PRE CHRISTMAS BARGAIN - 99k flat - 6.6% AFTER CHARGES

This popped up whilst I was away this week and, if it's not gone already, represents good value at the lower end of the market. I own one of these myself and it's a nice easy property in the portfolio - always tenanted, cheap to run, and fairly simple to maintain.
It's a 2 bedroom flat in Thorplands which should be renting for £625PCM. They want £100k for it, and there will be a Council lease that usually costs about £70 per month - so this thing offers 6.6% AFTER lease charges. 
This one looks like it needs gas central heating installed at some point for which you'll need to budget £3500 - it will come in at less than that - but that apart seems pretty good.
It also suggests it's tenanted already. That's fine, but there will be more questions to ask about who that tenant is and what the tenancy paperwork is like etc. This won't stop you buying, but it may determine what you're prepared to pay.
More details on the property are here - http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66950474.html - viewings are via the agent, but if you want more general info on the rental potential email me at richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk

Why buy this? Semilong, Freehold House, 5% return

With landlords increasingly holding onto property at the moment, houses like this which used to be freely available are increasingly rare. This 2 bed house in Cambridge Street, NN2 will be coming on soon - it's tenanted at £650 which will raise soon to £675 - and from what I understand £155k buys it although it's likely to be advertised higher.

What's Semilong like?
It's a staple rental area - rows of Victorian terraced houses just like this one - close to town and very popular with tenants. We manage probably 30 houses there and none sit empty. Rents are generally £650 to £700 in the current market.
What's the history of this property?
We've had it rented for a decade with various tenants in there - it's never been empty. It's a little tired in places but has never caused any major issues - it's not one of these that has ongoing problems with moisture / damp etc.
Why would I buy this?
If you want a freehold property and you don't want to buy in an ex-Local Authority area, this is where the market starts. You'll struggle to find anything less expensive than this in Northampton without compromising on area. The headline return of 5% is also pretty decent for a single property at the moment - many landlords are buying flats that offer less once service charges are factored in. It comes with tenant in situ so you'll have income from day 1.

Any queries - richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk

IF YOU PAY PEANUTS.............

.......you get this chap here - and appealing though he may be, you don't really want him managing your rental properties for you!
I took over an existing tenancy from another agent this week. The owner felt there were some maintenance issues which the agent had been slow to attend to - could I go and take a look, then report back?
The agent in question was privately owned but had recently sold out to one of the larger corporate agencies - had been changing staff ever since, and is fairly well known locally to be experiencing a few problems.
I'm not saying we never get something wrong - like any business, sometimes we do. But on the odd occasion we do drop a clanger, when it's clearly our error we generally try to put it right and indemnify anyone who has suffered a genuine loss.
Having said that, I don't think we've ever ended up in a situation like this - tenant living in the apartment - bath waste leaking for 4 months - has reported it constantly - no action taken by managing agent - as such what was actually quite a simple problem to fix has become a far bigger issue requiring de-humidifiers, replacement flooring, replastering of walls, etc.
The landlady enquired about an insurance claim - no point as the damage hasn't occurred as the result of a specific 'incident' - it's happened because it's been allowed to get worse - the insurer wouldn't pay out. Her case, if anyone, is against her managing agent who've been told, but failed to deal. She sees it as too much issue to chase it now, so will be paying several hundred pounds to have this sorted from her own pocket. The comment about peanuts and monkeys actually comes from her.

AUCTION PROPERTY : Cheap at £115k

In recent years I've ignored properties that are going to auction, mainly because Auctions have become a way of vendors selling their properties at inflated prices rather than banks and mortgage companies getting rid of their stock for the best money they can.

One has popped up today though that may be different - this is off to Harman Healy in London, which is more the latter type of auction than the former. As such I suspect it is a bank repossession or similar. A visit to the capital will put off the local buyers who drive the price up, so there may be an opportunity to pick this up at a decent price if you're prepared to have a day out!
The advert for the property is here : http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-62329423.html which contains details about viewings and management packs etc.
It's a bed apartment in Cliftonville Court - a GOOD LOCATION right next to the General Hospital, and 5 minutes walk from the high street. These are generally BIG FLATS with better dimensions than more modern build apartments. From the pictures it looks as though it's in good basic condition although some improvement may be required in places - WE CAN DEAL WITH THIS. It will RENT EASILY for no less than £650PCM and maybe up to £700PCM if you get the presentation really nice.
You will see from the internet that 2 beds in this development sell for as high as £135k, so if you pick it up anywhere near the guide price of £115k, you've done very well. Ex Council stock is selling for this sort of money at the moment, so one of these for £115k or somewhere near would be a very good bet. 

Where's the money coming from?

You often hear in the news that the London property market is built on foreign money - overseas investors buying big houses in premium postcodes. 

