Murrin Road, Maidenhead - 2 bed terrace - Rock solid investment!

Good evening everyone! Doing my daily search of of Rightmove and Zoopla there are slim pickings out there in terms of good value investment properties.... however I think this place could be an option..? It's on Murrin Road which is a mile or so from the train station but should not be discounted. This neck of the words is still extremely popular with tenants, and in place in good nick, which this is, should rent in no time at all!

This place is on the market with Braxton for £425K. More details below...

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/39966965

£405,000 inheritance - Is buying Maidenhead Property still the best place for my windfall?

I had an interesting email from someone in Maidenhead 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 Holyport, 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 £405,000 from an elderly relative. One option he told me was 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 £7,695 in interest a year. One of his other options was to buy a property in Maidenhead to rent out and he wanted to know my thoughts on what he should buy, but he had concerns as he didn’t want to take a mortgage out at his time of life. He was also worried about all the tax changes he had read about in the papers for landlords.

Notwithstanding the war on Maidenhead landlords being waged by George Osborne, the attraction of bricks and mortar endures for many. As our man is a cash buyer, he would not have to deal with the intricate cut to mortgage interest tax relief that will diminish, or even eradicate, the profits of many Maidenhead landlords. It’s true he would face the extra 3% in stamp duty to buy a second property, but as I have explained in recent articles this could be mitigated to some extent....

I told him that buying a Maidenhead buy to let property is all about the total return on investment. True, he could put the money in the Post Office bond and receive his interest of £7,695 a year or, as he rightly suggested, invest in property in Maidenhead. The average yield (yield being the equivalent of the interest rate on the property) at the moment in Maidenhead is 3.05% per annum, meaning our potential F.T.L (First Time Landlord) should be able to, depending on what he bought in the town, earn before costs £12,352 a year. (However, I told him there are plenty of landlords in Maidenhead earning half as much again (if not more), if he was willing to consider more specialist investment types of properties – again, if you want to know where – look at my blog or drop me an email).

The bottom line is that the success of investing in Maidenhead buy to let property versus a savings account with the Post Office (or whatever Bank or Building Society is offering the best rate) will depend on the performance of those assets. Unlike with a savings account, with property the capital you invested can also go up (and yes, it can go down as well – more of that in second). Property values in Maidenhead have risen in the last twelve months by 10.8% meaning, that if our chap had bought a year ago, not only would he have received the £12,352 in rent, but also seen an uplift of £43,740 …meaning his overall return for the year would have been £56,092 (not bad when compared to the Post Office!).

..  but the doom mongers amongst you will say, property values can go down, as they did in 2008, and in 1988 and 1979. Yes, but after 1979 prices had bounced back to their ’79 levels by 1984 and went on to grow an additional 58% in the following four years. Then again, they dropped in 1988 and did take 13 years to reach back to those ’88 figures, but the following six years (between 2001 and 2007) they then increased by an additional 66%. Now, according to the Land Registry, average property values in Windsor and Maidenhead currently stand 26.4% above the January 2008 level, and anicdotal evidence suggests that in the nicer parts of Maidenhead, we are well above these sorts of levels. Therefore, all this talk of property crashes is unfounded.

… and what would that £405,000 get you in Maidenhead? A decent 2 bed terrace in Grenfell Road area, a really nice 3 bed end terrace in the Courthouse area or a superb 3 bed terrace / flat close to the town centre and the River Thames .. in fact, the world is your oyster. But which Oyster? Well, my blog reading friends, if you want to read similar articles like this and what I consider to be the very best of buy to let deals in Maidenhead, irrespective of which agent is selling it, then you need to visit the Maidenhead Property Blog

Windrush Way, Maidenhead - 5 Bed Terrace - HMO Opportunity

This is really one for all the serious investors out there! Its just come on the market with Prospect for £350K. As a "Home of Multiple Occupancy (HMO)", this can really offer you fantastic returns. You will need to do the maths but as a rough estimate you should expect to get a yield of 8% on all HMO investments.... In order to achieve this you really need make sure the condition of the property is in tip top condition as this will ensure you can get the right type of tenant and avoid them horrible void periods! 

