, by tens of thousands of pounds in many cases.

Improved income through increased rents and reduced void periods has benefitted most.

Further, many landlords have been able to reduce costs by re mortgaging and taking advantage of the many low fixed rates available in the mortgage market, protecting their cost base for the future against an impending rate rise.

Some landlords have taken advantage of the above positive factors and added to their portfolio through 2015.

However there are a few clouds on the horizon. Extra Stamp Duty for second home purchases, changes to tax relief for buy to let landlords, extra costs for landlords to meet the raft of new and pending legislation.

Many of these factors are not news… we are all aware and they have been much reported in the media. But what we are not sure of is the impact they will have on the market.

Miles Shipside Rightmove Director ‘this is December’s best post-financial crash performance, signalling another round of price rises in 2016. Despite the shortage of suitable stock in many parts of the market, demand for housing is on the up. Although the average price of property coming to the market is already up by a hefty 7.4% compared to a year ago, Rightmove forecasts that prices will reach and breach new records next year’.

Rightmove’s 2016 forecast is for new seller prices to rise by 6%.

Will there be an assault on the market from landlords trying to buy before the new Stamp Duty regime applies in April?

Will first time buyers hold back from buying until after April in the hope prices will reduce once the new Stamp Duty puts landlords at a financial disadvantage and the competition for stock is reduced?

Will there be a rush of landlords through 2016 trying to sell and reduce their gearing in light of pending tax changes? Will this new stock be in sufficient volume to drive down prices as supply outstrips demand?

Will America put up interest rates and will we follow? Or will Janet Yellen back off at the last minute as previously?

I imagine we each have our own views. What we do about it will depend on our own prevailing circumstances and financial situation…I would love to hear from you with your opinions.

Some landlords I have spoken to recently have some interesting thoughts. One landlord intends to invest money into his existing portfolio by moving kitchens into the lounge and where possible turn the kitchen in to a bedroom making one bedroom units into two bedroom units and enhancing the rent (reflecting many of the new builds/conversions that have a similar layout).

Another is remortgaging his whole portfolio to fixed rate schemes with a view to driving his expenses down to offset any increase in his tax bill.

Interestingly I have not spoken to any landlord that intends to sell his portfolio, after all most of us bought a buy to let for the long haul…either to help our retirement income in years to come or in many cases to help our children when the time comes.

Whatever your view as always it is essential to buy right. There are very few bargains to be had but buying a property that will let well and have a good chance of sensible value growth is essential. There are many new flats on the market and many more waiting to come to market, all at high prices. Whilst these will let well I struggle to see the option for capital growth being as good as a freehold house where supply is much more limited.

As always the Warrington Property Blog will keep you touch with market trends.

If you are a landlord or thinking of becoming one for the first time, and you want to read more articles like this about the Warrington Property Market together with regular postings on what I consider the best buy to let deals in Warrington, out of the many of properties on the market, irrespective of which agent is selling it, then feel free to get in touch! email me on manoj@hamletwarrington.co.uk if you are in the area feel free to pop into the office we are based on6 Bankside, Crosfield St, WA1 1UP plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Warrington Property News.

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/hamlethomeswarrington

Twitter, https://twitter.com/HHWarrington

Website, http://www.hamlethomeswarrington.co.uk/

#warrington #investments #property #warrington #landlords #buytolet #property-buy #capital-growth #investments #property #property-capital-growth #warrington #letting-agent #lettings-agent #letting-agents #lettings-agents #Investors

Tuesday, 15 December 2015

Absolute Gem with multiple strategies for investors in Warrington

Good Afternoon, so I spotted this property a few weeks ago and I thought it would have been taken off the market immediately.

click here to view property on rightmove

This is a large two bedroom terraced on Wellfield St (very popular rental street), close to schools shops and town. It is one of the most lucrative rental streets in Warrington. Usually a 2 bedroom house on this street will bring in around £495pcm.

The house does need completely gutting. You are looking at around £20k refurb. However take a look at a similar size property which sold for £120k on the same street.

Click here to view recently sold property

If done to this standard (spending more than £20k) this can be a great project for an investor looking to flip, or a cracking btl investment spending around £20k and getting it to a let standard. It would achieve a yield of 8.4% with a rental income of £495pcm providing you purchase the property at £50k + £20k works. Providing the property is valued around £100k once the works are done, you can then remortgage leave 25% in (btl deposit) and use the money pulled out to find the next deal.