URBAN MYTH : the better areas of town appreciate in value more

I was recently asked to value a 1 bed apartment in Thorplands, NN3 as the owner was re-mortgaging. He reminded me that he'd bought the property a few years back after I'd plugged it on this blog, which prompted me to delve into the archives - it was actually the first property I ever promoted in this way. See http://lettingsblog.blogspot.com.es/2011/04/potential-investment-with-9-yield.html
He paid £41k for it, and it's now worth conservatively £85k - other properties are advertised well into the £90s. The rental price I suggested then was £375. Now it's £525.
How has the value changed?
What's interesting is that it's in an area that, according to some, isn't very nice. Thorplands is an ex Local Authority area on the east side of town, and we manage about 20 properties there. It wouldn't be my first choice of places to live, but the properties don't cause us as an agency any more issues than anywhere else and we attract good tenants. It's also an area that many investors have turned their nose up at over the years - "ooh I wouldn't want to buy there" etc, and when pushed they claim it's because property prices won't appreciate over time like they do in a nice area.

The apartment in that first blog rather disproves that theory. In just over 6 years it's more than doubled in value so the guy that bought it has done phenomenally well. I look at other properties we took on at the same time and see one in Grange Park which is generally considered to be one of the best areas of Northampton - modern, affluent, easy on the eye. When I do the figures that's worth about 20% more than it was in 2011 - again a fine return but nothing compared to the ex Local Authority area.
Why the difference in appreciation?
As we look back, the housing market was generally suffering in the late noughties. The market crashed in 07, it took everyone a couple of years to accept this and revise their valuations of their own properties, and prices didn't start to rise again until about 2011 - even then the rise was slow. When the market went south, the supposedly poorer areas of town suffered more and prices fell harshly whereas the more affluent areas whilst hit badly, didn't suffer in terms of value to the same extent. There's a logic here - people in the more affluent areas were in a better position to 'ride it out' and so they did.
The lesson to be learnt is that prices fluctuate less in the more affluent areas - so when the housing market is in poor shape these areas will suffer, but will suffer least badly. On the flip side, when the housing market is buoyant as it has been recently there's more upside in the cheaper areas as there's never a shortage of people wanting to get onto the housing market if the economy allows. In the time I've been a lettings agent, the investors who have seen the greatest capital return are those who have snapped up the cheapest properties in a stuttering market then sat on them waiting for things to improve.

WHY BUY THIS? Premium River-Facing Apartments in Town

Whilst I wax lyrical about the benefits of buying in some of the less pretty areas of town, one thing that has always proved popular over the years are modern, well positioned apartments in Southbridge. We have some more - but only a handful as the owner is retiring and moving abroad.
2 bedrooms, £145,000, long leases, rental potential of £725PCM. 

What's so good about them?
There's a lot of flats by the river in Northampton but ridiculously very few of them have a genuine river outlook - strange but true - planners have missed a trick on a major scale. The ones we're selling have sit-out balconies overlooking the river, were built in 2007, and are finished to a high standard - so they are genuinely 'high end' in comparison to the majority.
The location is great also. You're out of town, but can walk to the high street in 5 minutes, or the railway station in 10 minutes. The new university continues to be built immediately adjacent but the outlook of the building means that although it's on top of you, you don't know it's there.
Will they rent?
They certainly will, and are being sold with tenants in situ. We manage the existing tenancies and in most cases we have done since the building was built. Void periods have been close to zero in those ten years.
What are the financials?
Leases were all 125 years from 2007 so the shortest lease now will be 115 years - although there's a possibility some may be extended back to 125. The service charge and ground rent varies by flat, but usually totals between £950 and £1200 per annum. We have 2 bed apartments with balcony over the river for £145,000 with a rental potential of £725PCM.
Who's going to buy them?
These things tend to go to longer term investors who value a bit of kerb appeal over the maximum possible return! The apartments are easy on the eye - most of us would feel we could happily live there themselves which is important for some investors. It's also the case that tenant quality should (theoretically) be pretty good as nice places attract nicer people! So maybe a lower hassle investment than some others.
Interested?
These apartments won't necessarily be advertised as we're likely to have people on our books who are happy to take them. As such contact me - richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk in the first instance.

CREATE A HMO : join the bandwagon

A lot of people are playing this game at the moment. Maybe the relocation of the university to the town centre is a factor - maybe the increased cost of housing is causing people to look at HMO as one way to maintain their return on investment. But one thing is certain - compared to 5 years ago far more people who approach me wanting buy to let advice already have the idea of HMO in their head. In many way's it's the new norm in terms of letting properties.

What is a HMO? 

A HMO is a house in multiple occupation. So instead of letting a three bed house to a group of friends on a single tenancy agreement for, say, £800 per month - you let it out room by room at £450 per room - with each person on their own tenancy agreement. And what's more you cut the living room in half creating a 4th bedroom, so your £800 per month becomes £1800 per month. What could possibly go wrong? 

What could go wrong?

Well half a dozen things actually! Not least the fact that so many people are after a slice of the action that supply is far exceeding demand. A look at Rightmove will verify this - a good percentage of the 500 or so properties available to rent in Northampton are rooms as opposed to whole houses - and they are either hanging around or being reduced in price. If you're a tenant looking to rent somewhere like this, you have a lot of choice. 

