7.14% return in Salvia Close!

This two bedroom first floor maisonette has recently been listed by Castles of Clacton, and with a potential return of 7.14%, this property should not be missed!

Ideally positioned on Salvia Close, this home is located on the 'Ruaton Gardens' development, located just to the outskirts of Clacton town but a prime position for local Primary & Secondary schooling, along with the parade of shops at Bockings Elm.

This property not only offers double glazed windows, gas central heating, its own rear garden but also a garage & off street parking! 

Should this property come to market today, it would reach a monthly rental of £595, therefore purchased at full asking price this property would offer a 7.14% return (before ground rent & service charges deducted).

For further information, click the link below!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52830374.html

Clacton Buy To Let – Should you look further afield?

I was at a recent business networking event in Clacton, when a landlord (who it transpired had a couple of Buy to let properties) bent my ear on where the next hot spot town or city is to invest his money in and where the best rental yields are. Now it can be tempting to just look at Clacton when growing a buy to let property portfolio, but there can be big differences in the amount of rental income you receive and how much your property will appreciate by considering other locations in the country.

Now regular readers of my articles of the Clacton Property Blog know of my love of the ‘buy to let seesaw’. On one side of the seesaw is yield and the other capital growth. Landlords should be looking for a high rental yield so that they can comfortably cover any mortgage payments and make some profit from the income return, but you also want the property to rise in value over time so you can get some capital growth when you come to sell. However, high yielding property in say such areas as Jaywick in Clacton, (so the seesaw arm with yield on it goes up on one side), will suffer from low capital growth (so the other arm with capital growth on the seesaw goes down).  The relationship works in reverse as well, so in such upmarket areas as the Arnold Road area, properties offer good capital growth, but at the expense of a decent yield.  

The North East and North West of the UK are landlord magnets for great yields. The average yield in Clacton today is 4.85%, which when you compare with say Hartlepool in the North East, which achieves 7.73% or  9.43% in the Anfield area of Liverpool, doesn’t look too healthy. Now of course, these are only averages and some of my Clacton landlords are achieving 7% to 8% on some of their Clacton properties, but at the expense of capital growth. Anyway, after wasting a tank full of petrol up the A1 to Teeside or the M1/M6 to the Home of the ‘The Reds’,  that Liverpool property, would have dropped in value by 2.2% in the last 12 months and the Hartlepool property would have dropped by 1.4%.

When you compare the long term house price growth, it gets even worse. Looking at the graph, Since 1995, property values in Clacton have risen by 225.66%,compared with Hartlepool at 21.02% and Liverpool  at 90.11% – it just shows you shouldn’t always chase the yield because of the poor increases in property values in those two places. As I always like to explain to landlords when they either email me, pick up the phone or pop into my offices for a coffee (both my own and even landlords who use other agents (you are all welcome at ours), together with soon to be FTL’s (first time landlords)), a decent yield is important, but when you come to sell your buy to let property it would also be nice to make a decent profit.

At the end of the day, as a Clacton landlord, you want to be making gains from both your rent and house price growth, particularly when you want to sell, because when combined, the rental yield and capital growth, that gives you the real return on your investment.

Meredith Road, Clacton 6.6% Return

This three bedroom house has recently come to market with Haarts for £130,000.

Located in Meredith Road, this home is conveniently located for Clacton town centre & railway station and offers open plan lounge/diner, kitchen, first floor bathroom & three bedrooms.

With similar properties in this area achieving a rental in the region of £725 PCM, if purchased for £130,000 this property offers a return of 6.6%.

For further information click the link below:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49736749.html

Clacton Property Market – Post Election Blues?

With the election now over and the stability of Downing Street secure, with David Cameron and his Blue Tories as the largest party in Westminster, in Clacton (as in the rest of the UK) average wages are beginning to grow faster than inflation. This is good news for the Clacton housing market, as some buyers may be willing or able to pay higher prices given the more certain political outlook and attractive inexpensive mortgage rates. However, sellers who think they have the upper hand due to the lack of property for sale should be aware that we should start to see an increase in the number of people putting their properties on to the market in Clacton giving buyers some extra negotiating power.

At the last election in May 2010, there were 1,594 properties for sale in Clacton and by December 2010, this had risen to 1,814, an impressive rise of 14% in seven months. An increase in the supply of properties coming on to the market could tip the balance in the demand and supply economics seesaw, thus potentially denting prices. However, as most sellers are buyers and confidence is high, this means there will be good levels of property and buyers, well into the summer, as demand will continue to slightly outstrip supply.