Give the ladies and gents at Prospect a call and get a viewing booked in!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-58495133.html

Oldershaw Mews, Maidenhead - 5 Bed Terrace - Real Investment Opportunity!

Another great HMO opportunity for you courtesy of Prospect, it's on the market for £350K, so give them a call and get yourself a viewing!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-58495091.html

Albert Street, Maidenhead - 2 Bed Terrace - It's all about location!

I really do like this area of Maidenhead, it's such a great location for access to the train station and the town centre and for these reasons alone you should be considering this type of place if you are thinking of investing in the Maidenhead area. Roger Platt are marketing this property for £420K......well worth giving them a call!

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/39911689

Maidenhead – Still the place to buy?

You find me in a reflective mood today, as I want to talk about the future of investing in property in Maidenhead. The truth is that we have got fat and lethargic, with many people having mistaken the ever-rising Maidenhead (and in fact the whole of the South East) property market since the 1960’s as the eternal gift that kept giving as property prices have constantly risen and doubled every five to seven years.

The days of making money from property as easy

as falling off a log, like taking candy from a baby are sadly

over my Maidenhead Property Blog reading friends

Whilst George Osborne has decided now is the time to milk the ‘Golden Cow’ of UK’s private landlords, with changes in taxation for buy to let property, many pundits are predicting the end of buy to let as we know it. However, it is still possible to make a reasonable, profitable and safe return on property with these changes. You see, I have always seen investing in the Maidenhead buy to let market (as I would anywhere in the UK), as I might see Mother Nature, creating some truly wonderful stunning warm weather but at the same time, she will bite, creating catastrophic situations such as snowstorms and hurricanes.  You need to study the market, take advice and opinions from many people and then decide what the proverbial property weather will be … remember, tenants will always want a roof over their head and I don’t see the HM Government building the millions of houses required to house them?

Nobody knows the future, and yes people can predict but I wouldn’t be afraid of this change .. because as a famous French proverb says, (I told you I was a reflective mood today), ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’.  I mean, no one could have predicted how the property market has changed in Maidenhead over the last couple of decades? Looking specifically at the Maidenhead Parliamentary Constituency, twenty years ago, 25,443 households (meaning 75.03% of property) were owned and only 1,924 households were privately rented (meaning 5.67% of property was rented out by private landlords), with the remainder being primarily council owned. Roll the clocks on twenty years and the change has been seismic …. Now 29,944 of properties in the Constituency are home-owners (a drop to only 73.42% being owner occupied) and the jump in private renting has been out of this world, as 5,390 properties are now privately rented proportionally 13.21%). (NB Neighbouring Constituencies show similar changes as well)

Who would have predicted in 1995 the private rental sector in

Maidenhead would have grown by 132.98% in the proceeding 20 years?

Also, if you had asked someone in 1995 to predict what would happen to property values over the proceeding 20 years (ie between 1995 and 2015), they might have predicted similar growth to the growth experienced over the previous 20 years (ie between 1975 and 1995), which was a very impressive 351.55%. Yes, property values in Maidenhead have increased over the last 20 years (between 1995 and 2015), but by a more modest 318.64% (and most of that can be attributed to house price growth between 2000 and 2006.)

The property market is constantly changing and buy to let for too long has been heavily dependent solely on house price growth, where yield has been almost forgotten.  I see the changes in tax and landlord and tenant law in a different perspective to the doom-mongers and see it as bringing many opportunities. You might need to change your buy to let benchmarks, your approach to financing or even consider places other than Maidenhead in which to invest your money, but this will shine a light on investing in properties with healthier yields and create more realistic long term buy to let opportunities, instead of short term growth bets and wagers.