Then there's the Council. Conscious that an increasing number of properties are being cut into rooms, the Council are all over this issue. That in itself probably isn't a bad thing as it maintains standards but their obsession with treating every landlord as a pariah doesn't really do their own reputation any favours. Irrespective - create a HMO and you're entering a heavily regulated area of lettings so you're far more likely to come up against the Council who may want you to pay for a license, and may want expensive works done to the property before they'll give you one. 

Operational issues need considering too. HMOs are furnished so your start up costs are higher. Your running costs will be higher too - you're paying bills so your tenants won't be too careful when it comes to conserving energy. And when something gets broken in a communal area you'll be footing the bill unless you can establish which tenant caused the issue - less easy when they are all on individual tenancy agreements. You're also sticking 4 people who don't know each other in a confined space, so there's increased potential for squabbles and disagreements that need resolving - the simple way to deal with this is to employ an agent to deal with the hassle for you, but whilst some of us do manage HMOs on a selective basis, you'll find the main HMO agents in town perhaps aren't the best agents in town!

Who's winning at this game?

Well it'd definitely not those who buy up a three bed house, turn it into a 4, stick in some old furniture that's been in their garage for the last 10 years, and start charging rent. See above - a lot of empty rooms in this town currently. But some landlords do very well out of running HMOs and they tend to fall into 2 distinct categories - 'hands on' and 'high end'.
The hands on guys have been doing this for years - their properties are their occupation and they invest as much time as required in the day to day running. They collect the rent (usually in person), attend to maintenance issues, and generally maintain standards. They are comfortable managing properties and people, and their tenants are used to being actively managed so fewer issues develop as a result.
The high end guys invest more heavily in their properties before they start renting them - nice quality furniture, as many rooms self contained as possible, lots of attention to detail. There's always good demand for nice places so they separate themselves from the competition by going over the top with presentation. Pair that with a good agent (I know one) and you can attract la creme de tenant which limits the amount of hassle you'll get further down the line. 

A success story
We had a landlord recently who took a big box in Briar Hill (indifferent area, but lots of square footage) and cut it into 5x high end flatlets (tiny but really well presented and mostly self contained). The Council were involved from day 1 so the whole thing gets their seal of approval. I was cynical (yes, me!) but to be fair we've rented the lot for a total income of over £2500 per month. Yes, the tenants will take the mickey on bills - lets say that costs £500 per month, and yes the set up cost will have been high - but even so I bet the whole project hasn't cost them more than £200k all in. If my figures are right, that's a return of around 12% after bills which isn't shabby to say the least. Replicating a model like this is probably the safest way to approach HMO if it's a path you're determined to take.

MAKE US AN OFFER : 2 bed house in Rugby for £115k

My colleague has been instructed on this 2 bed house in Rugby, Victoria Avenue, which needs a fair bit of work having not been touched for a couple of decades. It has double glazing but not much else. It must be a CASH PURCHASE as any mortgage company is going to worry about the internal condition. But if you are experienced I'm told there's not too much to worry you here - just a fair bit of hard work for whoever buys it. We've got a price of £115,000 on it but I understand there may be a little bit of downside on this if someone sensible gets in quickly.  There's a block viewing planned for Saturday week - I suspect if this gets as far as the block viewing the property will end up selling for in excess of asking price. Vendor is on board with this approach. richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk if you're interested.

Thinking of re-selling?

A nice one on this road would be around £135,000 based on sales in the last few months.

Thinking of letting it? 

A nice 2 bed house would get at least £650 in rental once the condition is improved. It's not lettable as it is.

Why buy this? 1 bed freehold house for £115k

This came to the market earlier in the week with Good Choice Estate Agents and is a 1 bed freehold house with garage in Manorfield Close, NN3, on the market at £115,000
Why buy it?
It's freehold that's as cheap as you can buy in Northampton. These things are sometimes built as clusters (with no garden) and sell for about £115k. This one ISN'T a cluster - it's a proper house with a garden, AND a garage too. There's nothing close to it in terms of value currently. If you're insistent on a freehold property, are on a budget, and don't want to buy in an ex Local Authority area, this is the one for you. A quick trawl of the property portals will show you there's nothing else FREEHOLD in this price range.
Will it rent? 
You bet it will. We'll get £575 for this without any issue which is a return of 6% based on the asking price. It's in a decent road so will rent to decent tenants.
Does it need work?
I don't know as I haven't seen it, but as there are no internal pictures I suspect it might. That's not an issue though - these are small places so getting them done up isn't a big issue - we can sort everything out quickly.
What next?
Good Choice are on 01604 631403. If you're not in town and want me to view for you, email richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk but don't leave it too long!

Before you sell a property, do this one thing.

Sort the presentation out man! We've all seen the TV shows - house on the market that hasn't sold in 6 months despite 60 viewings - TV presenter goes in - the place looks like it came from the land that time forgot - more bits and bobs on show than a car boot sale? TV presenter clears all the trash out, whitewashes the walls, sticks a cheap clean carpet down, then an estate agent rolls up in his best pinstripes and sells it first viewing. 

