6% yield from Haart!

This 1 bedroom apartment has come to market with Haart for £100,000. The property benefits from being a short walk from local shops and amenities, it has allocated parking and use of the communal gardens. The property is also being sold with no onward chain therefore making the process quick and easy.

The property would let for £500pcm and if purchased at the asking price would achieve a return of 6%. This is a great return and the property would make a fantastic first time investment.

For more information please follow the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37414446.html

7.1% Yield from Jackson & Co!

On the market with Jackson & Co is this 1 bedroom second floor apartment located on Hawkins Road is a fantastic investment for anyone looking to get onto the property ladder. This apartments benefits from being within a close proximity to Colchester Hythe station and is also close to the university which means you will never have trouble finding a tenant. It has been well maintained and is modern throughout so you will not have to carry any work out on the property.

The property is currently being sold purely as an investment as it has a tenant in until August 2016, the current tenant is paying £700pcm, if the property was purchased at the guide price of £118,000 the this would achieve a return of 7.1%.

For more information please follow the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37373424.html

Fenn Wright 6% Return! Dont miss out!

This two bedroom apartment has come to market with Fenn Wright priced at £135,000. The property benefits from 2 good sized bedrooms with an en-suite to master. It has undercover parking and is within close proximity to colchester town centre and Colchester Mainline train station.

This well presented first floor apartment would achieve £675pcm in the current market and if purchased at the asking price would achieve a return of 6%. This is a great opportunity for a new investor or someone looking to build their portfolio of properties.

For more information please follow the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55692629.html

Colchester Property Market Crisis as New House Building slumps by 41.94%

One of the key factors that determine the price of anything is the demand and supply of the item that is being bought and sold. When it comes to property, demand can change overnight, but it takes years and years to build new properties, thus increasing the supply.

The Conservatives have pledged to build over 1 million homes by 2020. I am of the opinion that as a country, irrespective of which party, we have not built enough homes for decades, and if the gap between the number of households forming and the number of new homes being built continues to grow, we are in danger of not being able to house our children or grand children. I believe the country is past the time for another grand statement of ambition by another Housing Minister. Surely it’s right to give normal Colchester families back the hope of a secure home, be that rented or owned? As a town, we need to exert pressure on our local MP Will Quince, so they can make sure Westminster is held accountable, to ensure there is a comprehensive plan, with enough investment, that can actually get these homes built.

To give you an idea of the sorts of numbers we are talking about, in the Colchester Borough Council area in 2005, the properties being built peaked at 1,240. In 2007 the number was 1,220 and in 2008 there was still 1,210 properties built. By 2014, that figure had dropped by a massive 41.94% to 720 properties built.

The outcome of too few homes being built in Colchester means the working people of the town are being priced out of buying their first home and renters are not getting the quality they deserve for their money. The local authority isn’t building the estates they were after the war and housing associations are having their budgets tightened year on year, meaning they have less money to spend on building new properties. I know of many Colchester youngsters, who are living with their parents for longer because they cannot afford to get onto the housing ladder and growing families are unable to buy the bigger homes they need.

I talk to many Colchester business people and they tell me they need a flexible and mobile workforce, but the high cost of moving home and lack of decent and affordable housing are barriers to attracting and retaining employees. Furthermore, building new homes is a powerful source of growth, creating jobs across the county and supporting hundreds of Colchester businesses. It is true that landlords have taken up the mantle and over the last 15 years have bought a large number of properties. The Government need to be thankful to all those Colchester landlords, who own the 10,975 rental properties in the town. Most local landlords only have a handful of rented properties (to aid their retirement), and without them, I honestly don’t know who would house all the extra people in Colchester!

Moving forward, those Colchester landlords have many pitfalls, both in the short term and medium term. For instance, were you aware that the rules of changes for new tenancies from the 1^st October 2015 (with some imposing penalties including loosing the right to require the tenant to vacate, if they are done incorrectly) or in the medium term, the planned change in the way buy to let’s are taxed?

More than ever, the days of buying any old property in Colchester and you would be set for life are gone. Now, it’s all about ensuring you stay the right side of the law, buying the right property (and that might mean even selling some to buy others), so you build the right portfolio for you as a landlord. 

East Links Buy to Let ... 6.1% Yield

This 3 bedroom well presented ground floor flat has come to market with East links for £152,000. Situated East of Colchester on Titania Close the property benefits from being within a close proximity to Colchester Hythe train station which offers inter linking trains to Colchester mainline. IT is also within easy reach to local shops and the University.

