I’ve not written much about property and partly because in the past I had been very concentrated on digital technology and personal development, however now that I am also a professional landlord and property investor I feel the time is right to impart what I know in property and perhaps help people to build their portfolios.
I’ve been deep diving into property a lot recently and that’s because I’m doing a lot of future planning. My wife and I are planning to start a family and also think about that leads to many other choices that have to be made about the future of our lives together.
The main driving force behind the idea that property can provide a lifetime of income, is that for the most part of my 13+ entrepreneurial career I’ve developed a small portfolio and in the roughest times it has been my portfolio that has pulled through with extra income to pass the bad times.
If you look at all the wealthy people in the world a vast majority either owe their wealth to property, or have made massive investments into it. It’s no big secret that it’s the sure way to pension paradise.
In 2015 what I’m witnessing right now is the rise of BTL (Buy-To-Let) as a strong strategy again, after a few years in the doldrums. The reason is that whilst property prices in the south has risen considerably in the last 2 years, rents still haven’t caught up with it which of course suppresses yields down south, but in the north, things are just about heating up.
In an area like Manchester, there are still depressed low property values lingering since the 2008 crash and with lending rates dropping as low as 2.5%, suddenly BTL yields are looking great around 10% for these types of deals.
You might wonder that perhaps the capital value of these won’t rise, but in reality, with every London property boom that happens, it eventually stabilises to a slower growth rate. That’s happening right now. What then happens is the price rise ripple starts to echo across the country and it’s about to hit the North big time.
2 bed flats that were once £100k are now available at around £60k, so that must have left quite a few people in negative equity. But what that poses for everyone else is an opportunity to buy low. The property prices will rise back and beyond that figure because a number of things have happened in Manchester, the most impactful being that of the BBC moving most of their broadcasting to Media City. The creation of jobs has lead to a renewed regeneration of the area and investment into Manchester is pouring in from all over the world as well as plans from our own government to improve transport to the area.
All this can mean only one thing. It’s time to invest in Manchester.
Besides this, I’ve also been figuring out how to leverage and buy a new residential property in Surrey and this is by no means easy. Surrey is most likely the most expensive county to purchase a property in with more million pound homes that anywhere in the UK.
Originally we had decided to budget £800k to purchase a ready-to-move-in property but lately I’ve realised that this is wrong for a number of reasons. In order to maximise our spending power and capital, it’s actually better to find a property around £450k with massive potential, spend about £150k renovating and then reaping the rewards of the value increase.
In fact the other best way now to make money investing is to get into small property developments, but for this you need a relatively decent pot of starting capital.
If you want to find out more how you can maximise your property buying power, get in touch with me to discuss your situation. I’m sure I can help you find the right strategy that works for you.
