Thursday 29 September 2016

Quarterly Warrington Property Market Update

Time now for a quick round-up of what has been happening in the sales & lettings market in the Warrington area throughout the last 3 months to date. (figures obtained from Rightmove and do not include private lets):



You can see from the rental figures above, that it is 1, 2 and 3 beds that are most in demand, with 2 beds being the most popular, now if we look back at the last quarterly update it was the 3 bedrooms that were the most popular so there is a slight change in demand in a short space of time, I find that 2 and 3 bedroom houses for rentals are always the ones in high demand in Warrington. 3 bedrooms usually attract most interest + least void periods.


If you look at sales, it seems 1, 2, 3 & 4 beds are what people want to buy, this time it is 3 beds that win the race just like the previous quarter.

So, as an investment, what should you buy?

Well demand is there to rent anything up to 3 bedrooms, but there are already a high number of potential private purchasers chasing those same properties, so this will inevitably increase pressure on availability and start to drive prices up, whereas 2 beds are in a lot less demand by purchasers, yet these are often prized by renters. Our experience here tells us that 2 beds will always find a rental market, they will always rent out quickly but there will be more churn (turnover of tenants), and these will command a slightly higher yield than 3 beds. 

However, for families wishing to rent, 3 beds are a must, and in the catchment area of great schools (particularly secondary) they will always be in high demand and with less churn, and it is these properties that tend to offer better scope for capital growth in the long term whilst providing a steady yield of around 6-7.5% yield today.

If you are thinking of getting into the property rental market and don't know where to start, speak to us for impartial advice and guidance to get the best return on your investment. For more information about other potential investment properties that we could introduce you to, or to ask about our thoughts on your own investment choices, call us now on 01925 235 335 or pop along and speak to us in person at our office at 6 Bankside, Crosfield Street, you can always email me on manoj@hamletwarrington.co.uk
Dont forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Warrington Property News. 


Thursday 22 September 2016

Warrington Landlord’s best kept secret


I hope all my readers are doing well, it was around 4 or 5 months ago when I last invited you to join my premier investor list so I thought I would share this post again, our premier investment list will give you direct access to any properties we find in Warrington which will make a good investment. 

Having found our blog, you probably know a little more about the local market and about us, and you've probably even been in contact to ask us about something you've already seen. All good so far…

So why wait?

With blogs featuring great deals published daily, wouldn't it be great to be able to 'jump the queue' and get the inside info a few days early? We constantly check the market and keep an up to date list of potential Buy To Let properties in the Warrington area, so we have a database we can refer to should you wish to consider a selection of options.


Warrington Landlord’s best kept secret


If you are a private landlord in Warrington and your are struggling to find the right tenant for your property

Then why not advertise for FREE with unlimited text and pictures on the ***Warrington Houses to Let, For Sale or Wanted*** FACEBOOK GROUP.

There are over 2000 local Warrington members most of which are tenants.
Click the Link to join. Tenants and Landlords welcome –


If YOU want to be the first to know about what would make a great Buy To Let investment that is currently available either on the open market or via our own sources (landlord to landlord sales etc), call or email us now and get your name put on our Premier Investor list on 01925 235 338, pop through the door of our offices at Bankside offices, Crosfield Street in Warrington or send us an email on manoj@hamletwarrington.co.uk

Dont forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Warrington Property News. 


Friday 16 September 2016

2 Bed Terraced in Warrington with an 8% return



I thought I would end the week with a deal I spotted on Rightmove this morning. This 2 bedroom terraced house is on Allcard Street, Warrington and is advertised with out friends over at New-Way Homes.

Iv done some research on the street and the last property to sell there was in 2014 it was a 2 bedroom and it sold around November. Now it sold for £57,500 click here to see the property there is only 1 picture of the front of the house so we cant get an idea of the state of the house.

However there is another house that sold on the same street a few months previous in October 2014, another 2 bedroom terrace and it went for £58,000 plenty pictures for you to see. click here to see the property

Anyway lets get back to the one thats for sale.. it is on the market for £74,950 and its ready to let. From the images it looks clean and tidy it has 1 double room and 1 single, ideal for a young couple or a small family (couple + child). This would rent for £475 pcm.


