Who is to Blame for Crisis in the Falkirk Property Market?

‘A Scotsman’s Home is his Castle’ is (almost!) the phrase that was coined in Victorian times as the UK has a reputation for being a country of home owners  ... but the truth could be further from the point, because in a league of the top 46 economic nations of the world, where owning your property is permissible, the UK is only ranked no.37.

As I have mentioned, at the end of the First World War, 77% of people rented their home (the vast majority renting from a private landlord as Council Housing was still very much in its infancy). Homeownership rose very slowly in the 1920’s and started to grow as the economy grew after the Great Depression. However, after the Luftwaffe had flattened huge swathes of housing in the early 40’s, the priority was to get people into clean and decent accommodation ... so Local Authority’s (Councils) took up the baton and they built large council estates in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

As the UK economy got back on its feet in the middle part of the 20th Century and wages rose, people decided they wanted to own their own home instead of renting. Throughout the post war decades, it became easier to secure a mortgage. Interestingly, by 1977, 61.6% of 30 to 34 year olds were owner occupiers with a mortgage compared to 8.7% of 30 to 34 year olds being in private rented accommodation (the remaining either being in council housing or living with friends or family). Ten years later, in 1987, we saw some significant growth in homeownership, as 68.2% of 30 to 34 year olds had a mortgage and only 4.6% of people privately rented. A decade later and there wasn’t much change in home ownership as, in 1997, the homeownership figure was 68.3% but private renting had jumped to 12.1% in the same 30 to 34 year old age group.

Move on another ten years to the 2007 figures, and this showed a slight drop in homeownership to 65.8% but renting had continued to increase to 18.7% (in the 30 to 34 year old age group). The latest set of figures shows that only 47.2% of 30 to 34 year olds had a mortgage and an eye watering 33.4% of 30 to 34 year olds privately rent.

When we look at the Falkirk figures of homeownership, the latest census in 2011 showed home ownership in Falkirk was 64.7% and private rented was 7.3%. Private renting will increase not because property has become more expensive but because 30 somethings haven’t got a council house to move into (because they were all sold off) – so they have to rent privately. The selling of council housing in the 1980’s (a subject I have talked about in a previous article in the Falkirk Property Blog) artificially grew homeownership in the 1980’s, but as these people have got older, the younger generation didn’t have the same opportunity to buy their council house in the 1990’s, 2000’s or 2010’s. That is why, unless the council start building council houses by the acre, and hundreds of acres at that, private renting will continue to grow in Falkirk.

So if you want blame anyone ... blame the Grocer’s daughter from Grantham – Mrs T …. but before you do – do remember in the 1970s, the UK was called the "sick man of Europe" by critics of the UK government, because of industrial strife and poor economic performance compared to other European countries culminating with the Winter of Discontent of 1978/9 and if it hadn’t been for her we wouldn’t be where we are today.

If you would like any advice on the Falkirk property market, feel free to pop into our office at 6 Vicar Street, Falkirk for a chat, give us a call 0324 469840 or email me on robert@thekeyplace.co.uk.

www.thekeyplace.co.uk

#falkirk #property #buytolet #realestate #ownermanagedbusiness #retirement #retirementplanning #privaterentedsector #prs #firsttimebuyers #lettingagents #housebuilding #housingcompletions

My Concerns About The Falkirk Property Market

I am genuinely concerned about the Falkirk property market, but in a way that might surprise you.

Zoopla announced that average ‘asking prices’ rose in the last six months by 1.5% in Falkirk, leaving them 0.9% higher than a year ago. 

Looking at all the data on the Falkirk property market, and putting aside the need for more houses to be built in the next decade to balance out the increase in population not matched by a similar increase in housing being built, my research shows there is a widening gap between what property buyers want and what is available to buy.

In a nutshell, many more buyers are looking for the smaller one and two bed houses (the typical semi detached and smaller terraced houses), whilst there is an over supply of flats and larger four and five bed detached houses.

Demand for smaller houses comes from both first time buyers and the growing number of buy to let landlords, where it is more cost effective and efficient to buy smaller properties to let out compared to flats and larger properties which tend to offer poorer returns in the Falkirk area. Also, landlords with larger loans (on larger more expensive properties) will also be hit harder with the changes in the way tax is paid on buy to let investments that started being implemented from April 2017.

