In recent weeks I have had the pleasure of meeting up with a few investors who were looking to enter the Walsall Property Market. There are so many approaches to investing in property and many ‘Guru’ type figures out there, all willing and able to help…all for a fee of course (some of the fees are eye watering)!! Having attended the course, some of the investors found my Blog and decided to take me up on the offer of a meeting over a cuppa. The common theme/ question that came up repeatedly was… “Do I buy with or without a mortgage”!?
For most Walsall people, a mortgage is the only way to buy a property. However, for some, especially Walsall homeowners who have paid off their mortgage or Walsall buy to let landlords, many have the choice to pay exclusively with cash. So, the real question is, should you use all your cash, or could a mortgage be a more suitable option?
Over the last couple of decades, the rise in the number buy to let properties in Walsall has been nothing short of extraordinary. Many in the “left leaning” press have spoken of a broken nation, the fact many youngsters are unable to buy their first home with the rise of a new cohort of younger renters, whom have been daubed ‘Generation Rent’ as landlords hoover up all the properties for their buy to let property empires. Government has been blamed in the past for giving landlords an unfair advantage with the tax system. It is also true many of my fellow professionals have done nothing to cover themselves in glory, with some suspect, if not on some rare occasions, downright dubious practices.
Yet has the vilification and unfair criticism of some Walsall landlords gone too far?
It was only a few weeks ago, I read an article in a newspaper of one landlord who had decided to sell their modest buy to let portfolio for a number of reasons, one of which being the new tax rules on buy to let that were introduced last year. The comments section of the newspaper and the associated social media posts were pure hate, and certainly not deserved.
Like all aspects in life, there are always good (and bad) landlords, just like there are good (and bad) letting agents… and so it should be said, there are good tenants and in equal measure bad tenants. Bad letting agents and bad landlords should be routed out… but not at the expense of the vast majority who are good and decent.
But are the 3,983 Walsall portfolio buy to let landlords at fault?
The Tories allowed people to buy their own Council house in the 1980’s, taking them out of the collective pot of social rented houses for future generations to rent them. Landlords have been vilified by many, as it has been suggested by some they have an unhealthy and ravenous materialism approach to make cash and profit at the expense of poor renters, unable to buy their first home. Yet, looking beyond the headline grabbing press, this is in fact ‘fake news’. There are seven reasons that have created the perfect storm for private renting to explode in the 2000’s.
In my research to discover potential properties for buy to let investment it does appear that there are other properties on this newbuild housing estate up for sale, therefore, I will probably be covering more properties of these types in my upcoming posts over the next few weeks. Shropshire Close and it’s locality is a burgeoning area for rental properties. I have helped many of my clients to buy and rent out the properties for sale on this estate. They are selling at a reasonable price and achieve above average yields. They are newbuild and in general need very little work doing to them in order to bring them up to a lettable standard even if they have been previously occupied and in addition are ideally located. So, let’s get on with the show…
Are We Building Enough Affordable Homes in Walsall?
Before we begin… no, that’s not a location picture of Walsall-on-Sea!!
Within my blog about the Walsall Property Market I mostly only talk about two of the three main sectors of the local property market, the ‘private rented sector’ and the ‘owner occupier sector’. However, as I often stress when talking to my clients, one cannot forget the third sector, that being the ‘social housing sector’ (or council housing as some people call it).
In previous articles, I have spoken at length about the crisis in supply of property in Walsall (i.e. not enough property is being built), but in this article I want to talk about the other crisis – that of affordability. It is not just about the pure number of houses being built but also the balance of tenure (ownership vs rented) and therein, the affordability of housing, which needs to be considered carefully for an efficient and effectual housing market.
An efficient and effectual housing market is in everyone’s interests, including Walsall homeowners and Walsall landlords, so let me explain ..
An immaculately presented 2 bedroom terraced house on Penmire Grove a new build housing estate about half a mile south of Rushall, Walsall, WS4. The property is being marketed by Bairstow eves (01922 321791) and added today!
I cannot say anymore about the spec other than can be seen on the photos. Needless to say go and have a look for yourselves, it will be worth it. Marketed at offers of over £140k, notwithstanding the spec, I think that the asking price is a little over what you should expect to pay.
A three bedroom semi detached house on a prestigious and popular estate in the Coalpool area in Walsall. Since major redevelopment in the area, the area’s profile has now been raised substantially making it a popular choice for rental.
So far 2018 has been hectic or what…??!! Time seems to be running through my hands like water. As a landlord and a property manager my daily workload is varied and that’s what I like about my life (afterall, as the saying goes – ‘variety is the spice of life’). The planned stuff mixed in with the unplanned keeps a working day interesting. However, if you are prone to anxiety attacks and don’t like uncertainty of a day in the life of a property manager, then perhaps you would be best advised to seek out the assistance of an expert…
So, the short answer to the question posed by a friend of mine (who is also a self-managing Walsall landlord) is that landlords don’t need to use the services of a Walsall letting agent. Many Walsall landlords decide to be hands-on and undertake the whole lettings process themselves.
I started investing in Walsall buy-to-let property nineteen years ago in 1999 and I was keen to learn and control the whole process myself. I was wary of entrusting others with what was ultimately my financial future and my thoughts were that no agent could possibly care about my Walsall property as much as me.