The property would achieve £775pcm in the current market and if purchased at the asking price would achieve a return of 6.1%. This is not an investment opportunity to be missed.

For more information please follow the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55632818.html

Colchester 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 Colchester as the number of houses available to buy is at an 8 year all-time low.

Back in Spring 2008, there were over 2,800 properties for sale in Colchester and since then this has steadily declined year on year, so now there are only 776 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 Colchester 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 Colchester 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 Colchester property market like myself, most of us agree the movement in the Colchester 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.

• CO1- Colchester 35 properties sold in May 2015 (with an average value of £179,470), whilst over the Summer months of 2014, the number of properties selling in this postcode reached into the mid/late 50’s.

• CO2 - Layer de la Haye 70 properties sold in May 2015 (the most recent set of figures from the HM Land Registry), whilst over the Autumn months of 2014, the number of properties selling in this postcode was always between 91 and 104 per month. (Interestingly the average value of those properties was £193,106).

• CO3 - Stanway 45 properties sold in May 2015 (the most recent set of figures from the HM Land Registry), whilst over the Summer months of 2014, the number of properties selling in this postcode was always between 61 and 66 per month. (Interestingly the average value of those properties was £341,493).

• CO4 - Boxted  61 properties sold in May 2015 (with an average value of £225,491), whilst over the Summer months of 2014, the number of properties selling in this postcode reached into the late 80’s/mid 90’s.

• CO5 - Tiptree 42 properties sold in May 2015 (with an average value of £ 284,662), whilst over the Autumn months of 2014, the number of properties selling in this postcode reached into the mid 60’s.

• CO6 - Coggeshall 41 properties sold in May 2015 (with an average value of £352,254), whilst over the Summer months of 2014, the number of properties selling in this postcode reached into the late 50’s.

• CO7 - Brightlingsea, Wivenhoe and Great Bentley 39 properties sold in May 2015 (with an average value of £ 240,883), whilst over the Summer months of 2014, the number of properties selling in this postcode reached into the mid 70’s.

So what does this all mean for homeowners and landlords alike in Colchester?  Demand for Colchester 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 Colchester 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 Colchester, 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 Colchester property market needs in the long term.

For more insights, comments and facts on the Colchester Property market please visit the Colchester Property Blog www.colchesterproperty.blogspot.co.uk where you will find many similar articles to this.

Beresfords next to station! ... 6% Yield

This two bedroom apartment has come to market with Bersefords priced at £125,000. This property is the perfect opportunity for an investor due to its prime location on the doorstep of Colchesters Mainline train station. It also benefits from allocated parking plus visitor spaces and is even a short distance to the town centre.

In the current rental market this property would let for £625pcm, with a few touch ups it could even reach £650. If purchased for £125,000 and let for £625pcm it would achieve a fantastic return of 6%. An opportunity not to be missed as this will provide a great long term investment ideal to house commuters.

For more information please follow the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35621883.html

3 Bedroom House ... 5.82% return!

This three bedroom mid terrace house has come to market with both David Martin Group and Palmer and Partners. Situated on Bourne Road, south of Colchester the property is a short distance to the town centre and also within walking distance to local shops and amenities. The property has been completely refurbished throughout providing an investor with the perfect opportunity to get tenants in straight away, the property is also being sold with no onward chain. 

This 3 bedroom property would achieve £800pcm in the current market, the property is on the market for £165,000. This would achieve a return of 5.82%. 

For more information on this property and to have a look at the internal photos then please follow the link below. 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55493963.html?premiumA=true

Palmer and Partners... 6.24% Yield!

This 2 bedroom apartment on the market with palmer and partners has just been reduced to £125,000. Situated south of Colchester the property is within close proximity to local shops and amenities it is also within a short drive to the town centre. The property is well maintained and is being sold with no onward chain making it an ideal investment opportunity. 

In the current rental market the property would achieve £650pcm and if purchased at the asking price would the reach a return of 6.24%. An opportunity not to be missed by a budding investor, have a look at the internal photos by following the link below. 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51915358.html?premiumA=true

Essex Landlords reap the rewards of strong rental growth

Landlords in the East of England are reaping the rewards of strong rental and house price growth in the region over the past year, according to the latest Rightmove Rental Trends Tracker.

