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Friday 31 October 2014

November Offers

Sell your House for 0.65% Agents Commission with Martin and Co

Martin and Co in Weymouth are better known for lettings than sales but all that is going to change now.   We have many existing landlords who are looking to expand their portfolio and do not mind if the property they are looking at is tenanted or not so coupled with the offer to sell for only 0.65% commission now could be the time to call us for a valuation.

For Landlords we have our cashback offer currently running which offers landlords who currently have property that is let to receive substantial cashback if they bring management of their property to Martin and Co. Please call 01305 775504 for details.


BREAKING NEWS -TAKEOVER of Legal & General’s Franchise Business
Your local Martin & Co office is now part of one of the biggest property businesses in the UK. An additional 89 offices have joined the Martin & Co Group of Companies, creating a lettings and estate agency chain of 283 offices stretching from Dover to Aberdeen, with 46 offices in London alone!
The Group now manages a staggering 43,000 tenanted properties, approximately the same size as Rugby! 

As part of the transaction, which was announced on the London Stock Exchange on Friday 31st October, Martin & Co will in future be offering ‘whole of market’ mortgage advice through an agreement with Legal & General.


Martin and Co, Weymouth Franchise owner had this to say “It’s great to be part of a success story. Earlier this year we surveyed our landlord clients and 94% said they would be happy to recommend our service. Now we are adding another 89 offices to the Martin & Co Group, you could say that even other lettings and estate agents want to get in on the act”.


Martin and Co Weymouth  01305 775504         philip.wakefield@martinco.com

Friday 24 October 2014

EARN £20,000.00 per year


 A couple came into the office the other day talking about buying to let and how much money you needed!  After a bit of investigation it transpired that they were soon to complete on a family house upcountry and had £300,000.00 to invest.  We could buy one house as a  buy to let it was suggested!
Was this going to be a significant part of their income I asked?   Apparently yes! How could you maximise your return then.
Scenario 1      Buy a property for £300k and let it out.  Rental return £1000 per month.  Return on investment  4%  or £12000 per year
Scenario 2      Buy four buy to lets at £150k each with a 50% to 60% mortgage on each.  (The best mortgage rates are on loans less than 60% LTV
Each lets for £700 per month with mortgage costs of £200 per month at 3%
Total income would be 33600.00 less mortgage costs of £6750 leaves a profit of £26850 or 8.95% Assume agents costs, insurance and maintenance leaves a net profit in excess of £20k per year which is still 6.6% .   Find a good agent and forget about it!
This is called leveraging or ‘using opm’ (other peoples money) and can provide a way to produce an income far and away in excess of what you could expect using all your own money.   Landlords in this country have been doing this for years and many have become very successful with this strategy.
If you have ideas for property investment and would like a second opinion please stop by for a chat- Martin and Co top of St Thomas Street, Weymouth or call us on 01305 775504



Philip Wakefield    Property File 7

Housing Benefit Tenants-A good thing?

Very often, ex Local Authority properties are quite sought after by investors due to higher returns and more reasonable purchase prices They are often in areas that attract Housing Benefit tenants.

We get asked by potential tenants if we have properties that will accept housing benefits on a daily basis.   These tenancies can work well, but it’s really important that the landlord understands in advance how these tenancies work, and what the pro’s and con’s are. I’ll go through these below.


What are the Advantages?
!
1.            The main point is that statistically housing benefit tenancies cause no more problems than private tenancies. They just work differently and need a relaxed landlord. 
2.            Housing Benefit tenancies last longer – if you’re claiming benefit and you want somewhere nice to live, the world is by no means your oyster! As such when tenants get somewhere nice, they tend to stay longer.
3.            In certain areas of town, a housing benefit tenant may be a safer bet than a private tenant – a single parent with children is always going to be entitled to funds, whereas a private tenant on low income and in / out of work, may struggle more to pay.
4.            More often than not, we can arrange to receive direct payment from the Local Authority, which mitigates the likelyhood of the tenant not paying.


What are the disadvantages?

There are a few here also. It's important you understand these in advance.

