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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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?

Continue reading →