The advice I give to my landlords, and you my blog reading friends is this; these changes will make some landlords panic, meaning competition for decent Maidenhead buy to let bargains will reduce as fear of change kicks in and amateur investors flee the market. These opportunities will provide a more stable platform for knowledgeable and wise Maidenhead buy to let landlords to thrive in. If you want to learn more about the Maidenhead Property Market, feel free to pop in for a coffee at our office for a chat with me, or failing that, visit the Maidenhead Property Blog, where you will find many more articles like this ..solely on the one topic of the Property Market in Maidenhead 

Beaumont Close, Maidenhead - 3 bed terrace - Good earner!

Hello! Just having a run through Right Move to see whats appeared on the market today and I think this place could offer you some good returns. On this asking price (£350K) you could expect a monthly rental income in the region of £1,350, this gives a return of about 4.75%.... this return is above average for a 3 bed in Maidenhead at the moment so maybe worth thinking about?...Plus it looks nicely done out already so no upfront costs to consider!

Its on with Haart so give them a call and some more details......

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-38878518.html?premiumA=true

Parklands, Maidenhead - 2 Bed Flat - This should fly out the door!

Good evening, I hope you have enjoyed your weekend so far! Just spotted this great little flat come on the market with Northwood for £330K.... these types of flats have such huge appeal with First Time Buyers and Investors that I expect this to be under offer in the blink of any eye. 

If you're looking at it from an investment angle then expect to achieve around £1,250 per month which will give you a yield of 4.5%.... that's pretty good going.

Take a look at the link below for more details and do not waste anytime giving Northwood a call to get a viewing booked in!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53414605.html

Maidenhead Buy to Let sees returns of 15.33% in 2015

Recently I got chatting with one of my out of town landlords who was back in Maidenhead visiting his family.  Brought up in Maidenhead, he went to Sir William Borlase Grammar School back in the 1970’s and is now a University Lecturer in central London.  To enhance his retirement, he has a small portfolio of four properties in the town and wanted my advice on where to buy the next property in Maidenhead (as he lives in a college owned flat and anyway, would never dream of buying where he lives in Kensington (where the average value of a flat is £1.62m and a town house £4.1m.  Eye-watering to say the least!!).

Before I could advise him, I reminded him that the most important thing when considering investing in Maidenhead is finding a property with decent rental yields for income returns, yet at the same time, it must have the potential for capital growth from rising house prices over time. Going into 2016, Maidenhead landlords will be under more pressure to find the best permutation of yields and capital growth, as extra stamp duty charges for buying properties and a squeeze on mortgage interest relief will raise their costs.

However, (you knew there would be an however) before we look at yield and capital growth, one important consideration that often many landlords tend to overlook, is the propensity of how likely the rent will increase.  Interestingly, the average rent of a Maidenhead property currently stands at £1,389 per month, which is a rise of 6.0% compared to twelve months ago (although it must be noted this rise in rents is for new tenancies and not existing tenants).

Anyway, back to yield and capital growth, the average value of a Maidenhead property currently stands at £552,000, meaning the average yield stands at 3.02% per annum, which on the face of it, many landlords would find disappointing.  That is the problem with averages, so if I were to look at say 2 bed houses in Maidenhead which are the sort of properties a lot of landlords buy, in Maidenhead, the average value of a 2 bed house is £410,900, whilst the average rent for a 2 bed house is £1,723 per month, giving a yield of 5.03%. However, if that wasn’t high enough, there are landlords in Maidenhead who own some specialist properties with specialist tenancies, that are achieving nearly double that yield – again it comes down to your attitude to risk and reward (give me a tinkle if you wanted a chat about those sorts of properties – although they can be fun and games!).

Ultimately investors want to be making gains from both rent and house price growth.   When combined, the rental yield and capital growth gives you the return on investment, and that is what I told our University friend from Kensington.   Return on investment is everything.   So, looking at property values in Maidenhead they have risen in the last year by 10.30% …. which means the current annual return on investment in Maidenhead for a typical 2 bed house is 15.33% a year .... not bad.