I know that Warrington has become very popular with the Rent to Rent practise - my opinion is there is a saturation of this strategy in Warrington and due to this the demand for room shares has dropped, you can look at this as an option by converting the reception rooms into bedrooms and building a small corridor through reception room two into the kitchen - also splitting the large front room upstairs into two small doubles. This can then become a 5 bedroom hmo each room achieving around £80pw/ £346pcm.I cant stress enough that if done to a basic level you will have a lot of void with this strategy, I have noticed that people who room share are now looking for en suites and will pay that bit extra to find these rooms.

If you would like to chat about any of the above in more detail then feel free to give me a call on 01925 235 338 or drop me and email on manoj@hamletwarrington.co.uk better still if you are in the area then feel free to pop into my office for a chat, we are based on 6 Bankside, Crosfield street, Warrington, WA1 1UP. The kettle is always on and there is plenty of free parking outside our offices.

Thursday, 10 December 2015

The Warrington Property Market and £1,300,000,000,000,000,000 in loose change

The 5th of March 2009 was the date Mervyn King, the then Bank of England Governor, slashed UK interest rates to the unparalleled figure of 0.5%. In just under five months, starting on 8thOctober 2008, the rate had come down from 4.5% to that low figure, all in an attempt to ensure the British economy survived the worldwide credit crunch. Now as we deck the halls with bows of holly nobody expected that, over six years later, rates would still be at that low level.

In the summer, people were predicting a rise in the New Year, yet now, some forecast it may remain the same for years to come due to the issues in China. Now, I am not some City Whiz kid with a hotline to Mr Carney at Threadneedle Street, but merely a humble letting agent from Warrington, so I cannot profess to know what will happen to interest rates. However, what I do know, speaking to my Warrington friends and Warrington landlords is that these low interest rates have hit savers really hard.

If you added up everyone’s bank and building society savings in the UK, they would add up to £1,300,000,000,000,000,000 (that’s £1.3 trillion), most of which is earning a pittance in interest. That is why more and more 40 and 50 year old Warrington landlords have been investing some of that cash into Warrington bricks and mortar, as they search for a low risk investment opportunity.

Buying an Warrington buy to let property is not risk free, but there are certainly things you can do to mitigate and lower exposure to risk. Buying a rental property potentially offers an enigmatically decent proposition in terms of being able to obtain attractive returns that beat inflation and savings accounts, yet without taking the levels of risk associated with stock markets.

The UK residential property market has long been the safest form of collateral for lenders of all varieties. Against a backdrop of a greatly changing economic environment, Warrington house prices have been extraordinarily robust, increasing by over 2148% between 1974 and today. Some will say there have been significant property price falls, namely in 1975, 1988 and 2008, yet each time this has been followed by an upturn in property values. For the record, the stock markets in the same time frame only rose by 432.5%!

... and that is the best thing about buy to let property. Unlike the stock market, with its unfathomable equities, shares and bonds, that nobody really understands (apart from some faceless whizzkids in Canary Wharf!) with a buy to let property, landlords can take control and understand their investment .. in fact you can touch and feel the bricks and mortar investment.

... but before you go out and buy any old Warrington property, plenty of landlords still get it wrong. You have to be aware of your legal responsibilities when it comes to tenant safety, tenants deposits, energy certificates and in the new year, landlords will have the added responsibility of checking the immigration status of prospective tenants. Get it wrong and big fines and even prison is an option – but that is why many agents use a letting agent to manage their property for them. Even then you need to be careful with your choice of agent!

Research is key before investing in a property in any town, finding a good local agent is key as they can point out where the high yielding in demand properties are and where the properties with future growths will be.

I have created an Area Analyser which breaks down towns by their postcode areas, using up to date information from Rightmove you can look at what areas in a town like Warrington are giving you the best return on investments, which size properties are in demand for rentals and sales and much more. Below is a link to the Area Analyser Article with a video on how to use the data.

