Posts Tagged ‘property’

As of 2012, all house sale ads in the UK will have to publish details of energy efficiency ratings.

Currently, anyone selling a property in the UK is required to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) before they put the property on the market. However, even though the EPC is in the pipeline, the full details of how energy efficient a property is aren’t always available for early viewers.

In a bid to get over this issue, and help encourage home owners to become more energy efficient aware, a new EU Directive will come into force in 2012 making it compulsory for all EPC ratings to be published upfront with for sale adverts, so that everyone will know the ratings before they even look at a property.

If you’re thinking of putting one of your investment properties on the market in the next few years, then experts are advising that it’s a good idea to check the energy efficiency of your property now and, if necessary, get energy improvement work done sooner, rather than later.

In addition to improving individual properties, the new legislation will also help the government on its bid to reduce household carbon emissions by 29% by the year 2020.

In a previous post, we looked at the benefits of staging an investment property for rental viewings. If you’ve been inspired to have a go, then here’s the first part of a guide offering practical steps to help you learn how you could stage your property ready for prospective tenants to view.

Clean The Property

Your property needs to be thoroughly cleaned from top to bottom to make it spotless for viewings, as potential tenants aren’t impressed by dirt or dust. If the carpets haven’t been cleaned for a while, then a deep clean may be in need.

Don’t forget to clean the windows and blinds, dust the ceiling to remove any spiders webs, wipe down the tiles in the bathroom and kitchen, and ensure the hallway or entrance is clean and tidy too.

Give the property a good airing by leaving the windows open to get fresh air through.

Sort Out Repairs

If the property has been let for a while, or you’ve just taken it on, check to see whether there are any repairs that need doing. Check for cracked tiles in the bathroom, loose paving outside, drawer handles that need tightening in the kitchen or light bulbs that need replacing. You want your property to look in tip-top condition, attract a good fee from rentals and rent quickly.

If you don’t want to do the repairs yourself, then hire a maintenance specialist to do the job for you.

Redecorate

If the interior walls, woodwork or front door are all looking a bit tired and worn, then get out a paintbrush and give them a lick of fresh paint. Choose neutral colours for the interior, to give it a fresh and contemporary look – it will also mean that the tenants existing furniture should go with the rooms if they’re not painted in bright colours.

Paint woodwork, such as skirting boards or door frames, in a satin finish, as it won’t go yellowy with age like gloss paint does.

You can use colour on the front door though, as that can help make it stand out from others on the street. Favourites include red, blue or green.

Clear Clutter

Ensure the property is clear and clutter-free. Remove unnecessary furniture to make rooms appear bigger and certainly remove or replace any old or battered furniture. Present clear and tidy rooms as they would be used – e.g. don’t have a bed in the living room (honestly, some landlords do!).

Outside, ensure the walk up to the house is clear – cutback overhanging bushes or trim hedges – and, where possible, hide the rubbish bins from sight.

Look out for part 2, to discover more ways of staging your property for rental viewings!

Renting out your properties and earning a good, regular income is usually the first priority of property investors. But if there comes a time when you want to sell one or more properties – perhaps in order to use the money to invest in something bigger and better – it’s useful to know what can help add value to your bricks and mortar investment.

A recent survey involving over 200 leading estate agents in the UK, carried out by movewithus, analysed the best ways of adding value to a property. They identified the most profitable additions that could be made and looked at how much value could be added, based on average price values.

The number one most profitable addition was found to be adding an extra bedroom, which could increase the value of a property by over £14,500. A loft conversion adds over £11,000 and an extra bathroom can add on just over £10,000.

If you’re prepared to put a bit of work and money into your property before you sell, you could end up with a higher sale price than you bargained for. Many of the improvements, such as a loft conversion, extra bedroom and extra bathroom, could also add a significant chunk of extra rental income to your property too, if you think about improving it early on.

Here’s the top 10 most valuable additions you can add to a property.

The first percentage figure relates to the typical average value added and the second monetary figure relates to the added value based on the Land Registry’s average house price (of £165,596).

1. Extra bedroom, 8.8% – £14,572
2. Loft conversion, 7.1% – £11,757
3. Extra bathroom, 6.1% – £10,101
4. New kitchen, 5.8% – £9,605
5. Central heating, 5.4% – £8,942
6. Off street parking, 5.2% – £8,611
7. New bathroom, 5.1% – £8,445
8. Conservatory, 5% – £8,280
9. Double glazing, 4.2% – £6,955
10. New conservative decoration, 3.7% – £6,127

There’s good news for landlords in the UK, as recently released figures show that the number of tenants seeking rental property has risen again.