Aysgarth Park, Holyport - 4 Bed Detached House - Some Eye Candy

Good Evening! Slight change of tack today, usually I flag things for all our investor friends but I think this place will really get the interest of families looking to set up camp in Holyport. Its a really nicely done out family home with fantastic living space and a great kitchen. For £650K I think you are getting quite a lot of house for your money....!

Give the guys and girls at Haart a call and get youself a viewing booked in!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53322016.html

Lower Road, Cookham - 2 Bed Terrace - Great Investment...at the right price!

Good morning! Just seen this attractive 2 bed terrace come on the market in Cookham with Andrew Milsom for £450K. Some investors don't get too excited with type of period cottages but I think they are great as tenants love them and they rent in a flash! You can expect some strong appreciation in the region of 8 to 10% per year.... I think its well worth looking at.

Take a look at the link below for more details...... 

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/39711614

18.9% of Maidenhead tenants in the private rented sector are on Housing Benefit

“What does the ideal Maidenhead tenant look like?”, asked one of my landlords from Kingholm Park 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, who has no plans to move 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, modern and damp free and sort any issues (such as repairs) quickly and without fuss. 

Back to the tenants – tenants tend to fall into several groups ... 20 something professionals; young and middle aged families; corporate tenants (i.e. their employer finds their employee a house to live in); students; older singles/couples and housing benefit claimants – and they all come with different needs and wants. So choosing whom best suits your Maidenhead property – and steering clear of bad tenants – is a big factor in making property investment a success.

One topic that I am often asked is should they, as a landlord, accept tenants on housing benefit?

It might interest the landlords of Maidenhead that of the 8.099 private rented properties in the local council area, 18.9% of the tenants of those properties are on some form of housing benefit.

That’s 1,533 properties to be exact. I know many landlords have suffered late rent payments with tenants on benefit, especially since 2008, when local authorities started paying housing benefit to tenants rather than directly to the landlords, but you can’t ignore the fact that housing benefit tenants make up a significant proportion of the Maidenhead rental population. However the upside of renting to this segment of the market is that you have a guaranteed supply of tenants and you can source them for free by contacting the DSS directly – thus avoiding any agency finders fees. My opinion is that the final choice of accepting such tenants has to be the landlord’s and would depend on their appetite for risk and reward.

Interestingly, it might surprise some readers of the Maidenhead Property Blog, when we compare Maidenhead to the national picture, Maidenhead’s Housing benefit claimants are lower, as nationally a higher proportion of private tenants claim the benefit. Nationally, 39.2% of the tenants of the 3,891,467 rental properties in Great Britain claim some form of housing benefit (i.e. 1,526,915 properties).

Now, let us look at the occupations of Maidenhead tenants, which makes even more fascinating reading. Of the 8,099 privately rented properties in the Maidenhead area, 7,090 head tenants (the head tenant being classified as the head of the household) are in employment (the other 1,009 rental property head tenants either being retired, long term sick, students or job seekers).

Splitting those 7,090 head tenants down into their relevant professions, 4,631 of them are Managers, Directors, Senior Officials, Professional or Technical Professions, 541 in Administrative and secretarial occupations, 618 in Skilled Trades, 372 in the Caring, Leisure and other service occupations, 277 Sales and Customer Service Occupations, 243 Process, Plant and Machine Operatives and finally, 408 in Elementary Occupations.

The one thing I have always known anecdotally, but until I did my research, never had anything to back it up with, was the high proportion of professionals and skilled trades renting property in Maidenhead – intriguing! Maybe in future articles, I will look deeper into the corporate tenant market, young and middle aged families, students and older persons rental markets.... but in the meantime, if you want more news, views and commentary about the Maidenhead property market, there are many similar articles like this on the Maidenhead Property Blog