And the format is the same every show. No surprises here - the place is a mess - tidy it up and it will sell more easily. Everyone knows what's going to happen. But when it comes to their own property, why is it that people so often forget? About 1 in every 3 properties we take on for sale involves the conversation "if you spend £2k, you'll get an extra £10k" but on the vast majority of occasions people won't do it. I think they associate improvement works with hassle - they don't need to as we can get pretty much anything done quickly and cost effectively - but they forget that their buyer is likely to be from the same mindset. If they won't take the job on because they are scared, their buyer is either going to feel the same or associate a much higher cost with the work than they should, which will mean any offer that comes in is artificially low. 

LETTING OUT YOUR OWN HOME? Eyes open please!

Why do Londoners love a commuter?

Northampton Town Centre : Ripe for Redevelopment

Why buy this? 2 bed house in Standens Barn

Why buy this? Modern Apartment in Southbridge

Why buy this? 2 bed house in Hunsbury

Getting Tenant Selection Right

Investing based on area : 2 different strategies reviewed

REGULATION OF LETTINGS AGENTS : Why should you care?

We sold a property to a guy from London and the transaction completed last Friday. He's an investor so I was hopeful of retaining him as a landlord customer, but on this occasion it seems it wasn't to be - another local agent had quoted him 6% with no VAT for managing his property. And I'm not that daft.
I know the agent in question, because another landlord has just taken 3 properties off him and given them to me. He too was paying 6% with no VAT. All 2 of the 3 don't seem to have a gas test done. 1 of the 3 are in tenancy arrears. And there's no signs of any tenancy deposits yet - the agent has apparently told the landlord he's getting some money in later in the week so will be able to pay them over then. That's good news if it happens, but it's bad news for the landlord if he doesn't as it's the landlord who's legally liable to the tenant for the return of this money. Having taken some legal advice, the landlord has realised the mistake he's made and now instructed me "before one of my tenants sues me". He may get away with it, but if one of his tenants is savvy, he already owes them money based on the mistakes made thus far.

Which is all why lettings agents should be regulated! Sajid Javed, the Communities Secretary, said last week that he's (finally) going to do this (https://thenegotiator.co.uk/lettings-agent-to-be-forced-to-join-a-professional-body-sajid-javid/) but we'll have to see if he actually follows through, or comes up with some half-baked regulation whereby the standards required are really low, and no-one actually enforces it anyway. It's bonkers that anyone can be a lettings agent - issuing legal contracts, looking after tens of thousands of pounds of tenancy deposits, processing similar sums of rent - without there being any mandatory checks to make sure they are doing things correctly. It's the lack of regulation that enables estate agents to decide overnight they are lettings agents too, quoting a low fee, taking a load off cash off tenants that they don't separate from their own business funds, then wondering why they can't figure out who owes who what. Added to that they've got to manage the tenancy, do inspections, co-ordinate repairs - all things they've never done before in their life. Not rocket science maybe, but not their skill set either. When this landlord asked them to serve notice on one of his tenants, they said he needed to talk to a solicitor - seems that their knowledge of the Housing Act 1988 doesn't even extend as far as a basic bit of form filling. Not that it matters - he can't serve notice with the gas test and the tenancy deposits not administered correctly.
This is a rant but the underlying message is paying peanuts gets you monkeys. Choosing a regulated lettings agent will cost you more, but at least you're getting someone who's done a bit of basic training. And if it still goes wrong, at least then you have some comeback on them - there's a professional body to which you can complain - there's a guaranteed payout via insurance if the worst happens and the agent runs off with your / your tenant's cash. That's why regulation of the sector is long overdue - it will involve us in more admin probably, but from the customers perspective it should drive out those agents that are going to fundamentally rip you off. 

£80,000 flat with high return, CASH PURCHASE ONLY

I've highlighted flats in Northampton House previously on this blog, as these are always attractive to investors when priced sensibly, and another appeared on Rightmove yesterday which meets this criteria.

This is a 2 bedroom apartment with large balcony in Northampton House - very central location.

Here it is in all it's glory! http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-61104880.html

It will rent without issue for £650PCM, and looks to be in good order. It will need to be a CASH PURCHASE as getting a mortgage in this building is tricky, and the service charge will be high too. Irrespective if you buy it with the intention of retaining it for a while it's difficult to see how you can go wrong - even with the high service charge you'll get a high return on investment here.

Pros.	Cons
Great Central Location	Cash Purchase Only
Further Regeneration Planned Locally	High Service Charge
Cheap
VERY rentable – strong tenant demand
High yield – over 7% after charges

richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk with any queries

APARTMENT BLOCK DEVELOPMENT - BUILD & SELL / RENT

Not the type of deal that's featured on this blog previously, but I'm in discussions about a piece of prime development land that's about to come to the market.