The data was collected by Countryside Residential Lettings, who have been gathering statistics since 2003. In the last three months until the end of June 2010, they found that over 50,000 people were looking for rental accommodation – the highest they’ve ever recorded. The biggest spike was seen during June, when over 18,000 new tenants registered for rental property.

These figures are noticeably higher – 16% up – than the first three months of the year and suggest that more people are beginning to look for rental properties.

Some of the data they gathered will be of interest to property investors and landlords, as it gives an indication of which areas people seemed to be interested in. For example, the most sought-after properties were two bedroom homes in south west England, where an average of 23.1 people were keen to rent each property.

On average there are now 5.5 tenants competing for every property, an increase from 4.9 tenants per property during the first quarter of 2010. With demand being higher, the sooner a property is available, the better for tenants, with properties being let within an average of two weeks.

In line with this increased demand for property, a small increase in rental prices has also been recorded, particularly on houses. For example, the average cost of renting a four bedroom family home has risen by 4% to £1,090.

Demand for rental property is likely to continue for the next few months at least, especially as the annual rush to find and secure student accommodation in university towns and cities will soon be upon us.

Our series on finding property hotspots has explored a variety of different ways in which an area can become ‘hot’ and a key attractor of tenants, such as being located near major transport links, large employers or universities. Here’s a new idea to consider – the benefits of cashing in on owning property near festival or event sites.

Many people think of the festival season as kicking off in the summer, when large popular music festivals, such as Glastonbury or Reading, take place. But there are actually a large number of festivals and annual events taking place throughout the calendar year, spanning interests such as literature, music, art, gardening, racing and sailing, in many areas of the UK. Think Cheltenham Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Goodwood, Chelsea Flower Show, Wimbledon, The Proms, Isle of Wight Festival or Henley Regatta.

Accommodation near each of the venues, especially the large events, is often in demand in the run-up to the events, when organisers are setting up, to during the festivals, when stall holders, attendees and the media are at the events and need somewhere to stay for short or long periods of time. With many of the events only running for a short period, it may seem unlikely that you can make much money from renting property, but actually there are benefits to be had.

In prime locations, the cost of renting a property for a week is substantial. A week of a house rental to coincide with a major music festival can command prices of £5,000, £6,000 or more, depending on the size and exact location. The closer to the venues, the better, but even those close to good direct transport links can be valuable too.

If you have holiday investment rental properties and are located near a festival then you may already be cashing in on the benefits of your location. For those looking to invest in new properties, areas around such events are well worth considering, if the figures add up for you.

To discover whether any of your properties could be festival hotspots, or areas which you could consider buying in, here are some useful links to explore:

British Arts Festivals
Literary Festivals
Virtual Festivals (music)
Garden Festivals

The UK has a major shortage of rental properties and demand is outstripping supply, research has shown.

The findings were discovered during research by the Association of Rental Letting Agents (ARLA), who surveyed 531 offices in the first quarter of 2010 and 382 landlords during March 2010. They discovered that over two thirds of agents are reporting that demand for rental properties has outstripped supply across the UK and that the private rented sector is struggling to keep up with demand.

The increase in demand for properties has risen by 50%, compared to the last quarter of 2009; back in Q3 of 2009, the figure was just 24%, which highlights a significant rise. Letting agents from around the UK are all reporting a shortage of good quality property becoming available on the market and say that tenants are tending to stay longer in their rentals, which doesn’t help the supply situation.

In London, for example, one agent reported that rental property stock levels had fallen by 60% over the last year and that rent prices are rising.

Obviously, this is nothing short of good news for existing landlords, especially those with properties about to come up for rent. It’s also a good sign for those considering buying investment property, as there’s nothing better than a market that is ripe for tenants.

If you’re considering buying an investment property, or in starting your own portfolio of investment properties, than HBF Investments can help you do just that.

There are pros and cons involved in buying any type of property, but in this mini series, we’re going to explore the positives and negatives of three key types of properties – old build homes, new build and off plan properties.  Investors are faced with many dilemmas and opportunities when it comes to investing in property so in this mini series we will detail some key facts to help you make the right investment choices for you.

To start things off, we’re going to begin by looking at the issue of cost, something that’s a major factor in the purchase of properties for many investors.

Old Build

Pros – With old build properties, one of the major attractions is that there’s often more bargaining power available in terms of cost, especially in the current economic climate. In the case of below market value (BMV) properties in particular, it’s possible to pick up some great property investment bargains. Older properties also tend to be bigger in size, so you get better value for money.

Cons – You do have to know where to look to get the best bargains. There will always be some old build homes in desirable locations that hold their value and can’t be bought for a good deal. Some older properties will have suffered a lot of wear and tear, or may need updating. If it takes time, then you could lose valuable time and money before you can get a tenant in.