Just before we leave the run up to the election, it is important to consider what the uncertainty in April did to the Clacton property market. I mentioned a few weeks ago that property values (ie what properties were actually selling for) had risen by 0.5% in March 2015. Now new data has been released from Rightmove about April’s asking prices of property in Clacton. It shows that pre-election nerves finally came home to roost in the final weeks of electioneering, with the average price of property coming to market only increasing by a very modest 1.4% (April is normally one of the best months of the year for house price growth).

I am sure our local MP, Douglas Carswell, would agree that the biggest issue is the lack of new properties being built in Clacton. The Conservative manifesto pledged to build 200,000 discounted starter homes for first-time buyers in the next five years. For Clacton to gets its share, that would mean only 41 such properties being built in Clacton each year for the next five years, not much when you consider there are 22,834 properties in Clacton.

Housing is not a big issue for Conservative voters and because London is an increasingly Labour city where the biggest housing issues are found by a country mile, so will it remain on the ‘to do list’ but won’t get recognition it deserves. Until another political party gets back into power, nothing will seismically change in the property market, thus demand for housing will continue to outstrip supply, meaning property values will increase (good news for landlords). However, as rents tend to go up and down with tenant wages, in the long term, rents are still 0.71% lower than they were in 2008 (good news for tenants)... with renting everyone wins!

7.2% return in Warwick Road, Clacton!

This two bedroom mid terraced house has recently come to market with Blake & Thickbroom for £102,950 and would make an ideal investment.

With some minor improvements this home could expect to achieve a monthly rental of £625, therefore if purchased at full asking price you could expect a return of 7.2% on your investment!

For further information, click the link below!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52596383.html

End Terraced Gem in Cotswold Road, Clacton

I've noticed this three bedroom end terraced house listed with Omega Estate Agents for £155,000 and in my opinion would make an ideal buy to let investment.

The property occupies a non estate position on the outskirts of Clacton-on-Sea and benefits from being offered with No onward chain.

Internally the property offers lounge, dining area, kitchen, three bedrooms and bathroom. 

Properties of this size and location achieve a monthly rental in the region of £775 - £795, therefore offers a potential return of 6.15% (Based on a purchase at full asking price on the rental of £795 PCM)

For further information, click the following link

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52100078.html

If you wish to discuss this property, or any other properties, feel free to either contact me at the office or pop in for an informal chat.

Two bedroom garden maisonette in Great Clacton

This two bedroom maisonette has just been listed with Blake and Thickbroom, located on Andover Close for £92,500.

The property is ideally located in a cul-de-sac location, just off Burrs Road, in the popular area of Great Clacton. 

An ideal starter home for either a couple or small family, this home offers two bedrooms, garage & garden. 

Properties of this size and location would achieve £600 PCM, therefore offers an attractive 7.8% return (at the purchase price of £92,000). As this is a maisonette, you would need to take into consideration ground rent and service charges.

For further information, click the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-48909473.html

Property values rise by 0.5% in Clacton.

Property values in Clacton rose by only 0.5% in March. This follows several months of sluggish activity in the Clacton property market in the run up to the Election, putting the average price of a property in Clacton at £176,000, 9.2% higher than in March 2014.

Interestingly, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and Estate Agent trade bodies over the last few months have reported seeing a fall in mortgage lending and enquiries from prospective homebuyers. This is important because it comes amid an overall fall in housing market activity in Clacton. Data from the Land Registry said completed house sales in Clacton in the three months to January 2015, (the most up-to-date figures available) fell by 5.32% compared to the same three month period up to January 2014.

However, I believe that the slowdown in property sales in Clacton is supporting Clacton property values, as there is a shortage of houses coming onto the market. Even though in the whole of the first Quarter of 2015, Clacton property value increases may seem subdued when compared to 2014, let us remember, property values are still rising well above the level of inflation. 

As I have said many times before, the population in Clacton is growing at a much higher rate than the number of properties being built. This increasing demand for a roof over people’s head, which is outpacing the supply of new houses being built in Clacton, is creating a severe imbalance in the Clacton (in fact the whole of UK’s) housing market, thus making homeownership an ever increasingly distant dream for many of Clacton’s potential first time buyers.

