Walsall Property Market

Comment on the Walsall property market

Walsall’s Poor Estate Agents!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , ,
Walsall’s Poor Estate Agents!
Walsall’s Poor Estate Agents!

After a little hiatus I am now back on the Blog.

My friends often call me an estate agent, but then I remind them that whilst a lot of estate agents do both property sales and lettings, I am first and foremost a landlord myself and will always be and as a result of my own success by default, I became a letting agent. I have been a letting agent for over 11 years now and plan to remain a letting agent only.

By specialising in lettings, it enables me and my team to get the job done right. In a recent article, when we spoke about the difference between neighbouring property markets and their prices, one landlord who popped his head round our door in Orchard Road to chat about the Walsall property market got talking about how he thought there were less for sale boards Continue reading →

Walsall Property Numbers Tell Us a Different Story!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Walsall Property Numbers Tell Us a Different Story
Walsall Property Numbers Tell Us a Different Story

New Prime Minister, Theresa May, has taken no time at all to comment on housing in the UK.  Speaking in Birmingham, she said it was important to give people more opportunity: “It is why housing matters so much, and why we need to do far more to get more houses built. Because unless we deal with the housing deficit, we will see house prices keep on rising. Young people will find it even harder to afford their own home”.

I thought I would look at the Walsall property market numbers to highlight what sort of problems she faces.

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Is the buy to let dream over for Walsall Landlords? Property Transactions in the Borough down by 23.3%!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Is the buy to let dream over for Walsall Landlords? Property Transactions in the Borough down by 23.3%!!
Is the buy to let dream over for Walsall Landlords? Property Transactions in the Borough down by 23.3%!!

In this post credit crunch world of sub terrain low interest and annuity rates, the growth of buy-to-let since 2009 has been phenomenal. The rates are so low, even a limbo dancer would struggle! So much so, there has been an evolution in purchase of property in the UK from that of just buying the roof over one’s head to that of a buy-to-let investment where it is seen as a standalone financial asset to fund current and future investment – complimenting or even replacing a pension. So recently, a couple of weeks before the release of latest Land Registry data of property transactions, quite a few market commentators were anticipating a huge increase in the number of properties sold in March as the 1st April 2016 stamp duty deadline got closer.

So what do the numbers tell us?

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Walsall First Time Buyers Should Make Hay Whilst the Sun Shines!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Walsall First Time Buyers Should Make Hay Whilst the Sun Shines!
Walsall First Time Buyers Should Make Hay Whilst the Sun Shines!

I was talking to one of my portfolio landlords the other day as I was helping him to source another buy-to-let property when he mentioned something that made me think.  He was complaining about the amount of additional Stamp Duty he had to pay (due to the increase in April 2016), which I have discussed in a previous article on this blog.  This made me think about the other side of the property market who stood to benefit from the investors gripe..first-time buyers of course!!

There’s a whole legion of wannabe Walsall first-time buyers keen to get on the property ladder and they now have a 3% price advantage over the previously quicker responding army of Walsall landlords with cash at the ready. Since the start of April, buy-to-let landlords have had to pay an additional 3% stamp duty on their purchases so, whilst demand from some buy-to-let landlords has dropped away, in the interim, it offers first time buyers a chance to fill the vacuum with less competition from cash rich landlords – over two thirds of buy-to-let properties were purchased without a mortgage in the last 7 years – who could bid more and complete quicker.

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Walsall Tenants are Setting Their Own Rents!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , ,

Last week I went to meet a landlord who found me through my blog.  The property was a traditional end of terrace in north Walsall between Leamore and Coalpool.  The landlord had the property with an agent from out of the area and wanted my opinion.  Or at least that’s what I thought…

Quite often, when talking about the rental market, we talk about property, condition, area, location, amenities/ facilities etc. and seem to forget one of the most important parties to the equation… tenants.

Without tenants, there is no demand for the rental property. The profile of the Walsall tenant has changed and continues to change.  Although this is in part due to the credit crunch, job mobility and the raising of deposits, an increased number of people in their twenties are choosing to rent rather than buy and have done so, even when they were in a position when they could have bought a property.