Whilst I don't have plans yet, this is a town centre plot with outline consent for around 40 apartments. It's a good location, in a proven rental area. It would need someone to buy it, build it, then either rent the apartments or sell them - clearly I'm looking to be retained for either. I'm talking to a couple of interested parties already, but would be keen to hear from companies or individuals who have a track record of delivering on this type of development - it's not one for the amateur. Alternatively for those with finance, I could introduce a builder who has delivered previously to the required high standard. A crowdfunded solution is less appealing to the vendor. 

Headline figures suggest it would cost in the region of £1.5m to buy the land, and the finished apartments would have a market value of around £4.5m, sold as individual units. Rental income on the whole lot should be in the region of £0.35m per annum.
Please email me as required. richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk

Changing Markets : Rising Rents in Northampton

I was talking to a landlord earlier today who has had properties in Northampton for a decade. As he'd admit himself he bought at the top of the market in 2006 / 2007 so has had to wait some time for his properties to regain their value after losses in 2007 / 2008. But they've always been rented - we calculated that Belvoir had signed up over 20 tenants for him over the years off 3 properties so the income has never been an issue.
What's interesting is that the income is now starting to rise. Since starting the business in 2006, we've never really struggled to find tenants - it's usually landlords and properties that we're short of. But until recently this hadn't translated into rising rental prices.

The graph above shows the rent actually achieved for a 2 bed house in St James - in Wimbledon Street. I've chosen this one as it's a fairly typical rental property - the type of thing a lot of people own and a lot of tenants want. It's in decent to good condition and doesn't really have void periods. 

You'll note that for the first half of the last decade the amount of rent only crept upwards slowly. We were getting something starting with a £5 for it and when we tried for something starting with a £6 nothing really happened. But move on to 2017 and we'll get something starting with a £7 and this is the case for most other 2 bed properties that are in decent condition and in decent areas. 

It's the same with most other types of property too: 1 bed apartments that for years have traded at around the £500 mark are now achieving £550 assuming the condition is decent. 3 bed houses that for years have been somewhere between £750 and £800 are now at £900 with very little issue. There's been a general upward movement of 10%-15% for most places up to 3 beds. 

And the rise is being caused by supply and demand. There's a lack of supply because fewer people move out of rental property these days, and also because there hasn't been a huge amount of new build in recent years - particularly of smaller properties. Equally there's ever increasing demand - over 70% of enquiries for rental properties are from EU migrants who have little trouble finding employment given the huge and increasing warehousing industry around Northampton. The result is appreciating rental prices. 

The landlord I was speaking to related higher rents with higher property prices - if it costs me more to buy it, I can charge more to rent it, etc - but I'm not sure it's that simple. It's hard to envisage a situation where demand for rental property may significantly fall in Northampton, but if it did that certainly would squeeze returns for owners who's bought more recently. 

£150,000 - FREEHOLD - 6% return

6% used to be the net return figure that everyone tried to avoid going below, but these days not much offers a return of this level so a freehold, ALREADY TENANTED at this level is a good buy in relation what else is available in the same price range.

This is a 4 bed ex Local Authority house in Thorplands - tenanted already at £750PCM. It's in good internal order (or was when the tenant went in!) so is not one you'd be expecting to spend a fortune on in the near future.

If you look at comparables in the area you'll see that some 2 beds and quite a few three beds are priced at the same level or in excess of this - so it's actually quite good value at the price the vendor is asking. It's one that sold, but it doesn't look like the purchaser can raise a mortgage - we're seeing quite a bit of this currently and I'll be blogging on it later this week.

All enquiries to richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk as ever.

SOLD CHEAP FREEHOLD £115k

Having written last week that you can't buy a freehold for £115k, I'm pleased to advise the market has listened and we have here a freehold for £115k!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-68443025.html

This will have investors all over it, so don't delay if you're interested - you have little to lose by buying it blind. There are very few freeholds that trade at anywhere near this price which is why it will be gone in 5 minutes.

It's a 1 bed cluster in Linacre Close - tiny but very rentable and the type of thing that has appeared on this blog umpteen times over the years - for a cheap rental you can't really go wrong. A really nice one of these would be worth about £122,500 at the moment - this one is clearly dated so £115,000 is reasonable and if you can shave anything off that price (which I doubt) then good for you. It will rent for between £500 and £550 depending on how good a finish you get.

richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk

Market Update : Squeeze at the bottom end continues

I quickly flicked through Rightmove today as I'm aware a number of investors are struggling to find things to buy. The results were interesting:

• Only 32 FREEHOLD properties for sale with an asking price of £160k or less. 
• The cheapest freehold property is £132k - a 3 bed in Blackthorn that's on with 2 agents. 

If you're from further south these may not sound like big figures, but for there to be nothing available at less than £130k is unusual and also shows that whilst the media says the property market is struggling (Brexit / Stamp Duty / Mortgage Criteria / etc) that's certainly not the case in Northampton. 12 months ago you'd have picked something freehold up for £120k so the bottom end has moved upwards by about 8%. 

