Warrington Road, Wigan WN3 4TB
Price £ 85,00
Monthly rental £450
6.4% Yield
2 bedroom terrace property
Currently being refurbished
Will include new fitted kitchen and appliances
New half-tiled bathroom with bath & shower
1 reception room, kitchen & bathroom
Redecorated throughout
Fitted carpets throughout
Gas central heating / double glazed
Small front garden and yard to the rear
Queen Street, Blackburn BB2 QZ
Price £ 70,000
Monthly rental £370
6.3% Yield
3 Bedroom terrace property
Includes fitted kitchen and appliances
Half tiled bathroom with bath & shower
1 Reception room, kitchen & bathroom
Fitted carpets throughout
Gas central heating/ double glazed
Yard to rear
Wensley Road, Blackburn BB2 6SR
Price £76,750
Monthly rental £390
6.1% Yield
3 bedroom terrace property
Includes fitted kitchen and appliances
Half-tiled bathroom with bath & shower
1 reception room, kitchen & bathroom
Fitted carpets throughout
Gas central heating / double glazed
Yard to the rear
Hollin Bridge, Blackburn BB2 4AY
Price £ 70,000
Monthly rental £350
6.0% Yield
2 bedroom end terrace property
Includes fitted kitchen and appliances
Half-tiled bathroom with bath & shower
1 reception room, kitchen & bathroom
Fitted carpets throughout
Gas central heating / double glazed
Yard to rear
Maricourt, Blackburn BB1 3NP
Price £ 78,750
Monthly rental £400
6.1% Yield
3 bedroom terrace property
Includes fitted kitchen and appliances
Half tiled bathroom with bath & shower
1 reception room, kitchen & bathroom
Fitted carpets throughout
Gas central heating/ double glazed
Yard to front and rear
Bonsall Street, Blackburn BB2 4DD
Price £ 73,500
Monthly rental £370
6.0% Yield
3 bedroom end terrace property
Includes fitted kitchen and appliances
Half tiled bathroom with bath & shower
1 reception room, kitchen & bathroom
Fitted carpets throughout
Gas central heating / double glazed
Yard to the rear
Angela Street, Blackburn BB2 4OJ
Price £ 65,500
Monthly rental £375
6.9% Yield
2 bedroom terrace property
Currently being refurbished
Will include complete with new fitted kitchen and appliances
New half-tiled bathroom with bath & shower
1 reception room, kitchen & bathroom redecorated throughout
Fitted carpets throughout
Gas central heating / double Glazed
Yard to the rear
Yes, we have all seen the doom and gloom programmes on the TV and read the alarmist headlines in the newspapers. The property market is now supposed to be in terminal decline. Repossessions are being made on every street corner and even in the medium term, the best we can hope for is stagnation in the market. Just wait until all those fixed-rate mortgage deals come to an end this year, then no-one will be able to afford their mortgage and prices will go into freefall.
However, I have to say that, working in the north -west property market on a daily basis, it is becoming increasingly difficult to square the headlines in the press with the real world in which I work.
Are prices crashing? I have asked estate agents with whom I have worked if they can find me one of those properties which has gone down 30%. I haven’t been offered one yet. I have asked letting agents if their landlord clients were looking to get out of the business at a cut price for a quick sale, but apart from the ugliest examples of buy to let mistakes, there is nothing available.
Are all of the buy to let investors fleeing the market? Well we have worked with a few over the last five years. None of those, as far as I am aware is currently selling and if any of them did then I don’t believe any of them would sell for reasons connected to the state of the market.
Indeed, over the last couple of weeks, we have agreed purchases on behalf of investors who continue to grow their portfolios. There are prospective new investors with whom we have been speaking since Christmas who have pledged sensible amounts of money in order to start their portfolios.
How then do you square the headlines with my reality?
Well I think there are three keys reasons why our buy to let world continues to move forward.
1. The market we are in.
We now work exclusively with terraced houses valued between £80000 and £100000. In this market there is no Stamp Duty and generally you are competing with first time buyers, for whom these properties are still very affordable. There are no long chains. Alternatively the purchaser will be other buy to let landlords for whom, with a 15% deposit of say £12500, these investments are still very affordable. In my experience prices here have not dropped and they continue to be a pretty solid “bread and butter” investment.
2. Interest rates.
I am aware that everything got a bit uncertain over the New Year, however, things are starting to settle down now. Just this week I was introduced to a new deal with a major lender at 4.99% fixed for 3 years. Yes, there was a large up front fee , but all lenders now seem to have adopted these fees and for the time being we will have to accept them as a necessary business expense.
The point is that once up and running, the monthly cost of the mortgage on an interest only basis will be less than the likely rent received.
3. The rental market.
Never in my experience has it been stronger. Virtually all our investor properties are occupied at the time of writing. Of those that are empty, including one of my own, it is because the tenant has very recently moved out and the re-letting process is underway. We are booked solid with viewings and properties are re-letting very quickly. There is even an impression that rents can be pushed up just a little bit.
And so I remain cautiously optimistic, and, indeed, only this week, I have agreed a purchase which will add to my personal portfolio. Let the predictors keep predicting - for the time being this investor will keep investing.
D.S.
10/2/08