In fact, I still maintain the view that house prices are likely to rise by around 3 to 5% in Clacton in 2015, even after taking into account this blip at start of the year. The reason being is that the rise reflects both strong economic conditions and steady market conditions with (and this is the most important factor) very low numbers of properties on the market. 

Many Buy to Let landlords know that investing in the Clacton property market is a long-term strategy of 10, 20 even 30 years. Governments come and go, but unless Tendring District Council start to build hundreds of new properties a year to make up for the shocking lack of supply, Clacton people will always want a roof over their head, and irrespective of which party is in power, if there aren’t any council houses and they can’t (or are unable to buy), a demand for rental properties will always remain.

As my existing Clacton landlord clients will testify, whether you manage your property yourself, or another Clacton agent manages your properties, everyone is always made to feel welcome when they pop in for a coffee at our offices in Clacton to discuss anything to do with the Clacton property market, how Clacton compares with its closest rival towns. I don’t bite, I don’t do hard sell, I will just give you my honest and straight talking opinion. However, if you are too busy to pop into town, you could always visit the Clacton Property Blog www.clactonproperty.blogspot.co.uk for advice, intelligent commentary and analysis of the Clacton Property market.

Modern terraced House on New 'Blenheim Gate' Development

I noticed this two bedroom house being offered for sale at £160,000 on the Brand New Development of 'Blenheim Gate' today and properties like this have always been a brilliant investment and never a problem in securing tenants.

Approximately 1 year old, this two bedroom house is simply ready to be let! The kitchen/diner offers fitted fridge/freezer, washing machine, cooker & hob & dishwasher, ground floor cloakroom and first floor bathroom. 

Externally the property offers two off road parking spaces and enclosed rear garden. 

The 'Blenheim Gate' development is ideally positioned on the outskirts of Clacton-on-Sea, however is in a prime position for access to A133. 

With similar properties letting for £750 - £760 PCM, if you could purchase this house for around £155,000 you could achieve 5.8% - 5.9% return.

For further information & pictures click the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50160697.html 

Location, Location, Location! 6.4% Return on The Royals!

This three bedroom house has just come to market with Haarts located on Crown Road, which is ideally positioned on the popular development of 'The Royals'.

Ideally positioned for Clacton town centre & seafront, this family home would make a perfect buy to let investment. With a monthly rental return of approximately £800, this property could offer an attractive 6.4% return, based on a full asking price purchase.

Family homes are always in demand and generally attract a longer term tenant, therefore making, in my opinion, a better investment.

For further pictures and information about this property, please click the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50134672.html

What will General Election result do to the Clacton Property Market?

After the shock of the Conservatives returning to power with a majority at Westminster, all the potential issues and possible uncertainties of a hung parliament has lifted the cloud from the Clacton property market.  Talking to other Clacton agents, surveyors and solicitors in the area over the last few days, there are signs this has started a new impetus in the Clacton property market after a subdued six months, when an amalgamation of tougher lending conditions, a natural correction after the strong recovery in Clacton property prices in 2014, and political uncertainty ahead of the General Election slowed demand.

Against the back drop of Labour’s election promises of rent controls and three year tenancies, some Clacton buy to let landlords were waiting to see how these new policies would be implemented before they committed themselves to buying more property for their buy to let portfolio. Now that uncertainty has been removed, the long term picture is very positive.

So, with all that uncertainty now removed, where next for the Clacton property market?  Well with inflation at zero and with the Money markets happy David Cameron is still at No.10, the Bank of England have no reason to raise interest rates until 2016 at the earliest. As mortgage rates are at their lowest levels since 2010, landlords with large deposits will now be wooed by the mortgage companies in the coming months with low rates.

You see over the past couple of years, Clacton landlords have benefited from a booming Clacton job market. Unemployment in Clacton has dropped to 4.8%, as a year ago, 2,059 people were claiming unemployment benefit compared to today’s 1,526. With more jobs and better pay, as the level of rents is directly linked to tenant’s wages, there has been an increase in the rental prices tenants are willing to pay for good quality Clacton properties.

Some landlords might be nervous about Tory’s plans for the housing market over the next five years in terms of tenant demand for their rental properties. One plan is for Housing Association tenants to have the right to buy their property. These kind of tenants were never in the private rented sector and will actually increase the supply of properties in the housing stock in decades to come. The Government ‘Help to Buy Scheme’ has only helped to buy 65 Clacton properties since April 2013. Considering 1,406 properties have changed hands in the last year alone in Clacton, I don’t think it has made a huge difference to our local property market.

