Beautiful Maisonette in Writtle

These properties very rarely come up for sale or rent as the area is very sought after. Normally people get in these properties and don't move out. The location is idyllic and this one, on the market with Abbotts in Chelmsford, looks like it has been much improved. It has come to the market for £180,000.

We rented a similar property in the block last year, not in as good condition as this one for £750. Now being a year on and with this one being lovely inside, I would expect this to achieve £800 pcm easily.

For the purpose of working out returns etc on these initial figures, this should generate at least a yield of 5.3%. 

Writtle is a very popular village and people specifically wait for properties to come up in the area, you wouldn't have any issues in finding a tenant for a property like this.

If you have any questions regarding investing in the Chelmsford area, give me a call on 01245 330500 or drop me an e-mail stephen.frost@martinco.com

Chelmsford – Battle of the Postcodes?

I was asked last week if postcodes make a difference to property values. Well in swanky West London, the difference between SW3 and SW10 can make values drop or rise by thousands, even millions of pounds. However, in our city of Chelmsford, we don’t have many Russian Oligarchs and Saudi Prince’s buying our properties. However, after doing some investigating, I did find out some interesting info.

The main postcode areas of the City are CM1 and CM2, with the most of villages to the North and East being CM3 and the villages to the South CM4. The postcode with the best performing housing market over the last 12 months has been the Southern villages in CM4, with average values rising by 10.6%. However, in a very close second and third come CM1 and CM2, with rises of 10.5% and 10.3% respectively in the same 12 month period with CM3 seeing more modest, yet still healthy rises of 8.6%. Look back at the areas over a longer period though and the differences aren’t so great. Over the last 5 years, values in the CM2 have risen by 21.9%, CM1 with a close second at 21.8% and CM3 21.3% and in a very respectful fourth, CM4 at 21.2%. 

However, property values are only half the story when it comes to property investment. The average yields tell a slightly different story. CM1 has current average yields, based on what is on the market now at 4.1%, whilst CM2 has current average yields of 3.9%. As we go into the villages, CM4 conforms with the norm in that yields tend to be lower in the villages with an average yield of just 2%, as property values in villages, especially nice ones, tend go up very quickly, but the rents don’t correspondingly go up as much. ... but, CM3 bucks that trend, with current average yields of 4.5%. Before you all start buying in Northern and Eastern villages (CM3), the yields are high because of an unusual glut of properties to rent at the £2500 to £3500 per month region, thus pushing the averages artificially high. My long term records show yields always tends to be slightly higher (around 2.3% to 2.6%) in CM3 than CM4’s, but not by the country mile that these figures suggest.

Therefore, if you are considering buying a property for investment in the near future, I am always happy to give you my considered opinion on which property to buy (or not as the case may be) to give you what you want from your investment (yield, capital growth or a bit of both). If you are a landlord, new or old, pop in and see us at our office's on Duke Street for a chat or email me direct on stephen.frost@martinco.com

Springfield Starter Home

Good morning everyone, I hope you didn't miss me on Monday. Being a bank holiday, I thought I'd have a day off! Back to the grind now though and I thought I would start it off with this little number. 

I agree that it is not the most attractive of buildings, but that doesn't stop them flying out of the door for rentals. Inside this house though, it looks lovely, with a nice modern fitted kitchen and more importantly it's own private rear garden. Most of the 1 bed houses round this area have communal grounds or an open patch of grass, so to have one that is sectioned off is a big plus point!
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-40352620.html

It is on the market with Beresfords with an asking price of £165,000. Given the amount of properties that have come up in the area, you may be able to negotiate a little bit off the asking price... every little helps as they say. We have rented a very similar recently for £700 pcm, which was a bit of a record, they normally bubble around the £650 - £675 mark. Basing it on the higher figures though, this property would generate you a gross yield of 5%, which in this market isn't bad. 

If you have any questions about investing in property, feel free to give me a call on 01245 330500, or drop me an email stephen.frost@martinco.com

Chelmsford Semi Detached House, Good Investment?

Hi there Property hunters. Just seen this house come to the market and I thought it was quite a good buy. It's 3 bedrooms and it's only £210,000.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32012796.html

The area admittedly isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if you picked it up and put it in a more desirable area, it would probably cost you around £240 - 250k, the rental levels would also be higher, so you would probably end up with a similar return at the end of it, but you would have a higher initial outlay.