Now your wondering where i got the 8% yield from.. well if we go back to the research and take a look at the second property i posted, if that house was to be emptied i believe it is in a similar state to the one that we are discussing now is in. It sold for £58k ok there might have been a few thousand pounds worth of work that may have had to go into the property however i believe if you went in with an offer of around £70k i think they would snap it up.

Give New-Way Homes a call and get a viewing booked. 

As always feel free to drop me a email on manoj@hamletwarrington.co.uk if you have also spotted a property online and would like a second opinion. Give me a call on 01925 235 338 if you would like me to come along to the viewing, an extra set of eyes always helps.

Thursday 15 September 2016

Kimberley Street or Fox Street... Which is the best investment in Warrington?




I am talking to someone at the moment who is considering becoming a landlord for the first time. He visited the office to pick our brains – which is a better buy to let investment? Kimberley Street or Fox Street? More importantly, which would offer a better return/yield?

Properties on both streets let and sell well, and they are running parallel to each other, but I wanted to do a bit more research to help with his choice. Having local knowledge, right down to street level, is very useful when it comes to guiding our landlords on where to invest next in Warrington.

From my experience, you can have great investment properties on one end of the street, but on the same street further away they can be failing investments.

The Research
  
The average price for a property on Kimberley Street is £71,890; while on Fox Street it was nearly 10% less, at £67,375. To better understand the investment opportunities available, we took a look at the rents achieved over the last year. The average rent achieved on Fox Street was £465pcm giving a yield of 8.28%. On Kimberley Street the average rent was slightly higher, at £485pcm, with a corresponding yield of 8.09%.

We found both streets to be as good as each other, but as you can see there is hardly any difference in the yield/return, which we would not have identified without the extra investigation. However the extra research gives the investor peace of mind and he then doesn’t just have to take our word for it. In this case, it really comes down to the best available property to buy on the day.



Usually the figures I use are taken from Rightmove or Zoopla. However, as we manage properties on both Fox Street and Kimberley Street, I did a lot of digging through our system’s records and used accurate figures rather than the averages I would have to use from the portals.  There are plenty of streets in Warrington that offer similar or better returns on your investments.


One that is very close by to Kimberley and Fox Street is Wellfield Street – if you follow my blog you will have seen a few articles on this particular street. Here is one about Wellfield Street out-performing Castle Green in Warrington by nearly 45%. Click here to read more.


Other Benefits of these Properties

Another reason why these are great investment areas is because of the location – there is a lovely primary school at the bottom of all three of these roads, and it’s only a 10 minute walk to the High School, St Gregory’s, which is located next to Warrington Peace Centre. The properties are only 10 minutes walk to the town centre and they have plenty of amenities close by – even Sankey Valley Park right on the door step. This makes them desirable for families. As their children will be working their way through the school system, you will not have a high turnaround of tenants. Usually when people move into these houses, they stay for a very long time.


If you are a landlord, whether you deal with us or not, feel free to visit into our office 6 Bankside, Crosfield Street, WA1 1UP to ask our opinion on which property investment is best for you. If you would like to join my monthly email list, email me on manoj@hamletwarrington.co.uk and I will send you a PDF newsletter once a month with research I have collected regarding the Warrington property market.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view backdated deals and Warrington Property News.

Facebook, 
https://www.facebook.com/hamlethomeswarrington


Thursday 8 September 2016

Warrington Property Values Have Increased by £53.51 per Week

I always welcome landlords to pop in and see me before they invest – so that I can do some research on their behalf. It’s always better to have a few more extra sets of eyes looking at your investment plan.

Mike, a Warrington landlord, came in to our office last week and took me up on my offer. More specifically, he came to discuss the rising property values in Warrington. He owns a varied portfolio of rental properties, primarily in Warrington and is looking to invest again. However, this time he is looking for a semi-detached property.

I decided to compare Warrington’s property market growth to Widnes and Runcorn – as some of Mike’s properties are in these neighbouring towns.

Warrington Values

Over the last 12 months, the average property value in Warrington has risen by nearly £2,783!