I recently carried out some research on how various types of properties have performed in Falkirk since the year 1999 and what struck me was just how different the various types of properties have performed over the last 20 years and what this means for our property market and for people trying to trade up from their starter home to their next home. In a nutshell, this mismatch of supply and demand isn’t a new phenomenon, it’s been happening under our noses for years! 

In the last 20 years, the average semi-detached house in Falkirk has increased in value from £41,461 to £147,428, the average terraced house’s value has gone from £36,309 to £1109,607, the average detached house has risen in value from £92,957 to £255,715 and the average flat value has increased from £33,202 to £90,046. Nothing seems amiss until you look at the percentage growth.  Average flat and detached house prices have grown by 171.2% and 175.1% respectively over this period.  However, these have been outgrown significantly by semi-detached houses whose value has increased by 255.6% and terraced houses whose value has grown 201.9%.  This means that the gap between semi-detached/terraced houses and flats/detached houses in percentage terms has narrowed enormously (this isn’t just a Falkirk trend, it has happened all across the Country).

I am concerned because more semi-detached/terraces houses need to be built, not only in Falkirk, but in Forth Valley and Scotland as a whole. In particular, there is specific need for more affordable starter homes for the growing demand from both tenants (and the landlords that will buy them) and first time buyers.

The government needs to face up to the fact that unless they can get the planners (to release more building land), the banks (to finance the building of house), the builders (to build houses) and themselves together to ensure long term plans can be made and implemented, this issue will continue to worsen.

It is estimated that the country needs 30,000 houses a year to be built to start to tackle the chronic housing shortage that we have. Last year, only 17,739 properties were built, the year before 16,270 and 14,890 in the year before that.

This means only one thing for Falkirk’s landlords. Unless the Scottish Government start to rip up huge swathes of the Scottish countryside and build on acres and acres of green belt, demand will always exceed supply when it comes to property for the foreseeable future regardless of any short term fluctuations caused by the uncertainty of Brexit.

Therefore investment in the local Falkirk property market as a buy to let investment could be the best move to make as stock market investments are possibly on the wane. Everyone is different and, trust me, there are many pitfalls in buy to let. You must take lots of advice and seek out the best opinion.

If you would like to explore how I can help you with your property investments, or should you require any advice about investing in the Falkirk property market, wish to enquire about our Investment Analysis Reports, Property Sourcing, Residential Lettings or Property Management services, please do not hesitate to contact me on 01324 469840 or at robert@thekeyplace.co.uk.

Alternatively please feel free to pop in and see me at our offices at 6 Vicar Street, Falkirk for a chat, the coffee is always on.

www.thekeyplace.co.uk

#falkirk #property #buytolet #realestate #ownermanagedbusiness #retirement #retirementplanning #privaterentedsector #prs #firsttimebuyers #lettingagents #housebuilding #housingcompletions

Why Falkirk landlords need to know how to identify Japanese Knotweed

The Falkirk Property Blog today features an article from a guest contributor, Jake Ryan of Wise Knotwood Solutions all about Japanese Knotweed ….. something that all landlords need to be be aware of.  Over to Jake …..

Spring begins with a warning for landlords

It has been estimated that Japanese Knotweed costs the British economy an astounding £166 million each year. The invasive plant has been listed by the World Conservation Union as one of the worst invasive species globally so it is critical that landlords familiarise themselves with the destructive plant, especially in spring.

The spring of 2018 was dominated by snowy and icy conditions that caused destruction all over the U.K. However, when it comes to invasive plants, this destructive weather was actually a blessing in disguise as it delayed the emergence of Japanese Knotweed by up to two months. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said this year as the unusually warmer weather has led to Japanese Knotweed emerging even earlier than normal. This is a serious concern and both landlords and tenants must remain vigilant as the invasive plant has the potential to devalue a property by tens of thousands of pounds.

Why should landlords worry about Japanese Knoyweed?