There's still some value to be had though if you filter through carefully although it's mainly leasehold properties that are looking cheap. I noted:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67831799.html

This is a 1 bed flat for £50k (don't pay more) that will rent for £430PCM which is just short of 10% return. The catch is that the building is notoriously bad - so my approach would be to take the return and never visit the property(!). Ask me if you want to know more. 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65034935.html

This has been around for a while too, and should make a perfectly decent investment even if it's lacking a bit of kerb appeal. The lease length and charges would need looking into to ensure they aren't an issue, but assuming they are are fine I'd expect this to rent for £450. It's in a perfectly good location also. 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-68255096.html

This is worth a look also in that it's a 2 bed apartment for less than 100k. It's in a good location but given previous experience of the building it's possible the service charges may be a little high and the lease length a little low. Irrespective, this needs costing out because we'd let this for no less than £600PCM so it's possible it may STILL offer a decent return when the leasehold situation is factored in. 

Happy to talk to investors about these or any other properties they may have seen themselves - richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk. The ketchup bottle is something that gets squeezed by the way - not the best illustration maybe, but it's been a long day!

SOLD Bilton Village, Rugby, Nice 2 bed Apartment over 6% return on £125k.

This one has been unsold for a while as the presentation isn't terribly good - it's had a tenant in it for ages and is quite scruffy. People need to look more closely - there's nothing wrong with it and for £2500 and 10 days I could have it looking like new. It will then rent for £650PCM and is in a good area. Service charges are low. If you buy modern apartments, I challenge you to find one where the figures are better than this one. It may even be possible to pick it up for £122k or thereabouts.
So, assuming you buy it for around that, you'll be in at around £125k once works are completed which is over 6% for a flat that's in a good area - not bad at all in this market! richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk

SOLD 7.5% return on £105,000, Leasehold

The market paused for breath in June - election uncertainty had us worried for a short while but it seems that buyer interest has returned at what is traditionally a quiet time of year. If you look back at these blog pages over recent weeks you'll see that whilst there haven't been a load of purchasing suggestions everything that's been decent has sold. I've also spoken to more new investors in July than in any other month this year - and I've been away for a week!
So here's an interesting one for someone - a 3 bed ex Local Authority apartment which will cost you £105,000 and will rent for £650PCM. It's ready to rent - newly decorated and carpeted - so there's nothing major to factor in at the start. It's in Eastfields, NN3.
There will be a lease but the freeholder is the Local Authority so the costs are generally reasonable. Figures need confirming exactly but we believe total annual costs are about £750 and the lease remaining is about 100 years.
It's not on the market yet but soon will be. We're expecting it to sell very close to asking price as it's well priced to start off with - there are numerous 1 & 2 beds advertised at more money than this. richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk for further details.

SOLD DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY - Town Centre, 3x units

I've taken details this afternoon on a fairly dilapidated commercial unit in the town centre with planning permission for conversion to 3 self-contained flats. I'm still waiting actual plans etc, and will forward these to interested parties when I have them. It's a fairly full scale build / conversion though - not just knocking a couple of walls around - so is probably more suited to someone that's "in the trade". Clearly it's a cash only purchase too.
I suspect the finished building would be worth about £350,000.
I've spoken to a couple of builders already who seem to think "there's money in it" but are fully engaged on other projects at the moment - as such maybe this is an opportunity for someone to step in?
richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk for more information.

SOLD - BUY BUY BUY £115,000 FREEHOLD

A general election often causes the housing market to pause for breath and 2017 has been no exception - everything has been a bit quiet in the last 28 days hence no blogs from me!

However one has popped up today which is a definite buy - see http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-60446689.html - it looks like they want £115,000 for it if you're quick.

This is a £140,000 property easily - probably £145,000 in the current market. And it's not going to take £25,000 to get it in good order - I suspect no more than £10,000 looking at the pictures. As such this is a very good bet for someone shopping at the lower end of the market.

It will comfortably rent for £675PCM once done.

Interested parties should contact the agent direct as I'm not selling this one. I can assist with refurbishment as required - please email me richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk for details.

If you're out of area and want to buy blind - I'm happy to view for you - again contact me.

SOLD The Mounts : 3 bed house, £180,000, £895 rent

Rising prices are making it increasingly hard to get hold of freehold property that offers a decent return, so investors are increasingly looking at this sort of thing in the Mounts (10 mins walk to town). It's a perfectly decent area - a rental staple.

It's a Victorian Terrace set over 3 floors (4 if there's a basement) and already tenanted at a good rent of £895 per month. It's on a good street and is 1 min walk to the Racecourse park. The owner wants £180,000 for it which is just under 6% return before costs..

3 bed FREEHOLD Victorian Terrace

£180,000 ovno

Already TENANTED at £895

Headline Return of 5.96%

Hunter Street, NN1

richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk with any queries.

SOLD 8% return, £90,000 flat - the best return on offer currently?