The average price paid is £182,774 across all property types in Warrington – which is a very reasonable 1.42% increase. In fact, if you look over the last five years in Warrington, the change in value is £28,873, which is an increase of 17.02%. Not too shabby!


When we looked at the values for semi-detached houses in the last 12 months, this average increase is at £4,074. This is a considerable average increase of £78.35 per week.

Values in Widnes and Runcorn

I then looked at semi-detached in some of Warrington’s surrounding towns.

Widnes has a lower average increase in property value, at around £47.23 per week (£2,456 over the last 12 months), whilst Runcorn has decreased in value by £8.36 per week (minus £435 over the last 12 months). So while Warrington and Widnes property markets are doing well, Runcorn is struggling. However, it has improved from previous years and is slowly on the rise.


When considering this landlord’s buy to let portfolio, the rental values have increased slightly in the last 12 months. He has increased them to the town average, showing therefore that it could be a good time to invest in the property market in Warrington.

If you would like research like this done for you before you invest in the Warrington property market then feel free to pop into my office which is situation at 6 Bankside, Crosfield St, WA1 1UP you can always drop me an email on manoj@hamletwarrington.co.uk or give me a call on 01925 235 338. I will be more than happy to give you my time and introduce you to the team.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Warrington Property News.


Thursday 1 September 2016

Two Bedroom Flats in Warrington – Are They Good Investments?

Following a blog post about what type of flat in Warrington would make the ideal investment, I had an interesting chat with a local private landlord who popped into the office for a brew and to ask some interesting questions about how flats in Warrington really measure up. (If you missed my blog post about flats, you can find it on the link here: Which Flat Should I Buy in Warrington?)

Paul has religiously stuck with a strategy of two bedroom terraced houses. He’s been picking them up for around £75k to £80k in Warrington and achieving a healthy yield of over 7%. However, he has realised that when it comes to selling these houses in the future, there will not be much growth in them.

Paul came into the office to discuss flats and the options when investing in flats in Warrington. Now, you all know my personal opinion on flats in general – if you don’t, you can find my opinions explained in past articles. However, take a look at the research I have done below.

Flat Statistics

There are over 21,200 flats in Warrington. This only represents around 7.5% of the housing stock here, with the national average being nearer 17.7%. The average price of a two bedroom flat in Warrington is around £95,000, which is nearly 2% lower than 12 months ago.

You can buy a two bedroom flat in the development on Sixpenny Fields for a very reasonable £79,950. If you were to invest in a flat like this, you can expect a rental income of around £525 per month. Even after paying the service charge, usually around £1000 per year, yields could reach around 6.6% per year. However, you must remember that every landlord’s tax and interest rates are different, so it is essential to research your investment carefully before committing.

Now 6.6% is not as attractive as the yields you can achieve on a two bedroom terrace – plus all the extras such as the service and maintenance charges mentioned above.

Capital Growth

Finally, let’s not forget about the potential increase in capital value of the property. I started looking at the history of the two bedroom flats in the Sixpenny Fields development and found that they sold for around £125,000 during the boom in 2006. This has dropped dramatically since. Over the last 10 years, you can see that the value of these flats has started to reduce and during 2015/16, the average sales are around £77,500 - £79,000.
 
Potentially, these flats could go back up to similar prices they first sold at in 2006 in the future.

As we know, investing in property is not a get rich quick scheme. It takes a lot of time, hard work and much more. Paul is in this for the long haul, so we will work closely in finding him the right flat with future growth. The numbers I have used are averages. If you can pick up a nice 2 bedroom flat in similar developments to Sixpenny Fields in Warrington for the right price, then you can look forward to some great growth.

I always tell my landlords that you make your money on the purchase price.

Make sure you’re doing your research daily, as you don’t want to miss that perfect opportunity – and they do crop up in Warrington from time to time.


As always, if you are an investor in the Warrington property market and would like a second opinion on a property you have seen, then send the URL of the properties you have seen online over to me. Or if you would like to pop in and have a chat, then you can either email me on manoj@hamletwarrington.co.uk or call on 01925 235 338. Our address is 6 Bankside, Crosfield Street (opposite Iceland and Aldi – so plenty of parking available). The kettle is always on and we will even pull out the posh biscuits!


Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Warrington Property News.