As Japanese Knotweed becomes dormant in winter, the best time to tackle the plant is in spring before it has the opportunity to grow to dangerous heights. Japanese Knotweed often goes undetected as due to its attractive appearance, homeowners tend not to notice the plant at all. This makes the invasive plant even more dangerous as if it remains undetected. Knotweed is capable of causing disastrous consequences to the structural integrity of a building. The plant is even capable of growing through the tiniest holes and gaps in masonry and concrete if given the opportunity. Japanese Knotweed should be of significant interest to any landlords looking to sell their property as an increasing amount of banks are now refusing to provide mortgages on properties affected by the plant.

How to recognise Japanese Knotweed in Spring

Spring is arguably one of the best times to spot Japanese Knotweed as the plant is at its weakest at this time due to it becoming dormant in Winter. Knotweed can become increasingly costly to treat so it is important to treat it as soon as you notice the plant.

Depending on weather conditions, Knotweed will normally first re-emerge in March in the form of pink and red buds shooting up from the ground. The plant grows a dangerous rate of 10cm daily so it is appearance is prone to change. The plant in its early stages is often compared to asparagus spears that will quickly develop into thick and hollow canes. These canes are similar in appearance to bamboo but come with distinctive pattern of purple speckles. As the weeks go by and its appearance continues to change, leaves will gradually begin to unroll from the canes as the plant grows bigger. The green leaves will contain a zig zag pattern on the stems and shaped similar to a heart but with a pointy end. The plant is capable of growing up to 7 metres in any direction so it can soon grow out of control if left untreated.

I’m a landlord with Japanese Knotweed – what’s next?

Japanese Knotweed can cause incredible damage to properties and significantly affect a property’s value but it is important for landlords to remember this damage is completely unavoidable if the plant is treated in time. It is advisable that homeowners do not attempt to treat the plant themselves as incorrect treatment can cause further damage which will result in a more expensive treatment programme in the long run. The longer Knotweed is left untreated, the more expensive it will be to remove from your property.

If you suspect you have Japanese Knotweed on your property then don’t hesitate to have the suspect plant examined by a professionally trained Knotweed surveyor before it grows out of control. Alternatively, upload photos of the suspicious looking plant to Wise Knotweed Solutions today to get a free assessment from one of our expert surveyors who will tell you whether or not the suspect plant is indeed Knotweed.   

By Jake Ryan of Wise Knotweed Solutions

www.thekeyplace.co.uk

Criminal offence ..... call to action for Falkirk landlords and letting agents

All letting agents are required to be registered with, and regulated by, the Scottish Government.  It has been a criminal (not civil) offence to trade as a letting agent after 1 October 2018 if you are not registered with, and regulated by, the Scottish Government.

Registered letting agents require to adhere to the Scottish Government Letting Agent Code of Practice which means that, amongst other things, they have to have suitable policies and procedures in place, there staff need to be appropriately qualified, and they have to control their clients’ money sensibly and they have to have professional indemnity and client money insurances in place.

Call to action ..... landlords

If they use a letting agent, landlords now have a duty to only use a registered one to ensure that they are legally compliant.  I keep hearing more and more practical reasons why this is the case, for example, did you know that you will be refused a mortgage on a buy-to-let property if you use an agent who is not registered?

Landlords please use a registered letting agent.

Call to action ..... letting agents

There is significant work in getting a letting agent into a good enough shape to be able to be come regulated.  If letting agents who have not registered are looking to sell their business given the hassle involved, get in touch as I know people who are looking to buy such letting agents – they have the resource (both £££ and people) to complete a quick deal.

www.thekeyplace.co.uk

Family home makes good Falkirk buy to let opportunity

Today’s buy to let opportunity from The Falkirk Property Blog is a three bedroom semi-detached house in the Bantaskine area of Falkirk. 

The property on Bantaskine Street in Falkirk.  It has a large lounge/dining room, a separate fitted kitchen and a bathroom with a bath over the shower on the ground floor.  Upstairs there are three good sized bedrooms.  The front of the property have been mono blocked in full and can take two to three cars and at the rear there is an easily maintained garden.