The best value at the moment seems to be towards the lower end of the market, and this 2 bed flat in Kings Heath is no exception. It's not going to win an award for outstanding natural beauty, but may win awards for pure practicality and a decent return. Not suggesting you move in yourself, but for £90k (maybe less) you can be the proud owner and as the freeholder is Northampton BC, your service charge will be reasonable (under £70 per month) also. It will rent for £600 - which is an 8% return before charges, and over 7% after them. You won't get better than this in Northampton currently without renting room by room, which is far more hassle.

If you're "doing it for income" as many people tell me they are - this one is well worth considering. 

FULL DETAILS HERE

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41645142.html 

SOLD £70k leasehold with 6.6% return AFTER CHARGES

Another inexpensive leasehold flat here, which has a 999 year lease and as such is VERY good value at £70k. It's in a perfectly decent area too. It's a studio, so will be tiny. But we'll rent this for £450 to a private tenant, and after a monthly charge of £63, it still offers a return of 6.6% which is about as good as you'll get in the Northampton market (single property) at the moment. What can you buy for £70k? A caravan costs more!

richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk

SOLD BE QUICK! Small Freehold, £117k, £525 rent

The new financial year brings new impetus, and already since 01 April a number of investors seem to have found new purchases. The bottom end of the FREEHOLD market is about £120k at the moment and I hear of a 1 bed cluster in Swinford Hollow, Little Billing, that's about to become available again at a FIXED PRICE of £117,000. It will rent for £525. That's about a 5% return once stamp duty is factored in.
richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk

TAX CHANGES : WILL THEY KILL BUY TO LET?

From April, the amount of mortgage interest you can deduct as an expense will reduce - and this will continue every year until 2020. Whereas matters such as stamp duty changes have hit the headlines, and are generally well understood by investors, the changes regarding mortgage interest aren't as well publicised and certainly aren't as well as well understood. I've had customers on the phone in a state of panic, when perhaps they don't need to be.
There's no doubt that if you have multiple properties with not much equity, the changes may cause issues - some advice from an accountant or financial advisor may be a good bet. But for most people, the changes will be manageable. I was speaking to an accountant that specialises in investment property earlier in the week - he acts for hundreds of investors and noted a number of things based on his experience with his clients:

1. The changes may prompt more people to buy property through a limited company. If you do this you can still deduct mortgage interest as an expense, so that's an option for some people going forward. The question is whether the costs of running the company outweigh the benefit of still being able to deduct mortgage interest. The general position seems to be the more mortgaged properties you have in the limited company the greater the benefit. 
2. The changes may prompt more people to buy with cash. We're certainly seeing that at a local level - demand from investors in 2017 remains strong but increasingly it's cash investors that are buying, whether these are high net worth individuals or people taking a lump from their pension in their 50s. 
3. The changes will still leave buy to let attractive to most people. Many (I suspect myself included) will look at their tax return at the end of the 17-18 financial year and find they make a lower return than in 16-17. But the return will still be much higher than selling the property and doing something else with the money because interest rates remain so low. £50,000 in the bank delivers about £750 interest per annum. £50,000 in property - even with the forthcoming changes - should still deliver a return of thousands. 
4. Rising rents are already mitigating the loss. This is an important factor particularly if you've invested in Northampton, where rents that had been stagnant for many years are continuing to creep up as they have done for about 2 years now. We recently re-let a 2 bed house at £675 per month that we'd had on the books for years and had never got more than £575 for until a couple of years back. Whilst the owner of that one may rue the forthcoming tax changes, he should make sure he factors in that his income has gone up 17.5% in 2 years, which will more than offset any loss. As such, overall, he's ahead. 

As with all these things, the underlying message is to make sure you understand how the changes affect you first, before reading the inevitable Daily Mail headlines and allowing yourself to believe that the world is about to end! Get a spreadsheet going and follow through exactly how the changes will affect you before panicking - you are very likely to find it's not that bad, and still far better than the alternative. If you can't do this yourself, seek help from someone that can, such as an accountant. I can assist with a referral if required. 

NORTHAMPTON : Fastest Property Market in the UK!

..........well it is according to the national newspapers! A few have covered a report done by the Office of National Statistics which announced that properties sell more quickly here than anywhere else. We took our link from the Daily Mail - http://dailym.ai/2nwH7J3 - so it must be true!

If the Northampton Property Market was an athlete......