1.            Rent is paid in arrears, not in advance.
2.            Local Authorities make 13 rental payments a year instead of 12. You still get the same amount of rent annually, only in smaller chunks.
3.            Local Authority administration is pretty slow .  They do backpay though, so you'll get your money eventually. 
4.            Some tenants sometimes struggle to deal with issues that arise (such as their benefit entitlement being changed) and deal with this by ignoring it, or burying their head, rather than coming and telling you.

The secret to success here is understanding the above and managing it. If you get a reliable tenant, and a relaxed landlord, it can work really well and deliver a great yield for the landlord. If you get an unreliable tenant and an inflexible landlord, problems can ensue! Is this any different to renting privately?


As such there can be problems with accepting tenants in receipt of housing benefit. It’s not a market that suits everyone and if you’re the sort of landlords that treats their rental properties as extensions of their own home, it’s not the market for you. That said, you can pick up a cheap property in one of the less upmarket areas of town and rent it for good money. We have a number of landlords who operate successfully in this market and I have a couple of places myself that I let out to tenants in receipt of benefit. 

Thursday 9 October 2014

How much!!!



We often get asked for average rental prices in the Weymouth area compared to Portland and Dorchester.  This is probably best illustrated in a table form which I have attempted below.  These are obviously ball park figures and you can add for property in exceptional condition, in a unique position or subtract for those in a tired condition or poorly located etc.


Weymouth
Portland
Dorchester
1 Bed Flat
500
450
550
2 bed flat
650
600
675
2 bed house
725
650
750
3 Bed House
825
725
875

All in £’s per calendar month

Just because those in Dorchester are higher and those in Portland lower does not mean that Dorchester is a better bet for your investment.  Purchase prices on Portland are lower as well so your return can often be better there than in the County town.  It is also very important to take into account how quickly it might be to sell.  Some properties on Portland can take a while to sell and Flats and Apartments are in plentiful supply over the whole area and can also stick.  Semi-detached houses in Weymouth however are always in demand and find new buyers comparatively quickly provided they are well priced.

Rental prices are reasonably stable at the moment.  Good quality, nice condition property will rent quickly to (usually) responsible tenants and the converse can also be true.


It all comes down to doing your homework, asking questions of the agent and the owners. Find out their motivation for selling and see if you can ‘bag that bargain’. Trust me, they are still out there. As we are estate agents as well, I can look at the whole of the market and give you an honest opinion on the investment potential of any property up with any agent. If I see a deal that I think is a good investment I will put it on my blog at http://macweymouth.blogspot.co.uk/

If you have a specific investment in mind and would like someone to offer an opinion please come in to our office at any time and we would be delighted to talk to you.

Philip Wakefield 09/10/2014

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Friday 3 October 2014

Is now the time to buy on Poundbury?



Property on Poundbury lets for appreciably more than property in other parts of Dorchester and therefore  attracts landlord's looking for  property investment.

Rental return is not the only consideration and capital growth is also equally important over the long term.   2 Bed apartments in Middlemarsh Street cost, on average £147k in 1999 as newbuilds. In 2013/14 the average price achieved was £148k!   However, overall returns on these apartments are around the 6 % mark – a reasonable  return.  Of course this is not to say that prices here will not rise more in line with other areas from now and of course may even exceed national averages meaning that you will get that capital growth.

Looking at 3 bed terraced property the average asking price is around £300,000 which would rent for £900 showing a return of 3.5%-not so good when you take into account your costs. I would imagine that there is still some levelling out to happen here.  The number one rule of good investing applies here as anywhere.  Do not overpay as you will spend years waiting for the value of your property to fall back into line with others in the area as they appreciate.

It could still be a good area to invest for the small investor though. The properties are modern and people like to live here.


On another tack altogether Martin and Co are launching brand new insurance offerings for Landlords and Tenants.  These include Buildings cover for empty properties and a stunning rent guarantee product that is amazing value and delivers the benefits.  Speak to us to find out more as there are some great financial incentives for Landlords as well.

Philip Wakefield  Property File

Martin and Co   01305 775504