A thoughts about this property.  On the positive side, there are not that many family homes like this for rent in Falkirk and, generally, tenants of family homes like this stay longer because the family ‘sets down roots eg the kids go to school but is good news.  On the not so positive side, the bathroom is downstairs and the bedrooms are upstairs and this combination puts off some potential tenants, particularly ones with younger kids (night time toilet issues!).

Double click here to see more details of this property

The house is on the market with Purplebricks for offers over £117,000 so let’s say it goes for £125,000.  I would expect this property to achieve rent of £725-750 pcm which gets you a gross return of 7-7.2% which is a fairly good return in the current market.

I hope you find our posts useful.  If you would like some advice with your potential investment, please come and see me in our offices (6 Vicar Street, Falkirk), call me (01324 469840) or email me (robert@thekeyplace.co.uk).

www.thekeyplace.co.uk

#falkirk #property #buytolet #realestate #ownermanagedbusiness #retirement #retirementplanning #energyefficiency #privaterentedsector #prs #privaterentedsector #firsttimebuyers

Welcome to the latest instalment of our regular blog - Confessions of a Falkirk Letting Agent.

Landlords often ask us what goes on behind the scenes at The Key Place and so we thought we would share our experiences, and what we have learned from those experiences, with you.

If I had a penny for the number of times that I had rolled my eyes in despair at something a contractor had done, then I’d be a rich man by now (of course that is with the exception of our regular fantastic trades guys and you know who you are!).

We sent Ron the painter to do some work in a property we manage in the borders.  The tenant was able to go and stay with friends for the weekend and so it suited her to have the work done then.  Ron was happy to oblige, even although it was a weekend, and we explicitly explained that he would need to travel each day to the property or find accommodation as he wouldn’t be able to stay in the property.

On Monday morning there was a phone call from the irate tenant, who said that Ron had spent the weekend in her home, and she felt that her personal space had been violated.  On further questioning, we established that a friend of hers had walked past the property over the weekend and had looked in the window.  She quite clearly saw 2 deckchairs, a table and some bedding.  The tenant also claimed that dishes had been used and washed up but not put away.  

Well we spoke to Ron who said that he had taken his wife away for the weekend and that they had both slept in his van.  Now if you could see Ron’s van, you would know that is not possible as it is chocka full of painting stuff.  No self-respecting partner would agree to sleep in there!

Unfortunately the job was not finished and the tenant refused to have Ron back in her home, and so we had to find a different painter to complete the job .... and we never used Ron again!

Over many years of property letting, we have built up a list of reliable, quality contractors but getting to this point has been difficult and we have parted company with many trades’ guys along the way.  There is also the issue of quality versus cost.  Landlords often want the cheapest job possible rather than paying a wee bit more for quality.  Maybe if Ron had quoted higher, then he could have treated his partner to a nice B&B!

For information on all of The Key Place services, please visit our website, www.thekeyplace.co.uk.

Investment properties in Falkirk come in all shapes and sizes

I recently attended a local meeting in Falkirk where I got recognised as being the Falkirk Property Blog chap (well you have to be recognised for something, why not that!).  A question I was being asked repeatedly was ''What is the ideal property to invest in in Falkirk?''.  So I thought I would share my thoughts with you.

When considering a buy-to-let purchase what is believed to be a good deal will vary from person to person.  Everyone will have a different budget and varying preferences on location, style of property, condition etc as well as having different financial situations. That isn’t unusual, no different to everyone who has a different taste in music (I’m a 1980’s person myself with love of Abba if you are interested!).

I have always been of the opinion personally that “spreading the risk” is wise if you have a large portfolio.  A few flats, a few houses, a couple in the New Carron, some in the centre of town etc, a few in Polmont makes sense. All your eggs in one basket is a risk if something unpredicted were to occur.

I am also of the opinion that buying two properties for £90,000 is better than one house at £180,000.  If you choose wisely two properties at £90,000 might rent for £500 a month each, but you’d struggle to find a £180,000 house that would rent for anywhere near £1,000.

Then there is the view that flats change hands more regularly than houses, so for longevity of tenancy buying a house might be wiser. But then these houses are rented by families with children, and children might lead to more wear and tear on the property, the “what if’s” are endless.