We know properties move fast. The only thing that stops them selling is vendors overpricing them, having been advised to by desperate estate agents who pay their staff for just getting the keys! But we don't know how the speed of OUR property market compares to other places in the UK - so a report like this is really interesting. There's loads of commentary about "the property market" in general but this really means the LONDON property market which is all the national media seems interested in (as no where else really exists). If you look at the URL at the top when you read the article, you'll see the bit the Mail are focusing on isn't that Northampton has the fastest market, but that Croydon is also showing a bit of form - which demonstrates the point I'm making.
So the report is useful and shows (independently) that the market in Northampton is as hot as anywhere in the UK. It says the average time for a sale to be agreed is 27 days - we actually work on 14 days in our office and find that most properties we get under £300,000 have gone in that time frame. Buy why is this? What's driving things in Northampton (apart from me!)?
At a basic level, it's SUPPLY AND DEMAND - and demand certainly exceeds supply. But whilst half our property woes as a nation stem from the fact that we don't build enough properties, I'm not sure that's the case in Northampton - there's loads been built in recent years, loads being built, and loads more planned for the next few years.
It's demand that's massive, and this is coming from investors and private purchasers. Investors haven't gone away - the government has tried to dampen their enthusiasm - but they remain just as active although the profile of 'type' of investor has probably changed. Increasingly people are TAKING MONEY FROM THEIR PENSION to buy property "because I'll get a 5% return in property vs 0% in the bank". They aren't wrong, and they seem to be buying in Northampton because it's still a place where they can afford a property and can rent it to a decent tenant in full time employment - they've been priced out of the market further south.
But there's demand from private purchasers too. Northampton grew massively in the 80s and 90s when people moved to the area and it's their kids that are now wanting a place of their own. Added to that, we've seen a huge amount of immigration over the last 10 years and those who came first - mainly Polish - now have aspirations of property ownership and are buying in their droves. The result is prices that continue to increase and I've got landlords who bought 2 years ago - and bought something that I didn't think was a particularly good deal - looking at a 20% profit if they chose to sell today. And prices are still rising!
So it's positive news if you're a property owner here, and the type of news that will only persuade more investors to come. To help them understand the area and the local property market better, they should start with a copy of our buy to let guide - http://bit.ly/2o5DKZV - which covers the basics on where to invest locally. And they should be prepared to make decisions quickly - as the article says, property sells faster here than anywhere else. 

SOLD : CHEAP STUDIO, under £75k, 7%+

A proper budget option here for someone that's price conscious. I can talk confidently about this one as I own the (identical) studio above which rents without issue and offers a return of over 7%.

• They are asking £73,500 for a studio that looks to be in good condition. It will rent for £475 which is a headline return of 7.7%.
• Service charges are nominal. It's a strange set up whereby you pay a number of small invoices for this and that - but it's no more than £250 per annum in total. 
• The lease is lowish - under 85 years. I've just extended mine to 125 years which has cost me about £3500 - but my (identical) flat would be worth £80k+ now - so worth doing. 

Here it is in all it's glory - http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65297219.html. You would need to contact the agent directly to view it, although there would be very little risk in buying this blind - I did with mine!

You can't buy anything less than £73,500 in Northampton currently unless it's a caravan!

Any questions, please email me - richard.baker@belvoirnorthampton.co.uk

COUNCIL CLOSES ARTICLE 4 LOOPHOLE

Not entirely unexpected news, but Northampton BC has this week announced that the Far Cotton and Delapre areas will soon be included in the Article 4 area. This means it will no longer be possible to create a new HMO in those areas without planning permission.
It's slightly bizarre that these locations weren't included from day 1 - as these are the closest areas to the new university campus and precisely the places where there was likely to be the greatest HMO demand. Investors have been buying here in their droves for a couple of years so there's an argument that this is shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. Irrespective it will probably help to cool a local market that has overheated - prices in Far Cotton in particular have been getting silly of late.
And for investors who own already, this arguably isn't a bad thing. Yes, a license may be required, but the requirements are fairly basic and sensible owners who have converted to HMO already will have done much of the work that's required. All this change will do is pick up those owners who have converted without paying attention to things like fire safety - which arguably isn't a bad thing anyway.
Further information here http://www.northampton.gov.uk/news/article/2518/northampton-borough-council-proposes-measures-to-manage-hmos - this was passed at the planning meeting, so it's no longer 'proposed'.

SOLD 5.7% return, 3 bed house, well presented

An opportunity here on a property that's been much improved by the current owner and has rented well for a number of years. It's a 3 bedroom house (so no service charges) in Thorplands - currently tenanted at £650PCM which will increase to £675PCM later this year. The owner wants it advertised at £139,995 which will happen later this week. So a net return of 5.7% for someone.

I can email full details on request on this one - richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk 

As well as this being a high demand area for rentals, this property has had new fascias, a kitchen, bathroom, flooring and decoration in recent years so it's pretty well set up for being low maintenance over the coming years. I own an almost identical one on the same estate and it's one of my best performers in terms of being low maintenance. 

SOLD 1 bed Apartment, £100k, £525 rent, low service charge

It's been a decent week for properties with attractive yields and here's another relatively inexpensive one that comes in at around 6% after charges.

It's a 1 bed on Collyweston Road, NN3 - a self contained apartment with its own private entrance. We've had it managed for a number of years and a new tenant will soon be going in at £525 per month meaning there's an opportunity here to buy with tenant in situ. It needs very little spending on it - it's pretty much fine as it is.

The owner wants £100k for it, and advises the lease has 97 years on it, and annual charges are just under £500.

Pictures below. Email me quickly if interested. richard.baker@belvoir.co.uk