Area Analyser Article

Area Analyser Video + Spreadsheet

Using the Area Analyser will help you buy the right property at the right price. Recently I have seen some situations in Warrington and the immediate area, where people pay way too much for a property, only to lose out when they come to sell.

I cannot stress enough the importance of doing your homework. One source of information and advice is the Warrington Property Blog where I have similar articles to this about the Warrington property market. If you have not visited and you are interested in the local property market in Warrington ... you are missing out!

If you need any more guidance on how to use the spreadsheet feel free to give me a call or better still pop into our office with your laptop and Me and my Colleagues will be happy to talk you through the whole spreadsheet. Our office is located at 6 Bankside, Crosfield St, WA1 1UP. (plenty of free parking available) you can call me on 01925 235 338 or drop me an email on manoj@hamletwarrington.co.uk

Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Warrington Property News.

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/hamlethomeswarrington

Twitter, https://twitter.com/HHWarrington

Thursday, 3 December 2015

Warrington Property Market - Asking Prices Drop but Values rise

Those of you who regularly read my weekly articles in the Warrington Property Blog will know I like to keep abreast of the Warrington property market. Something attracted my attention this week about the local property market, something I wanted to share with my many readers.

Over the last month, there appears to have been an anomaly in the local property market, whereby asking prices in the town have dropped, yet property values have increased. The average asking price of a Warrington property, according to Rightmove, fell 1.4% this month yet the average value of a Warrington property rose by 0.7%.

So how does this relate in monetary terms? This anomaly has driven the average asking price of a Warrington property down slightly to £140,300 whilst the average value is now £110,600.

So why the difference? Technically an ‘asking price’ can be any price that a homeowner wants to place his or her property on the market for. Unfortunately, many times this is done without research and can result in overpriced properties that don't sell. As the Summer months are normally slightly quieter those left on the market wanting to sell often temper their asking prices in these months to try and generate interest in their property.

On the other side of the coin, the property ‘value’ is the price that a willing buyer is prepared to pay and a willing seller is prepared to sell at. Therefore, in a nutshell, Warrington property values are continuing to rise and those homeowners in Warrington who have properties on the market, last month on average, reduced their asking prices .. great news for property owners and buyers alike!

In previous articles, I have spoken about the continued fundamental shortage of property coming on to the market compared to buyer demand. That is especially true for homeowners wanting to upgrade to a better house/better location. I can appreciate Warrington home owners are reluctant to put their own property on the market speculatively and wait for the right property to become available and some high demand locations can suffer from a property stalemate.

Most homeowners don’t want to sell and have nothing to buy.

But that’s the beauty of the much maligned English and Welsh house buying process. You can find a purchaser for your property, then ask them to wait. By agreeing a sale (subject to contract) before you try to buy sounds concerning to many, but with fewer properties for sale you need to have a buyer for your property or you will be treated as a less serious buyer yourself. If you cannot find the right home for you, you can slow the deal with your purchaser until it comes along. If nothing suitable does comes along and you lose your buyer then the worst outcome is that you have to find another purchaser or take your property off the market and stay put for now, and as long as you mention this at the start they must not commit to any costs until you have agreed your onward purchase.

However, for the landlord/buy to let investors, these potential problems are nothing further from the truth. As I write this article, there are 189 flats for sale, 357 terraced houses and 353 semis for sale in Warrington. Landlord/Buy to let investors can normally pick up some bargains in the Autumn months, as sellers who are selling their homes often have a pressing need to sell by this time.

The types of houses a Warrington landlord typically buys, are not the same types as the homeowners wanting to move to a posh area of the town as they are attracted by larger semis and detached properties. The best types of properties for buy to let are the smaller flats, terrace and semis (not the big detached ones). There are in fact many of these smaller properties for sale .. just look at the numbers of properties for sale (mentioned in the previous paragraph).

If you are a landlord or thinking of becoming one for the first time, and you want to read more articles like this about the Warrington Property Market together with regular postings on what I consider the best buy to let deals in Warrington, out of the many of properties on the market, irrespective of which agent is selling it, then feel free to get in touch! email me on manoj@hamletwarrington.co.uk if you are in the area feel free to pop into the office we are based on6 Bankside, Crosfield St, WA1 1UP plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Warrington Property News.

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/hamlethomeswarrington

Twitter, https://twitter.com/HHWarrington