Also, you need to be nimble when investing in property and change your investment strategy to take account of market, legislative and tax changes.  Take tax as an example.  The ‘normal’ element of Land & Buildings Transaction Tax (the Scottish stamp duty to you and me) starts being charged at £125,000 and this is meaning that certain buyers buying properties at less than £125,000 to avoid this tax …. Although I would point out that the Additional Dwellings Tax element of LBTT normally applies to the whole cost of a buy to let property.

In addition, there are a number of fairly ‘fixed costs’ associated with renting out a property – for example, registrations and safety certificates – and, given their fixed nature, these are proportionally higher for cheaper properties.

One thing is for certain, demand for one, two and three bedroom properties in the rental sector is high which means that there is room to trial many different stratagies.

We have developed a checklist which guide peoples to work out what sort of property is likely to fit their circumstances.  Please get in touch is you want a copy.

In short, don’t assume.  Feel free to get in touch and ask me what I think about your plans. I would be happy to cast an eye over the property you are considering buying and let you know what I think the pro’s and the con’s of it are – call me on 01324 469840 or email me on robert@thekeyplace.co.uk.

If you are a landlord or thinking of becoming one for the first time, and you want to read more articles like this about the Falkirk property market together with regular postings on what I consider the best buy to let deals in Falkirk out of the many of properties on the market irrespective of which agent is selling it, then visit my blog, the Falkirk Property Blog, or sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Falkirk Property News.

www.thekeyplace.co.uk

Which would you pick - a 11% Return with a Falkirk Buy to Let Property or a 1.5% Return with The Post Office?

I had an interesting email from someone in Falkirk a couple of 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 Morningside, 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 £160,000 from an elderly aunt. 

One option he told me was put it into a savings account. The best he could get from a reputable lender was a 2 year bond with the Post Office, which paid 1.5%, meaning he would get £2,400 in interest a year.  One of his other options was to buy a property in Falkirk to rent out and 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 Falkirk landlords being waged by both the UK and Scottish Governments at the moment, 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 some Falkirk landlords. It’s true he would face the extra 4% in Land and Buildings Transactions Tax (the old ‘Stamp Duty’) to buy a second property, but with some good negotiation techniques, that could soon be mitigated.

I told him that buying a Falkirk 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 £2,400 a year, or as he rightly suggested, invest in property in Falkirk. The average yield (yield being the equivalent of the interest rate on the property) at the moment in Falkirk is 6% per annum, meaning our potential F.T.L (First Time Landlord), should be able to, depending on what he bought in the town, earn £9,600 a year before costs. (However, I told him there are plenty of landlords in Falkirk earning more than this, 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 this, the success of investing in Falkirk 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 a savings accounts, 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 Falkirk have risen by 4.87% per annum on average over the last five years, meaning that on top of your £9,600 per annum in rent, you would also seen an uplift of £7,792 per annum …meaning his overall return for the year would have been £17,392 or 10.87% (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 1979 levels by 1984 and went on to grow an additional 58% in the following four years. Then again, they dropped 1988 and did take 13 years to reach back to those 1988 figures, but the following six years (between 2001 and 2007) they then increased by an additional 66%. Now, according to the Registers of Scotland, average property values in Falkirk currently stand 20.0% above the January 2008 (ie pre crash) level, and anicdotal evidence suggests that in the nicer parts of Falkirk, we are well above these sorts of levels. Therefore, all this talk of property crashes seems unfounded.

… and what would that £160,000 get you in Falkirk?  A fantastic flat as well as a nice house in many parts of Falkirk ... in fact, the world is your oyster. But which oyster?

If you would like a chat to find out more about investment property and property management in Falkirk please pick up the phone (01324 469840) or email (robert@thekeyplace.co.uk).

www.thekeyplace.co.uk

#Falkirk #property #buytolet #realestate #ownermanagedbusiness #retirement #retirementplanning #privaterentedsector #prs #firsttimebuyers #lettingagents

Welcome to The Key Place’s blog - Confessions of a Letting Agent

Landlords often ask us what goes on behind the scenes at The Key Place and so we thought we would share our experiences, and what we have learned from those experiences, with you.

