Brand new property investment opportunity in Calverton - 5.5% yield

I have mentioned this new housing development in the ever popular Calverton before, it really is a lovely place to invest.  With good schools, transport links and a village atmosphere, Calverton attracts many different types of tenants.  

Being a new build, this property is ready to let.  An easy investment for a new landlord, or a reliable property to build up a portfolio.

It is on the market direct from the builder, Taylor Wimpey, for £184,995, but as with all new builds, they are bound to accept offers from investors with no chain.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-37525089.html

Bingham House owners desert the housing market with an 8 year low

Even though the housing market is in an upbeat state in many parts of the UK, getting on the property ladder is still challenging for many and regarded as unattainable by some.  However, that goal has become even worse recently in Bingham as the number of houses available to buy is at an 8 year all time low.

Back in Spring 2008, there were over 200 properties for sale in Bingham and since then this has steadily declined year on year, so now there are only 46 for sale in the town.  This continuing diminishing supply of housing has been happening over those years for a while and there simply aren’t enough properties in Bingham to match demand.

According to a recent report by the National Association of Estate Agents, that said, “There are now 11 house hunters fighting after every available house which isn’t sustainable.”   What that means is Bingham youngsters, who are looking to buy their first home, are finding themselves being squeezed out by the competition.  

However, in the meantime, nobody wants to live with parents until they are in their 30’s, so that in turn creates demand for more rental properties, which means landlords have a greater demand for more rental properties so are buying more, resulting in even less smaller properties for the youngsters to buy, it’s a vicious circle.  

Talking to fellow agents, mortgage arrangers, surveyors and solicitors in the Town, all of whom have extensive dealings in the Bingham property market like myself, most of us agree the movement in the Bingham market is taking place in the middle to upper market, higher up the property ladder and it’s second and third steppers pushing through the properties that are being bought and sold.

That has meant as people tend to move less in the middle to upper market, the number of the properties actually selling has drastically reduced over the last couple of years.

When we look at the individual areas of the town, it paints an interesting picture.

• NG13 – Bingham, Whatton, Bottesford, Aslockton Langer, Plungar and Barkestone, East Bridgford, and Orston  17 properties sold in May 2015 (the most recent set of figures from the HM Land Registry), whilst over the Spring months of 2014, the number of properties selling in this postcode was always between 50 and 60 per month. (Interestingly the average value of those properties was £264,702). 

So what does this all mean for homeowners and landlords alike in Bingham?  Demand for Bingham property is good, especially at the lower end of the market.  However, with fewer properties coming up for sale, it means property prices are proving reasonably stable too.

You see I believe a more stable, consistent Bingham property market, with less people seeing property as an easy way to make a quick buck (as many did in the early 2000’s when prices were rising at nearly 20% a year so people were buying and selling every other minute), but a property market that has a steady growth of property values in Bingham, year on year, without the massive peaks and troughs we saw in the late 1980’s and mid/late 2000’s might just be the thing that the Bingham property market needs in the long term.

If you are a landlord or considering investing in property please give me a call to discuss the performance of buy to let investments or pop into our office in The Market Place in Bingham.

Great buy to let available for sale - Wharf Gardens Bingham - 5% yield

This apartment, on the market with Newton Fallowell, would let very easily and will give its owner a return of around 5%.  Situated on a very popular development, it is decorated to a high standard and offers flexible living, in a location with excellent transport links.  As the property has no upward chain, it should be a fairly smooth purchase.

Built only a couple of years ago, the owner will still benefit from its NHBC warranty, plus a low maintenance investment.

We recently let a property around the corner from this within 24 hours, highlighting just how much tenants love the area!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51608767.html

Bingham tenants feel the squeeze as rents continue to rise

As my regular readers know, my passion is talking about Bingham property. As a property agent I like to comment on the Bingham property market, which I hope will be of interest to both homeowners and buy to let landlords alike. However, this week, I want to highlight the plight of the tenants of Bingham as more and more of their wages are being taken up by ever increasing rents.

The cost of renting a home in Bingham has broken through the £550 a month barrier as the average rent for a property in the town, now stands at £572 per month, a rise of 1.6 % last month, leaving rents for new lets 6.6% higher than they were 12 months ago.

House price inflation has certainly eased in Bingham from the heady days of 2014, but still with retail price inflation (for goods and services) reducing to 0% any increase in property values, no matter how small, means in real terms property is still getting more expensive. Meanwhile, many tenants have given up saving for a mortgage deposit as rents continue to take more and more of their wage packets leaving nothing to save for a deposit. That means, more and more tenants are deciding to rent for the long term and therefore the desire for decent high quality rental properties continues to exceed the available rental stock.

I would go as far as to suggest that rents are an ideal barometer to the state of the local economy as a whole and strongly believe that the recent increase in Bingham rents are a sign that the Bingham economy is picking up. 

This means Bingham landlords are continuing to capitalise on the Bingham property market. The most recent Land Registry data suggests the annual property price rises in the town have eased over 2015, leaving property values only 4.48% higher than 12 months ago, so as property price growth is easing off, with the increased rents, rental yields are strengthening for the first time in years to compensate. The mortgage market has become more stable after the mad months of May and June after the election, and so, everything is set to be good news for landlords; even with the Chancellors change of tax rules in the coming years for buy to let mortgages.