New Build

Pros – If you’re purchasing a new build property, it’s brand new and you won’t need to spend money on doing it up for rental. Plus, extra incentives are also often available, such as brand new appliances or the chance to choose how the interior is decorated, which can all help with your costs.

Cons – When you buy a brand new property, you’re often paying above the odds for it. Also, if you’re going to use it for rental purposes, you need to be able to make a decent profit from renting it out, especially if you’ve got mortgage payments to cover.

Off Plan Property

Pros – The cost of off plan properties is often a major selling point. As they’re being sold off-plan, as opposed to newly built, the cost can be considerably lower, which attracts some buyers.

Cons – Sadly, the low price can sometimes turn out to be too good to be true. For example, it may be a reflection on the fact that the properties on the development aren’t selling, which could mean that it will take ages for it all to be finished. There’s no fun for anyone, even tenants, to live on a building site.

If you want to invest in property costing under £175,000 and take advantage of the reduced stamp duty fees, then time is running out.

The stamp duty holiday applies to property valued at under £175,000 and means that buyers don’t have to pay any stamp duty on their purchases. This can make a significant difference and save a good chunk of money.

The stamp duty holiday was came into effect on 3rd September 2008, originally running until April 2009, but it was subsequently extended until 31st December 2009. No further extensions have been announced, so it looks likely that it will finally come to a halt at the end of the year.

Assuming it does all end, from 1st Jan 2010, buyers will again be faced with paying 1% fees for stamp duty on all properties with a value of over £125,000.

According to organisations such as the Home Builders Federation, the Building Societies Association and the National Association of Estate Agents, the stamp duty holiday has had a significant effect on the number of property sales this year, which has helped stop the market from becoming too stagnated. They’re concerned that reinstating it could have further detrimental effects and are calling on Chancellor Alistair Darling to extend the scheme until the end of 2010.

For property investors choosing to buy distressed property, they may not be affected by the change, as many properties are available at a greatly reduced price and fall into £125,000 or under price bracket anyway.

But if you’re an investor who likes to have a range of different properties in your portfolio, perhaps by balancing out rental flats or smaller properties with larger homes, and are likely to buy in the higher price range, then you need to get cracking with your purchases now!

First impressions are important, especially when you’re putting your property on the lettings market and want to attract tenants. Research suggests that potential tenants make their mind up about a property within 30 seconds of entering the property. To ensure your property makes a great first impression, here are 10 top tips on preparing your property for viewing.

1. Make sure the area around the front door, or entrance to the property, is clean and tidy, as this is what prospective tenants will see first.

2. Keep any garden area, hedges, shrubs or bushes well maintained. Having the grass cut and the hedges trimmed makes a good first impression.

3. If you’re redecorating your property, opt for neutral colours. Neutral colours are preferable for property lets, as it keeps things simple and streamlined. If tenants want more colour, it can be added easily by using furniture and furnishings.

4. If you’re furnishing or partly furnishing a property, then choose good quality, but affordable, items that will last well, but not be a major disaster if you have to replace them.

5. Choose flooring with ease of cleaning and durability in mind. Laminate flooring, for example, looks good and is easy to keep clean.

6. The kitchen is regarded as an important room by many tenants and you can never have enough storage, so make sure there are plenty of cupboards.

7. Give careful consideration to what appliances you put in the kitchen. Even if you’re letting it unfurnished, a cooker is a good staple to have.

8. Good lighting is important, especially when tenants are viewing. Pop in some well placed lamps if it’s a dark day.

9. Ensure the property is clean and tidy. When you’re letting it again after a tenancy has ended, don’t forget to get it thoroughly cleaned first.

10. If the property has a garage or shed, make sure these spaces are clear and free from clutter. But if you want to encourage your tenants to cut the lawns, then do leave a lawnmower to hand!

A recent press release from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) on current UK Lending stated that in July there was a +19% increase on residential property loans compared to the previous year which is the first significant increase since early 2007.

The figures from the CML showed that house purchases accounted for 56,000 loans totalling £7.5bn. This was a +24% increase on June 2009 and a +19% improvement on July 2008.

Whilst the majority of lending was focused on home movers and remortgages, there was an +18% increase in loans to first-time buyers in comparison to the previous month, and this was a +22% increase from July 2008.

Paul Samter, a CML economist, said: “ There is certainly concrete evidence that lending for house purchase is increasing, but t he overall lending picture is likely to stay relatively subdued for some time, especially as the wider economy is far from robust as yet.”

source: www.property-investor-news.com