Walsall Letting Agents

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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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 →

Rents in Walsall Increase!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , , ,
Rents in Walsall Increase!!
Rents in Walsall Increase!!

I was reading the Sunday newspapers last weekend whilst drinking my favourite concoction of freshly juiced Apple & Mango juice, when I spotted an article in the financial pages.  It was announced that UK inflation had increased to its highest level in a year.  Inflation, as calculated by the Government’s Consumer Prices Index, rose by 0.3% over the last 12 months.  The report said it had risen to those ‘heady’ levels by smaller falls in supermarket and petrol prices than a year ago.  If you recall, in early 2015, we had deflation where prices were dropping!

So what does this mean for the Walsall property market … especially the tenants?

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Walsall Private Renters Enjoy Better Health!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , ,
Walsall Private Renters Enjoy Better Health!!
Walsall Private Renters Enjoy Better Health!!

Renting used to be a dirty word in the 60’s and 70’s.  You either lived in a ‘Rigsby Rising Damp’ style bedsit with wood chip on the wall and a coin operated electric meter that buzzed in the night, or you lived in a council house.  In the latter part of the 20th Century, the British were persuaded that rent payments were ‘wasted money’.  However, owning often makes less financial sense than renting and as the rate of home ownership is starting to drop substantially, as we roll the clock forward to today, there is no stigma at all to renting.. everyone is doing it.  In fact, of the 269,323 residents of Walsall, 96,418 of you rent your house from the local authority, housing association or private landlords – meaning 35.8% of Walsall people are tenants.

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EU vote!! Which way should Walsall landlords vote?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
EU vote!! Which way should Walsall landlords vote?
EU vote!! Which way should Walsall landlords vote?

In recent weeks concerned Walsall landlords have been asking my opinion on the looming EU vote.  “As a landlord which way should we vote”?  “IN or OUT”?  So, this week I thought I would share my thoughts on this subject.

If you read all the tabloids, the ‘Brexit’ debate seems to be focused solely on central London.  Many commentators have said Brexit would mean central London would have a lower standing in the world, meaning less people would be employed in central London, with the implication of lower wages, fewer jobs etc… but we are in Walsall, not Marylebone, Mayfair or any part of Zone 1 London!

For years – no, decades – the anti-EU camp has suggested that Britain’s natural habitat is not among its continental neighbours but in ‘the Anglosphere’, that solar system of English-speaking planets which revolves around the United States.  Break free from Brussels and we could embrace our kindred spirits in Sydney, Toronto and especially New York, Washington and Los Angeles.  The Brexit camp has long been like the man who dreams of leaving his wife for another woman, one who really understands him.

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Walsall’s housing shortage – Are we in a Crisis situation?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , ,
Walsall’s housing shortage – Are we in a Crisis situation?
Walsall’s housing shortage – Are we in a Crisis situation?

Walsall’s continuing housing shortage is putting the Borough (and the Country’s) repute as a nation of home owners ‘under threat’, as the number of houses being built continues to be woefully inadequate in meeting the ever demanding needs of the growing population in the Town.  In fact, I was talking to my sister the other day at a family get together; the subject of the Walsall Property market came up in the conversation (as I am sure it does at many family parties in Walsall, after the weather and politics).  My sister said it used to be that if you went out to work and did the right thing, you would expect that relatively quickly over the course of your career you would be buying a house, you would go on holiday every year and you would save for a pension.   But now things seem to have changed?

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Walsall man inherits £110,000. The Bank or Property?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Walsall man inherits £110,000. The Bank or Property?
Walsall man inherits £110,000. The Bank or Property?

I  had an interesting email from someone in Walsall a few weeks ago that I want to share with you – don’t worry I asked his permission to share this with you all.  In a nutshell, the gentleman lives in Streetly, he is in his mid 60’s and still working.  He has a decent pension, so that when he does retire in a couple of years’ time, it will give him a comfortable life.  He had recently inherited £110,000 from an elderly family member.  One option he was considering was to put it into a savings account.  The best he could find was a 2 year bond with the Post Office which paid 1.9%; meaning he would get £2,090 in interest a year.

One of his other options was to buy a property in Walsall to rent out….

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Walsall’s Private Rental sector explodes by a whopping 1,093.7% in 20 years!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , ,
Walsall’s Private Rental sector explodes by a whopping 1,093.7% in 20 years!
Walsall’s Private Rental sector explodes by a whopping 1,093.7% in 20 years!

I find myself in a reflective mood today as I want to talk about the future of investing in property in Walsall.  Especially since my last article (which was a little gloomy) and the fast changing dynamics in recent times of the Private Rented Sector (PRS).

The truth is that we have got lethargic, with many property investment people having mistaken the ever-rising Walsall property market since the 1960’s as the eternal gift that kept giving as property prices constantly rose and doubled every five to seven years.

The days of making easy money from any old property investment in Walsall are over.

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Walsall rental market sees returns of 11.9% in 2015!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , ,
Walsall rental market sees returns of 11.9% in 2015!
Walsall rental market sees returns of 11.9% in 2015!

One of my out of Town property landlords called me as he was coming to visit his family and friends towards the end of the month during the Easter break.  He was born and brought up in Walsall and went to the Alumwell Business and Enterprise College which, as he recalls, used to be called the Alumwell Secondary School (way before my time of course!!).

To enhance his retirement, he has a small portfolio of four properties in the Walsall and surrounding area and wanted my advice on where to purchase his next buy to let property.  As a University lecturer he lives in a college-owned flat and would never dream of buying where he lives in Kensington where the average value of a flat is £1.62m and a house averages out at £4.1m.

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Would you rent your Walsall property to a Housing Benefit applicant?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , ,
Would you rent your Walsall property to a housing benefit applicant?
Would you rent your Walsall property to a housing benefit applicant?

“What does the ideal Walsall tenant look like?”, asked one of my landlords from Brownhills the other day, to which he carried on before I could reply, “Let me guess, a professional couple, both in their 30’s, flawlessly tidy, pays their rent early, doesn’t complain or fuss, with no plans to move any time soon and cheerfully accepts annual rent rises”.

Before I can answer that question properly, I have always believed all a landlord wants, and expects, of their tenants is to pay their rent on time and look after the property as if it were their own.  In return, the landlord should provide a property that is warm, clean, and damp free and resolve any maintenance issues quickly and without fuss.

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