You can get some amazingly low mortgage rate deals at the moment, so with mortgage rates so low and returns still extraordinarily attractive, there’s rarely been a better time to invest in rental properties.

However, (you knew there would be a however!), it’s all about buying the right property at the right price. Not all property types are seeing equal rises in rents and capital growth.  Different parts of the town, different types of properties are experiencing quite different changes.  

When you start comparing different parts of Bingham, the numbers are even stranger!  The bottom line is that you must take advice and opinion. In the Bingham Property Blog, you will see many more articles like this, discussions and even what I consider to be the best buy to let deals around, irrespective of which agent is selling it. Please feel free to give me a call on 01949 714101 or pop into see me at our offices on the Market Place in Bingham.

Potential Buy to Let - No Upward Chain - Brendan Grove, Bingham - 6% yield

This property looks like a bargain to me!  Just on the market today and with no upward chain it could be a quick and easy buy to let investment.  

On the market for £127,950, with our friends at Richard Watkinson Partners it could see a healthy return of around 6%.

See the full details here: 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52017757.html





 

Potential buy to let investment: Oak Avenue Vs Wharf Gardens

I have recently been asked to look at a couple of properties in Bingham to get to the bottom of their potential as an investment opportunity. Both these properties are currently listed for sale with two Bingham agents. So I looked at what each had to offer and came to a surprising conclusion.

Oak Avenue a 2 bedroom apartment with a large kitchen and separate lounge, finished to a modern standard with a garage for sale at £94,950. I think this should achieve £525 pcm.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51724150.html

 

Wharf Gardens, 2 bed apartment with allocated parking in a newly built development. This in on for sale at £125,000 and these let for £550 pcm. 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51608767.html

 

When calculating rental return on these types of properties you must consider service charges and ground rent costs as these would need to be paid by the landlord. 

                                               Oak Avenue                 Wharf Gardens
Asking Price:                              £94,950                         £125,000
Rental income per annum:           £6300                             £6600
Less approx service charges:        £1250                             £1150   
Potential Yield per annum:            5.3%                               4.3%    


Looking at the costs of securing a buy to let mortgage on these properties (using a very useful mortgage calculator http://www.mortgageadvicebureau.com/mortgage-search ) 

Available today 22.10.15 with Monmouthshire - 2 yrs fixed at 2.79, subsequent rate 4.99%

                                      Oak Avenue                            Wharf Gardens 

30% deposit                         £29,000                               £37,500

Mortgage repayment           £296 pcm                             £393 pcm

Rental income                     £420 pcm                            £454 pcm
(after deducting service charges) 

Demonstrating the rent covering the costs of the service charges and mortgage repayments and leaving spare to save up for any potential repairs required, agents fees and void periods. 

The figures above show how Oak Avenue can produce a greater surplus income each month and requires a lower deposit to reach the 70% Loan to value level that is required to get access to a good selection of mortgage products.    

Both properties are going to perform well but as an investor it is so important do your research and not to be afraid of considering a range of properties. 

If you would like an honest opinion do not hesitate to give me a call or pop into our office on The Market Place in Bingham.

Carnarvon Primary catchment area properties outperform Bingham average by 23.83%

I was having a chat with a Bingham property investor the other day, when he asked if schools, especially primary schools, affected the local property market in terms of demand from buyers and tenants to a property.  

Anecdotally, I have always known this to be true; a good school creates good demand and good demand does affect house prices.  So, I looked at the phone calls from people putting themselves on our mailing list and they confirmed that most people cite location as their number one factor.

After looking through our mailing list, it confirms there is a close correlation between the high demand areas in Bingham and the close proximity to a good primary school.  Talking to my team in a recent morning meeting, they agreed many people would look to increase their budget quite significantly, whilst others would consider downgrading their property requirements to be close to a good primary school.

Those of you who regularly read this blog will know I like a challenge, so I decided to look at the science behind these assumptions. According to the SchoolGuide website, Carnarvon Primary School is one of the best primary schools in Bingham.  Its figures are certainly impressive. Their last Ofsted Report classified it as Outstanding, 97% of 11 year old pupils achieving Level 4 or above in maths, reading and writing whilst 25% of them achieved level 5. Finally, the schools’ KS2 rating was classed as Good.

Looking at property sales within a mile of Carnarvon Primary, property values have risen in value since 1999 by 144.04%, whilst according to recent figures, the Bingham average as a whole has risen in the same time frame by 116.32%.  

That means the parents of Carnarvon Primary have seen the values of their properties rise proportionally 23.83% more than the Bingham average ... interesting don’t you think?

However, whilst a good primary school significantly contributes more to house prices, the same can’t be said for secondary schools. There are two reasons for this, firstly, as secondary schools are much larger, so their catchment areas are correspondingly much larger, meaning parents don’t need to live so close to the school. Secondly, in the UK, whilst the difference between the top 25% and bottom 25% of secondary schools is not insignificant, in the primary school sector, the difference between the top 25% and bottom 25%, according to the London School of Economics, is considerably and significantly more.

Many other Bingham landlords, both who are with us and many who are with other Bingham agents, like to pop in, ring or email us to discuss the Bingham property market, to consider how Bingham compares with its closest rivals and hopefully we can answer all their questions. You must take lots of advice and seek out the best opinion and I will just give you my honest and straight talking opinion.