Rightmove’s new total returns calculation, using the largest rental property data set in England and Wales, takes into account the area’s capital price growth over the last year and the average rent a landlord would have collected in that time. This identifies the locations where buy-to-let investors have seen the highest overall return on their investment.

Places in Essex and Hertfordshire make up seven of the top 10 investor hotspots, with Cottingham in Yorkshire being the sole appearance from the north. East of England’s annual rental growth racing ahead of the other regions has helped contribute to this strong total return on investment, up 6.4% on last year compared to 4.5% nationally outside of London. In the past three months rents have risen by 2.0% in the East of England, with only the East Midlands reporting a higher increase at 2.1%.

Sam Mitchell, Head of Lettings at Rightmove, comments: “We’ve been reporting high tenant demand for rental property in Essex for a while now, so it makes sense that it should feature strongly in our new total return on investment league table. Investors and tenants who’ve been priced out of London and the South East have looked for better value areas in the East, and it seems they’ve both found a winning formula. For example, if you look at the top 10, six of the areas have average asking prices below the national average, making it affordable for buy-to-let investors. From a tenant affordability perspective the East of England’s average rent for a two bed is less than £900 a month, compared to over £2,000 in London.”

Figures are supplied form rightmove and based on 2 bedroom homes.

Could your Colchester property save you from Pension oblivion?

If you were born in the early 1970’s or late 1960’s, if you haven’t started to think about it yet, retirement is closer than you think. In fact the number of years you have left to work is less than the number of years you have worked. The basic state pension is worth £115.95 a week for a single person in 2015/16 (or £6,029 a year) and £231.90 a week for a couple (£12,118 a year) as long as your partner has paid their stamp (although there are certain get of jail cards if they haven’t). 

As a household, could you live on just over £12k a year?

However, could the property you are living in in Colchester save you from poverty when you reach retirement? You see, a regular income is vital in retirement, and the bricks and mortar you own in Colchester could provide a way for you to finance life when you retire.

If you are in your 30’s, instead of saddling yourself with bigger and bigger mortgages, going from your first time buyer flat, to a terraced, to the semi and then the large detached house, you could instead keep your terraced or small semi, turning it into buy a buy to let property, let the rent pay the mortgage and then rely on capital growth to provide you with a lump sum when you sell the property and retire.  One of the biggest plus points of buy to let is what is known as leverage. Let me explain ... say you have a deposit of 25% and the value of the property rises by 3% a year, your gains in fact multiply to 12%.  However, if property prices drop, 'leverage' can be catastrophic, as losses will also be multiplied. Property values have dropped a number of times in the last 50 years, but they always seem to bounce back ... property must be seen as a long term investment.

Let me explain how leverage could work for you. If you had bought a Colchester house in spring of 1983 for £40,000, using a 75% mortgage and 25% deposit, (meaning your deposit would be £10,000). Today, that Colchester property would have risen in value to £276,733, a rise of 591.8%. However, when you look at the growth on just your deposit, the rise is even better ... instead of 591.8%, we see a rise of 2667% (remembering that the mortgage would have been paid off).

However, buy to let is not all about capital growth and in retirement, income is more important than capital growth, as rent is the key to a steady income.

So surely the best strategy is to buy those Colchester properties with the high rents (when compared to the value of the property). These are called high yield properties in the buy to let world because the monthly return is so much greater. So surely they are the best in Colchester? Possibly, but the properties that offer these higher yields (in the order of 5% to 6% per year) tend to be in such areas as Greenstead in Colchester, historically they haven’t offered such good capital growth when compared to the town average, have a higher tendency for void periods and such properties tend to attract tenants that have a greater propensity to be high maintenance.

Therefore, if a high maintenance rental portfolio wasn’t for you, another strategy could be buy a property with relatively smaller rental returns of 3% to 4% per year (i.e. lower yields), but in a more up market area such as Lexden. Properties such as these tend to suffer from less void periods (i.e. when there is no tenant in the property paying you rent) and they historically have had better long term capital growth when compared to the town average.

Every landlord is different and every property is different. All I suggest to you is do your homework.

As regular readers will know, I am happy to share my knowledge and experience of the Colchester property market, high yields, high capital growth, what to buy, what not to buy and where to buy in the Colchester Property market can always be found on the Colchester Property Blog www.colchesterproperty.blogspot.co.uk

David Martin Group - 5.8% Yield

This 3 bedroom terrace house has come to market with David Martin. Situated within the New Town area it is within easy reach to the Town Centre and the Town station. The property is being sold chain free which means with a few finishing touches it would be ready for tenants to move in as soon as possible. 