The biggest matter, when it comes to tenant demand of rental property going forward, comes from the shift in the mindset and attitudes towards renting itself. Twenty years ago you were seen as a second class citizen if you rented a property. In Clacton, as in the rest of the UK (apart from Central London), renting continues to offer good value for money for tenants.  If you are an existing landlord in Clacton or thinking of becoming one (or as we like to call you, a FTL. A ‘first time landlord’), then I must suggest you seek out specialist advice and opinion. Like many agents in Clacton, we will happily give you our opinion on the current state of the market and the advantages/disadvantages to investing in the Clacton property market if you pop into our offices. However, if time is at a premium, another source of information on the Clacton Property Market is the Clacton Property Blog www.clactonproperty.blogspot.co.uk

Holland seafront apartment with sea views offering 6% return!

This two bedroom second floor apartment has recently gone onto the market with ourselves for £130,000.

This apartment is situated in Lyndhaven Court, Holland-on-Sea, which has a lift in block and offers beautiful sea views, lounge with balcony and even has its own underground parking space.

Properties similar to this would rent for £650 PCM giving you a great return of 6% (ground rent and service charges not included in return).

Click the link below for more information and pictures. It is not to be missed!

 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52305200.html

Is the Clacton Property Market in crisis?

Since the 1960’s more people have owned their own home than rented but, for many young Clacton people, the dream of buying their own home is dying...or is it? Since the turn of the Millennium, in Clacton (as in the rest of the Country) there has been a significant change in the proportion of people who own their own home in Clacton. In 2001, 79.64% of homes in Clacton were owner occupied, today the figure is 73.45%, a significant decline in such a short time.  Buy to let landlords can find tenants because young people say they cannot afford a deposit to buy unless they inherit money or are given a loan from the Bank of Mum and Dad.

In Clacton, only 41.29% of 25 to 34 year olds have a mortgage. When you compare Clacton against the national average of 35.93%, it just shows how different parts of the country have different housing markets. However, the really interesting fact is this  ...Roll the clock back to 1991 and nationally, 67% of 25 to 34 year olds had a mortgage. After World War II, the supply of properties being built kept up with demand as millions of council homes were built (the most being built in 1950's, surprisingly under Tory Governments!). Also private house building increased in the 1950’s, but especially in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and as the Country  got more prosperous it meant that by 1971, there were more home owners than renters.

However, since the 1970’s, the population has grown but the number of new properties being built hasn't kept up at the same rate, the result is that there have been huge rises of property prices in the early ‘70s, the late 80s and more recently between 1999 and 2004. Interestingly, since the early 1970’s, out of the 34 richest countries in the world, the UK has seen highest property prices rises.

95% mortgages have been available to first time buyers since late 2009, but with property prices rising by 218.7% since the early Spring of 1996 in Clacton, as property prices have been rising and first time buyers have been saving, the amount they have to save is continually rising at the same time. The stress on saving even for that kind of deposit, coupled with the new stricter mortgage rules introduced in 2014, means that most 20/30 something’s in Clacton are renting instead of buying.

The issue quite simply comes back down to a lack of new homes being built. In Clacton, only 806 properties a year are being built whilst the population is rising by 1,572 a year. The supply of new homes has been limited by planning laws, local councils not having the money to build council houses, hard hitting green belt limitations, and our old friend NIMBY’ism.  With a rising population and net migration, especially from the EU, the mismatch between demand and supply is why we have the problem. Until Politicians have the backbone to realise the Country needs a lot more decent homes built, the problem will just get worse.

In the meantime, demand for rental property will continue to grow because people need a roof over their head at the end of the day ......fact.

One bedroom flat with fantastic return in Clacton town centre

This one bedroom flat has just come onto the market with John V Story for £65,000.

It is ideally situated in Clacton town centre providing convenient access to the train station, shopping facilities and the hospital.

This flat would make an ideal investment and with properties like this renting for around £425 PCM, it would give you a fantastic return of 7.8% (ground rent & service charge not included in the return).

Click the link below for more information and pictures.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52305179.html

6.26% return on this Martello Bay apartment

We have recently taken on this modern two bedroom second floor apartment for £114,995.

It is situated in the much requested location of 'Martello Bay' and benefits from a modern kitchen and bathroom and even has it's own parking space.

