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. 

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