The property would achieve £825pcm in the current market and if purchased at the asking price of £170,000 then would achieve a return of 5.8%. 

Have a look at the internal photos by following the link below. 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55127357.html

Colchester tenants feel the squeeze as rents continue to rise

As my regular readers know, my passion is talking about Colchester property. As a property agent I like to comment on the Colchester 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 Colchester as more and more of their wages are being taken up by ever increasing rents.

The cost of renting a home in Colchester has nearly broken through the £800 a month barrier as the average rent for a property in the town, now stands at £791 per month, and whilst this was a drop of 0.6% last month, rents for new lets are 7% higher than they were 12 months ago.

House price inflation has certainly eased in Colchester 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 Colchester rents are a sign that the Colchester economy is picking up. 

This means Colchester landlords are continuing to capitalise on the Colchester property market. The most recent Land Registry data suggests the annual property price rises in the town have eased over 2015, leaving property values 8.8% 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 Tory’s got back into No.10, 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.  For example, the average length of time the 35 Colchester properties up for rent between £250 to £500 per month is 77 days, whilst the average length of time the 304 properties at £500 to £1000 per month is 78 days and 54 properties that fall into the £1000 to £2000 per month price bracket is an eye watering 142 days.

When you start comparing different parts of Colchester, the numbers are even stranger!  The bottom line is that you must take advice and opinion. One source of advice and opinion is the Colchester Property Blog. In the Colchester 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.

Whether you are a landlord, ‘Homes Under the Hammer’ addict or just a homeowner who is interested in what is happening to the local property market, then please visit the Colchester property Blog  www.colchesterproperty.blogspot.co.uk

Palmer and Partners ... 5.7% Yield!

This 2 bedroom apartment has come to market with Palmer and Partners situated on the popular development of Mortimer Gardens. The property benefits from an allocated parking space, two double bedrooms and is very well presented throughout. 

This property would achieve £650pcm and if the property was purchased at asking price would achieve a return of 5.7%. This is a great return and the property would offer a fantastic lounge term investment due to its location close to the A12 and within easy reach of the Hospital and mainline station. 

For more information with regards to this property please follow the link below. 

Hamilton catchment area properties outperform Colchester average by 18.58%

I was having a chat with a Colchester 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 asked my colleagues on the front line, who take 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 of Colchester 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, Hamilton Primary School is one of the best primary schools in Colchester.  Its figures are certainly impressive. Their last Ofsted Report classified it as Outstanding, 98% of 11-year pupils achieving Level 4 or above in maths, reading and writing whilst 43% of them achieved level 5. Finally, the schools’ KS2 rating was classed as Excellent.

Looking at property sales within half a mile of Hamilton, property values have risen in value since 1999 by 178.95%, whilst according to recent figures, the Colchester average as a whole has risen in the same time frame by 150.91%.

That means the parents of Hamilton have seen the values of their properties rise proportionally 18.58% more than the Colchester 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 Colchester landlords, both who are with us and many who are with other Colchester agents, like to pop in for a coffee or ring/email us to discuss the Colchester property market, to consider how Colchester 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. One good source of opinion, specific to the Colchester property market is the Colchester Property Blog. www.colchesterproperty.blogspot.co.uk I don’t bite, I don’t do hard sell, I will just give you my honest and straight talking opinion.

6% from David Martin!

This 2 bedroom flat has come to market with David Martin situated in Maria Court, East Colchester. The property is very well presented and offers a fantastic investment being sold with no onward chain. 

In the current market the property would achieve £625pcm and if purchased at the asking price would achieve a return of 6%. This is a fantastic Yield and due to the location and presentation of the flat would have no trouble finding a tenant. 

For more information please follow the link below. 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51064222.html

6.3% Yield from More Estate Agents!

More Estate Agents have this fantastic investment opportunity on the market situated on Greenstead Court, East of Colchester. On the market for just £95,000 this one bedroom maisonette would make the perfect property for the keen first time investor. 

Offering a potential rental income of £500pcm, if purchased at the asking price it would achieve a return of 6.3%. This is a great opportunity so dont miss out! 

For more information on the property please follow the link below. 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51768241.html?premiumA=true