Bite Sized Buy To Let Advice. Size is not always the main consideration, quality and location are more important.

Investing in new-build flats, old houses or purpose-built halls of residence and pods all have merit in different ways. It depends on your investment objectives, time frames and budget.

Before investing there are numerous things you need to research including – but not limited to – cash amounts, mortgages and rates, fixed costs (such as service charges in flats), potential repairs and improvements, furnishings, gross and net yields, plus likely returns on capital employed.

Investing in a university town is good, especially close to the university itself. Always make sure that the property has sufficient bathroom and kitchen facilities to match the number of likely occupants.

2 Bedroom properties seem to be the most popular, either houses or apartments, larger bedrooms are better than singles, good nearby transport links are also useful and double-glazing is becoming a requirement for most tenants. 

Location of the property is vitally important, The main drivers are access to train stations, good shops and restaurants local schooling can also be a factor.

The condition of property should also be considered. Tenants want dry, structurally sound properties in good condition (cracked fittings, marked walls, damaged appliances, grubby kitchens and bathrooms are all a turn off).

Think carefully about the size and layout of the accommodation too. Most tenants will dislike small living spaces & odd shaped rooms.

Also remember, tenants have a strong sense of rental values so the days of landlords setting the rent to cover their mortgage are gone and they must therefore buy wisely.

A BTL property should look good from the outside (kerb appeal). If the inside is immaculate but the outside isn’t, you will struggle to get people through the door.

Think about the age of the property. The younger the property, the less maintenance you will have. If you purchase a character property, I would strongly suggest that BTL landlords have the gas and electric checks done on the property before Exchange of Contracts. If problems are found the cost of rectifying the issues could potentially come off the agreed sale price.

In need of a little TLC but tons of potential in Chelmsford

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-48499580.html

This one caught my eye as I think there is quite a lot of potential to get your self a cracking little buy to let property. The kitchen and bathroom are already good, it needs redecoration and flooring to be laid. You don't need to spend ages on working out colour schemes though, stick to good ole magnolia walls and white woodwork and you can't go far wrong and keep the flooring neutral as well, try to steer clear of cheap as chips flooring though, as you need it to be fairly hard wearing, something mid range would be fine. I'm not expecting 100% wool carpets to go down!

This is on the market for £165,000 and even if you went mad and spent £10k making a total outlay of £175,000, you could still achieve a gross yield of 6% which is fantastic. The 2 bed apartments in this area rent around the £875 mark with no problems. 

I'm sure I'm not the only one that has seen the potential with this one, so you better be quick

Beautiful on the inside in Chelmsford?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32368083.html?premiumA=true

This flat has been tastefully modernised and is begging to be bought as a buy to let! Similar properties have rented in the area around the £675 pcm, so basing it on the current asking price of £155k, this would generate you a gross yield of 5.2%. 

The rental market in this area is really good due to the location and easy access to the City centre and station, which makes it really popular for professionals

This property has only just come on the market so get yourself a viewing sooner rather than later if you are interested.

One of our landlords has now agreed an offer on one of the properties I recommended recently, he is in the process of buying it with a tenant in place, so a ready made investment and will be getting income immediately from his completion!

2 bed apartment in Chelmsford available

Pick me, pick me! This apartment is reasonably priced, to sell quickly, it may need a little bit of TLC, maybe a freshen up in the paint department and possibly a clean. Not going to cost a fortune to do.

It is on the market for £155,000, 2 bedrooms, with parking. We could rent this all day long for £750 pcm, which will give you an annual yield of 5.8%. Offered with no onward chain means that you get the deal done quite swiftly as well.

For more information on this one, (we are actually advertising it) drop us a line and we will help where we can

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-46279489.html

Who owns what in Chelmsford and the rise of the Renter!

Last week, a couple from Great Leighs, came in to discuss with me about potentially investing in the Chelmsford property market for the first time.

As my regular readers will know, the most important consideration you will make before investing in property is the balance between annual return and capital growth. However, what affects those two things in Chelmsford are very varied and complex. The quantity of property and whether property is owner occupied, social housing, or private renting has a big difference on yield and capital growth.

In 2001, owner occupation of property in Chelmsford was 79%. The significant change over the decade (2001 to 2011) was within the rental sector, where the proportion of households privately renting increased from 5.8% to 11%, whilst those socially renting had decreased from 27% to 13%.

Between 2001 and 2011, the total number of households in Chelmsford rose from 64,564 to 69,667, an increase of 7.9%, however, the percentage of households that were owner occupiers in Chelmsford dropped to 74%.

However, that doesn’t tell the full story, whilst there was a significant drop in the percentages (79% to 74%), the actual numbers tell a completely different tale. Of the 64,564 households in Chelmsford that were owner occupied in 2001, that figure had actually increased to 69,667 households being owner occupied, so why the huge drop in percentages?

In 2001, 3,779 houses were privately rented (5.8%) in Chelmsford but roll on another ten years and there are 7,621 households in Chelmsford that are privately rented (11%). The rapid increase in the number of households privately renting could be linked to the decline in the number of households getting on the housing ladder, usually by way of a mortgage. This is mainly because of the increasing difficulty for first time buyers being able to raise deposits for a mortgage, which hasn’t been helped by rising property prices. The average Chelmsford house price increased by 89% between 2001 & 2011. This has meant larger deposits, which are linked to the house price, were required. Also tighter lending requirements, especially in the wake of the recent credit crunch meant a larger percentage of the house value was required as a deposit, as 100% mortgages became a thing of the past.

Finally, declining wage growth and rising inflation over the period exerted pressure on household spending and eroded the value of savings. This means that households have needed to save for a longer period in order to provide a deposit.

If you would like to discuss anything further then please pop in and see me at our office on Duke Street, send me an email stephen.frost@martinco.com or call me directly on 01245 330500

Prime location on Moulsham Street

 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-47082575.html?premiumA=true

What a Gem! In this converted house is a lovely 1 bed, BIG apartment with parking. The price is at the top end of the 1 bed scale, but if the photos are accurate, it looks pretty amazing! Moulsham Street is a cracking area as well, very popular because of the amenities on hand

It's on the market with William H Brown for £174,950. It has just been reduced from a higher price so I imagine that the owners are looking to get it sold sooner, rather than later. This may mean that you might be able to get a few more pounds off. 

I would think that this would rent in the area of £725 pcm, maybe more depending on what other properties are available on the market at the time.