6.6% on Almond Close, Clacton

This three/four bedroom mid terraced house located in Almond Close has been listed with Scott Sheen & Partners for £144,995.

Internally the property looks in good condition and offers conservatory along with the garage being converted into study/bedroom four.

We have recently let a similar property around the corner for £795 PCM, therefore should this property be purchased at full asking price you could expect to achieve a return of 6.6%!

For further information, click the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35189697.html

Warwick Road 7.2% return

This two bedroom mid terraced house has been listed with Blake & Thickbroom located in Warwick Road for £102,950.

Internally the property requires some slight improvement works to include redecoration, new flooring but with the following works carried out, you could expect to achieve a monthly rental of £625.

With this in mind and purchased at full asking price, the return is a potential 7.2%!

For further information, click the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35196450.html

Great Clacton apartment with 9.5% return!

This one bedroom leasehold apartment has just come to market with Abbotts located in Havering Close, Great Clacton for £59,995.

The property is located on the popular Foots Farm Development and with similar properties achieving a rental of £475 PCM, this property make a fantastic investment.

If this property should be purchased at full asking price then you could expect to achieve a return of 9.5%! (Before any ground rent and service charges are taken into account).

For further information, click the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50607679.html#tab=floorplan

6.4% return on the Peter Bruff Development

This three bedroom mid terraced house has just been listed with Scott Sheen & Partners in Finer Close for £144,995 and would make an ideal investment!

Located on the Peter Bruff Development, this area is popular with families, being ideally positioned for Primary & Secondary Schools, along with access to A133 towards Colchester and Clacton town centre and seafront.

Internally the property requires very minimal work, if any, therefore could potentially mean a letting this home out immediately!

With similar properties located on this development achieving a rent of £775 PCM, this property could expect to return you 6.4% on your return from purchasing at full asking price!

With a strong demand for all types of rental properties, this home would be ideal for a family looking for a place to call home!

For further information about this house, click the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35186586.html

If you wish to discuss this or any other property you may have in mind, feel free to contact me via the phone or pop into the office.

Clacton Buy to Let - Demand and Supply

Following on from my recent article about the state of the Clacton property market and in particular what had happened to the rents Clacton tenants have had to pay since the Credit Crunch, if you recall, I said rents in Clacton are still 0.71% lower than they were in 2008. A Clacton landlord has since rung me after reading the Clacton Property Blog, wanting to know more of the story of what was happening to current rents in the town. The reason he asked was that his current agent hadn’t increased his rent for a number of years and was concerned if he was getting the best return from his buy to let investment.

The Clacton rental market is all about supply and demand (isn’t it so in all parts of the economy?). On the supply side, 60 rental properties have come up for let in the last 31 days in Clacton. It sounds a lot until you consider there are 4249 rental properties in Clacton, that means only 1.41% of the rental stock of properties in Clacton are coming onto the market each month (it is normally around 5%).  One reason for this lack of new rental properties coming on the market is the fact that tenants seem to be staying in properties longer.

With this lack of supply, newer tenants have to pay more to secure the property they want. And this is the crux of the matter ...properties they want. Older properties in Clacton, that haven’t been maintained, still retain their wood chip wallpaper from the 1970’s and thread bare carpets have seen their rents drop. Tenants want either modern properties with all the mod cons or older style properties that have been presented to an exceptional standard – and they are prepared to pay for the privilege. Rents for top quality properties in Clacton have risen by 0.4% in the last month. Any properties, old or modern, put on the market in good or excellent condition will rent in a matter of days.   

Interestingly, looking at Clacton property values, the Land Registry have just released their latest set of data on property values. Throughout April 2015 (the latest set of data), property values rose in Clacton, with 0.7% growth, meaning they are now 9.4% higher than they were a year ago.  When one looks at the regional picture, the East of England average property values rose by 0.3% in the last month. The difference doesn't concern me, as the regional and local property values always even themselves out over the months. 

Looking forward, after considering all the statistics and talking to other property professionals, I expect property values in Clacton to rise by 3% to 5% over the coming 12 months, following the Conservative victory.  In a forthcoming article, I will discuss how the number of properties changing hands each month has dropped considerably in the last 10 to 15 years in the town. 

And so back to our landlord. Each property is unique and so as his tenancy agreement allows him to inspect the property with notice to the tenant, we will be visiting the property next week.  For more in depth thoughts and opinions like this on the Clacton Property market ...visit the Clacton Property Blog www.clactonproperty.blogspot.com

6% return on Peter Bruff Developement

This three bedroom mid terraced house has just been listed with Moving Places, located on the popular Peter Bruff Development.

This house is tucked away on Harman Walk, which is a walk way between Kingsman Drive and Young Close. 

Similar properties in the area achieve a rental in the region of £750 - £775 PCM, therefore if purchased at full asking price of £155,000 you could expect a return of 6%.

For further information, click the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35125440.html

7.6% return in Great Clacton!

This one bedroom first floor flat has been listed with Oakpark for £75,000 and is located in the popular area of Great Clacton.

Ideally positioned on the Foots Farm development in Great Clacton, this one bedroom apartment is ideally located for local shops and amenities, along with access to A133 towards Colchester.

Similar one bedroom apartments achieve a monthly rental of £460 - £475, therefore if this apartment is purchased at full asking price you could expect to achieve a return of 7.6%. (Before any costs are deducted as associated with leasehold properties).

For further information, click the link below!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52911359.html

10% return on Station Road Clacton!!!

This two bedroom second floor apartment has just been listed with Dedman Gray Auctions located on Station Road, Clacton-on-Sea.

The property is in need of some light refurbishment, but is located in a prime position for Clacton town centre and across the road from the railway station.

Two bedroom apartments located within close proximity achieve a monthly rental in the region of £500 - £525 PCM, therefore should this property be purchased at the Guide Price of £60,000, you could expect to achieve a return of 10%!!! (Ground rent & service charges would need to be taken into consideration)

This property is being offered for sale by public auction, which is taking place on Wednesday 15th July at The Holiday Inn Hotel, London Southend Airport, from 2pm. 

For further information, please click the link below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35099649.html

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.