A 3 bed semi in this sort of area and in the condition of this one (it looks as though it has had some work done to it) would rent in the region of £950 pcm, which would give you a gross yield of 5.4%

Another factor to take into account when looking at a buy to let property is capital growth, a property in a less desirable area, may not grow in value as much as a property in a better area. 

If you would like any more advice on what to look out for when buying an investment property. Give me a call or drop me an e-mail. stephen.frost@martinco.com

Another Nice Property in The Village

With all this choice out there, you are sure to be able to find yourself a nice little investment property. This one caught my eye as it looks quite nice, (although personally, I would neutralize the hallway somewhat!)

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-45854653.html

These apartments are an agents bread and butter, there is always demand for them. this apartment appears to be one of the larger designs of flat in the development and offers an en-suite as well, which not all of them do. This should mean that you will be able to command the higher end of the rental bracket in this area. It's on the market for £174,995, which in my opinion is top dollar, I would be happier to see it nearer the £170k mark, although, even if you did pick it up at the asking price. the yield it would produce would be 5.3% as you are looking at a realistic rent of £775 pcm. 

As mentioned before the market is very busy on sales, so with any property if you are interested in, regardless of which agent it is on with, you best register your interest with them as soon as you see a property you like come to the market

If you would like any advice on where to buy your next buy to let property,  give me a shout on 01245 330500, or e-mail me on stephen.frost@martinco.com

Old Moulsham – the place to buy a buy to let?

One of the final chunks of census data has recently been released by the Government, and for those of you who like to look at data, it is a treasure trove of information. Information is so important when making decisions on what (or not) to buy when investing in property. A few weeks ago, I was discussing the roads around Broomfield and The Avenue’s. Today, I want to look at the area around the Cathedral going down to Old Moulsham on the South side of the City centre. The census data allows anyone to look at the data for housing estates or areas, but even better down to individual roads. Such information allows us to weigh up potential hotspots in the rental market and show potential landlords where there could be an opportunity.

Therefore, I looked at this area of the very centre of Chelmsford and Moulsham as a whole. There are just over 10,201 people living in 4,792 properties. It is the home ownership percentages that really got me interested, as it is this information, tied in with our intimate knowledge of the market, where we can match tenant demand to an under supply of rental properties. In this area of the immediate City centre and Moulsham, of those 4,762 households, 27.5% own their property without a mortgage (compared to the 34% Chelmsford average) and additional 35.9% households own their property with a mortgage (again the Chelmsford average is only slightly higher at 39.2% and that includes all the posh villages!).

However, the thing that surprised me was the high level of private rented property. Normally, when you have high percentages of home ownership, the renting is low. Quite the opposite in this area where 26% (or be exact 1,246 households) are in the private rented sector (compared with the Chelmsford average of 10.9%). With such excellent demand from homeowners and tenants, this could be the right area to purchase your next buy to let investment, especially as some of the one bed apartments are achieving yields in the 5% to 6% region and Old Moulsham values always perform well over the long term.

Therefore, if you are considering buying a property for investment in the near future, I am always happy to give you my considered opinion on which property to buy (or not as the case may be) to give you what you want from your investment. If you are a landlord, new or old, we’re certainly more than happy for you to pop in and see us at our office's on Duke Street for a chat or email me direct on stephen.frost@martinco.com

Nice House in Newland Spring

 

Good afternoon Prop. Pickers! On my internet travels this morning, I came across this lovely house. It looks as though it's had quite a bit of work done it it. Perfect for buying it and letting it out straight away, with minimal input.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-46981199.html

It is on the market with Balch for £249,995, just shy of the next stamp duty jump. The area is very popular with families due to the schooling nearby and there are plenty of families out there looking to rent. I would expect this to achieve in the region of £1000 pcm. So, without even negotiating the asking price, you will receive a 4.8% yield. If you are able to buy it any cheaper, the better the yield!

You best be quick if this one floats your boat, there are plenty of people doing the same thing at the moment, so the quicker of the mark you are, the better.

If you would like any advise on where to buy your next buy to let property, give me a call on 01245 330500, or drop me an e-mail stephen.frost@martinco.com