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EU Referendum – 67.9% of Walsall Voters Vote With Their Feet…

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , ,
EU Referendum - 67.9% of Walsall Voters Vote With Their Feet...
EU Referendum – 67.9% of Walsall Voters Vote With Their Feet…

As most of the polls suggested a Remain Vote, it came as a surprise to most people, including the City. The Sterling has dropped 6% this morning (at time of typing article), after the City Whiz kids got their predictions wrong and MP’s from the Remain camp are using words like “challenging times ahead”.

.. and now the vote has been made .. what next for the 67,280 Walsall homeowners especially the 33,748 of those Walsall homeowners with a mortgage?

The Chancellor in the campaign suggested property prices would drop by 18%. Using Treasury estimates, their method of calculating this was tenuous at best, but focused around the abrupt and hasty increase in UK interest rates, which in turn would raise the cost of mortgages, and therefore lower demand for property, causing a drop in property prices.… and I would agree and say, yes .. that will probably happen.

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Has the Walsall Property Market bubble finally burst?!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , ,
Has the Walsall Property Market bubble finally burst?!
Has the Walsall Property Market bubble finally burst?!

A number of landlords, first time buyers and investors have approached me recently, asking about the Walsall property market.  The common thread in these conversations is the question around all these headlines of massive increases in property values in the UK.  Should we be worried we are about to have a price crash?

I’m not going to proclaim that everything is now hunky dory with our economy but it is now actually looking a lot healthier (compared to the doom and gloom of 2008), and there are signs we are seeing more green shoots confirming an actual recovery after several false starts.

I am of the opinion that over the last few years, whilst mortgages have been a little more difficult to obtain than the last decade of the 2000’s, this lack of mortgages has produced some pent up demand for property.  Now we appear to be on the other side of the financial crisis, and the banks are more willing to lend, this is why sales, prices and first-time buyer numbers have improved so rapidly.    

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Walsall Letting Agency Fees – Cheap as Chips..??

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Walsall Letting Agency Fees - Cheap as Chips..??
Walsall Letting Agency Fees – Cheap as Chips..??

I went out to a rental valuation a few days ago in Parkhall, Walsall and, as I always do, did my preparation on the property, the area and suitable tenants.  I introduced myself but, before I could begin speaking, he said “How much then? What are your fees?”.  Now don’t get me wrong, the subject comes up pretty much most of the time but not usually that quickly!

It got me thinking about landlord fees and how landlords perceive agents.  Lots of agents advertise ‘Free fee deals’ – we have in the past!  Do they work?  No!  But why don’t they?

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Can Empty Properties in Walsall be the Solution to our Housing Crisis?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Can Empty Properties in Walsall be the Solution to our Housing Crisis?
Can Empty Properties in Walsall be the Solution to our Housing Crisis?

Easy problems should have easy solutions  – shouldn’t they?

Problems like Walsall’s housing crisis, where we have a rudimentary numerical problem of too few homes for too many people… the answer is clearly to build more property in Walsall – but that, unfortunately for those desperately seeking to purchase or let a property, takes a lot of time and huge amounts of money.  So what of other solutions?

Whilst at the first BBQ of the ‘summer’ with friends recently, the subject of property was mentioned, as it usually does when I’m around!  During this particular conversation, someone mentioned empty properties as the solution to the problem.  On the face of it, it seems so obvious.  It got me thinking so, the next day; I did some research on this topic to see if this was a plausible potential solution.  The results of which are very interesting indeed…!

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Buy to Let..Why the Walsall Property Market?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , ,
Buy to Let..Why the Walsall Property Market?
Buy to Let..Why the Walsall Property Market?

During the course of my day to day activities I talk to a number of landlords.  If you look on social media profiles you will probably find very few people, if any, who set their profile status as a landlord or claim to be one.  As the market evolves with the Private Rented Sector having already outpaced the Social Housing Sector, I have noticed a shift in a new breed of investors entering the property rental market.

Many people in our part of the West Midlands, over the last few years, have seen the buy to let market become all about nest egg investment.  It is fuelled by pitiful interest rates on building society savings and reflects the fact that building society savings accounts are paying half a per cent interest and pension returns are struggling to match expectations, turning more and more people into landlords to secure their future.

So what can you expect from your rental property investment?   Continue reading →