Properties like this rent very well and would achieve a rental of £600 PCM, giving you a great 6.26% return (ground rent and service charges not included in the return).

For more information and pictures on this property, please click the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34479855.html

Town centre flat with a 6.6% return!

This two bedroom first floor flat has been marketed today with Connells for £100,000.

This property is an ideal investment as it is situated in Clacton town, close to all amenities, the seafront and railway station and would appeal to many people.

It looks like it has recently been refurbished with a modern kitchen and bathroom, therefore would let quickly with no work required.

Properties similar to this rent for £550 PCM which would give you a great 6.6% return if purchased at full asking price.

For more details and pictures, click the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49956361.html

667% Return for Clacton Buy To Let landlords since 1999

Buy to let is essentially different from investing in stocks and shares or putting money in the Building Society. Whilst these other investments (Building Society Passbooks, Stocks and Shares etc) are passive  ie once the  money has been invested it you leave it alone, with buy to let, things are more hands on, in fact it’s almost a business. One thing the landlords I speak to say is the fact that they like buy to let because it is both an investment as well as a business. It is this factor that attracts many of my Clacton landlords – they are making their own decisions rather than entrusting them to others (such as City Whiz Kidzs in London playing roulette with their Pension Pot).

So if you are investing in the Clacton property market, you can earn from your investment in two ways. When a property increases in value over time, it is known as 'capital growth'. Capital growth, also known as capital appreciation, this has been strong in recent times in Clacton, but the value of property does go up as well as down just like shares do but the initial purchase price rarely decreases.  Rental income is what the tenant pays you - hopefully this will grow over time. If you divide the annual rent into the value (or purchase price) of the property, this is your yield, or annual return.

I was talking to a landlord who bought a terraced house in the Geranium Close area of Clacton. He bought a very pleasant 2 bed terraced house in 1999 for £45,000. It sold again in January just gone for £120,000, a rise of 166.66% in just over 15 years – a compound annual return of 6.76%.

However, the real returns are for those Clacton landlords who borrowed money to purchase their buy to let property. They have made significantly higher returns than those who paid 100% cash. If the landlord had borrowed 75% of the £45,000 purchase price of the Geranium Close terraced house on an interest only 75% mortgage, he would have only needed to invest £11,250 (as his 25% deposit... borrowing the remaining £33,750), but his £11,250 would be worth today, £86,250  (£120,000 less £33,750 interest only mortgage)... a rise of 667% - a compound annual return of 14.54%... and I haven’t even mentioned the rent he would have received in those 15 years!

This demonstrates how the Clacton buy to let market has not only provided very strong returns for average investors since 1999 but how it has permitted a group of motivated buy to let Clacton landlords to become particularly wealthy. In fact, if this landlord had continued to remortgage the property as it went up in value, he could by our reckoning have had an additional two or three properties (albeit with larger mortgages but greater future potential).

As my article mentioned a few weeks ago, more and more Clacton people may be giving up on owning their own home and are instead accepting long term renting whilst buy to let lending continues to grow from strength to strength. If you want to know what (and would not) make a decent property to buy in Clacton for buy to let, then one place for such information would be the Clacton Property Blog.

Fantastic 7.8% return!

This two bedroom ground floor maisonette has just come onto the market with ourselves for £79,995.

The property comprises of lounge, kitchen, two bedrooms and bathroom and is situated only 0.6 miles from Clacton train station.

It is being sold with a tenant in situ on an AST who is currently paying £520 PCM which would give you a fantastic return of 7.8%!

For more information on this property please click the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37518731.html

Impressive return on this four bedroom house in a modern development

This four bedroom end terrace house has just gone onto the market with Stoneridge for £174,995.

This home is situated in a popular modern development (approx. 7 years old) and appears to be well presented throughout with accommodation split over three floors.

Properties like this rent for around £900 PCM which would give you an impressive return if bought at the full asking price of 6.2%!

Please click the link below to obtain more information and pictures on this property.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33137448.html

6% return on this three bedroom house in a sought after location!

This three bedroom mid-terrace house has just gone onto the market with Castles for £148,000.

It is situated in the much requested area of Peter Bruff and looks well maintained therefore, once purchased, could be let out quite quickly with not much work to be done.

Properties similar to this rent for £750 PCM which would give you a 6% return!

For further information and pictures on this property, please click the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52113578.html