Buying a house for the same price as a TV!

29/08/201529/08/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market buy-to-let in walsall, letting agent walsall, properties, rental properties, walsall property

An elderly gentleman popped into the office a couple of days ago to ask about, of all things, inheritance tax! He had read an article in our recent newsletter and wanted some more information so I put him in touch with our tax specialist to arrange a chat. We got talking about investing in the Walsall property market and he reminded me that in his day, you could have bought a property for the same price as a decent second hand car would sell for today and that his father was buying property for the same price as a decent 50 inch LCD TV!

Continue reading →

What type of property is best to purchase as a buy-to-let in Walsall?

14/08/201515/08/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market buy-to-let in walsall, letting agent walsall, property deals walsall, walsall property

I received a call from an investor this week looking to buy a property for rental in the Walsall area. He said he has a varied portfolio around the country but Walsall had piqued his interest as it sits right in the middle of two cities; Wolverhampton and Birmingham. With so many properties and many sub-areas of Walsall, what type of property and in which location would bring about the best returns? What to do?

Continue reading →

To Extend or Not To Extend? That Is The Question….

02/08/201511/08/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market

Last week, a Walsall landlord emailed me, after reading one of my local articles, to ask if he should extend his terraced house, making an extra bedroom in the loft. He had a builder friend who owed him a favour, and thought it a good way to achieve an ‘inexpensive’ extension.

Having more useable space is generally thought to be consistent with better quality accommodation and homeowners and tenants are prepared to pay for it. If you added a bedroom to a two bed terraced to make a three bed terrace, it will add around 10% to the value of the property. Turn a three bed terraced into four bed terraced, and approximately 9% will be added to the value. Looking at semi-detached properties, turning a two into a three bed and around 12% will be added to the value, whilst making a three bed semi into a four bed will add 9% in value.

Continue reading →

Buy-To-Let in Walsall. It’s All About Supply And Demand.

19/07/201511/08/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market

I had a lot of enquiries and conversations following my recent article about the state of the Walsall & Surrounding Area Property market and in particular what had happened to rents in the area since 2008. If you recall, I said that rents in Walsall are still 4.68% lower than they were in 2008. One particular Walsall landlord rang me after reading the Property Blog wanting to know more of the story of what was happening to rents in the Town. The reason he asked was that his current agent hadn’t increased his rent for a number of years and he was questioning whether he was getting the best return from his buy to let investment.

Continue reading →

Do We Have A Dual Speed Property Market in Walsall?

07/07/201507/08/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market

Looking specifically at it from a Walsall landlord’s point of view, the Walsall properties favoured by investors are in short supply in many parts of the town because of a number of factors. One of the factors has been that we have seen the number of first time buyers coming to buy their first home increase over the last 12 months in Walsall. Another factor has been the fact that the banks have been pushing ‘let to buy’ – yes ‘let to buy’ is different to ’buy to let’! – to homeowners (more of ‘let to buy’ in an up and coming article). Next, because of the banks, who are chasing low risk landlords with high deposits with very low mortgage rates – and the low risk landlords with high deposits tend to be attracted to the safer modern two and three bed town houses and semis in Walsall.

Continue reading →

Are Walsall Landlords On Par With Politicians and Traffic Wardens?

02/07/201507/08/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market

At the time of the last census in 2011, there are 3,401,675 properties in England that were privately rented, of which it is estimated, were owned by over 1.25 million private landlords. The rapid growth of buy-to-let is hugely controversial, especially as only ten years before that, there were only 1,798,864 properties under private renting in England. Buy to let landlords have been held responsible for forcing up property prices and preventing our younger generations from being able to buy. There is also growing resentment toward the billions of pounds in tax relief (estimated to be nearly £10 billion) landlords claim on their mortgage interest tax relief not available to home-owners.

They may be asset rich thanks to recently rising property values, but let us not make the landlords the warlocks they could easily be called! They are not quite on a par with the traffic rangers who raise around £1.4 million a year for the Council! Despite all these benefits enjoyed by private landlords, let us not forget the good they have done, especially in Walsall.

Continue reading →

What will next years property trends be in Walsall & surrounding area?

24/06/201507/08/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market

I had an interesting chat with a landlord who uses another letting agent in the Town. He contacted me after he found my Blog on our website. We got talking about the Walsall market and thought other landlords might be interested.

You see, property values didn’t stop dropping in Walsall until January 2013, so after a strong run over the last 20 months, the ever upward drive of house price rises has started to turn with increases now at an almost standstill for the first time since the start of 2013. Now it could be said this easing of the housing market in Walsall can be attributed partly to the time of year (last year property values in Walsall dropped by 0.8% in November but recovered by 0.9% in December), it is obvious that estate agents in Walsall are wary about the direction of the market as a result of the not as strong demand and fewer house sales.

Continue reading →

Which Value of Properties Are Actually Selling in Walsall & Surrounding Area

19/06/201507/08/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market

Prices up, prices down, prices stable… the newspapers are full of good news, bad news and indifferent news about the Brit’s favourite subject after the weather… the property market.

The thing is, the UK does not have one housing market. Instead, it is a patchwork of mini property markets all performing in a different way. At one end of the scale is London, which has seen average prices grow in the last twelve months by a shade under 19% (and again that is an average because some Borough’s in London have risen by 26%) whilst in the land of daffodils, by contrast, Wales, only saw a 2% increase in property values, although in the Merthyr Valleys they dropped by over 11%!

Continue reading →

Where Is The Best Place to Buy?

14/06/201507/08/2015 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market

If I had a penny for the times I have been asked this question….well here goes.

A recent survey of over 400 schools, indicated that families are putting education, in particular state school education, as a priority when buying a home. With many moving just a few miles away to enter the catchment area for their desired school. Studies show that an estimated 60% of families move to secure a quality education for their young. Proof in the pudding folks as we watched a 3 bedroom detached property in Walsall let within hours and it let over the asking price. Yes, you guessed it, the family wanted the primary school!

Continue reading →

Which Area in Walsall Will Secure Me The Best Returns On My Investment?

06/06/201507/03/2017 Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market

Over the course of the years we have been in business (nearly 10 years), we have acquired a few clients who are best described as professional landlords. I call them professional landlords only because they approach the market differently to the majority who have one or two properties. These property magnates are constantly evolving their portfolio, always looking at areas of improving their annual yields and capital gains. Where is the next up and coming area to invest in? How can I get in on the action and get myself a slice of that cake?