Property inspections – they are certainly not all dull, and this particular one did make me laugh!

One of The Key Place’s newer members of staff went to carry out an inspection at a property where we had long term tenants who had never given us previous cause for concern as a result of inspections. 

The staff member arrived back at the office looking somewhat stunned, to say that the tenants were growing cannabis plants in the bedroom – she saw a number of plants, underneath specialist lights. 

In recent times we have been made increasingly aware of the problems of cannabis farms in rented properties.  Staff have been briefed in being vigilant.

I decided to visit the tenants immediately to see if they could shed some light (no pun intended) on the situation, as this seemed very out of character.  I called and asked if I could pop by and took my office manager with me.  On answering the door, I asked the tenants outright if they were growing cannabis plants.  Amidst much laughter, they explained that it was not a cannabis farm but the tenant’s mother’s tomatoes, which they were looking after while the mother was on holiday.  They invited me in to have a look and sure enough I was able to confirm that those were indeed tomato plants!

This was a good learning curve for The Key Place staff member as we were able to educate her in how to tell a cannabis plant from a tomato plant in the real world!  And on the plus side, I was delighted with her vigilance. 

For information on all of The Key Place services, please visit our website, www.thekeyplace.co.uk.

Modern, Falkirk BTL property with a yield of 7.6%

Today’s buy to let opportunity from The Falkirk Property Blog is a modern flat in the New Carron development in Falkirk.

The property is a two bed flat, first floor flat in Dundee Court, New Carron, Falkirk.  It has a large lounge with feature bay window, a separate dining kitchen, two double bedrooms with built-in double wardrobes and a bathroom with a shower over the bath.  The flat looks like it has double glazing (but the sales chat doesn’t actually mention this so it would be worth checking) and it has electric heating (the sales chat should legally give the EPC rating but I can’t see it so it is worth checking this out to get an idea how economical the heating it).  Externally there is a resident’s parking space with the property as well as communal grounds.

Double click here to see more details of this property

Turning the all important financials.  The flat is on the market with Homes for You for offers over £69,995 so let’s say it goes for £75,000.  I would expect this property to achieve rent of £475 pcm so when we work out the annual gross yield you could be looking at a gross return of 7.6% which is a fairly good return in the current market.

I hope you find our posts useful.  If you would like some advice with your potential investment, please come and see me in our offices (6 Vicar Street, Falkirk), call me (01324 469840) or email me (robert@thekeyplace.co.uk).

www.thekeyplace.co.uk

#falkirk #property #buytolet #realestate #ownermanagedbusiness #retirement #retirementplanning #energyefficiency #privaterentedsector #prs #privaterentedsector #firsttimebuyers

To buy or sell in the Falkirk property market? That is the question

One of my landlords from Larbert rang me last week, after he had spoken to a friend of his. They were discussing the Falkirk property market and both could not make their mind up if it was time to either sell or buy property. If you read the newspapers and the landlord forums on the internet, there is a good slice of doom and gloom, especially with Brexit, the general uncertainty in the world economic situation, changes in the taxation towards landlords, the increasing legislation affecting the sector etc. 

I would admit, there are certain landlords in Falkirk who have over exposed themselves in the last few years with high percentage loan to value mortgages. Those mortgages, with their current (yet artificially) low interest rates, will start to suffer, as their modest monthly positive cash flow/profit (ie income (rent) less costs (mortgage, fees, tax)) will become negative when the tax and mortgage rates rise.

It appears to me these landlords seem to have treated the Falkirk Buy to Let market as a sure bet and have not approached this as a business and, as a result, they will suffer as they thought "Buy a house - rent it out so it covers the mortgage and make a few quid on top".  These are the people who will be thinking twice. I see opportunity everywhere and won't be stopping, I am here to stay. It’s going to be an exciting year.

Gone are the days when you could buy any old house in Falkirk and it would make money.  Yes, in the past, anything in Falkirk that had four walls and a roof would make you money because since WW2, property prices doubled every seven years years… it was like printing money – but not anymore.

True, since January 1999, the average price paid for a Falkirk terraced house has risen from £30,639 to today’s current average of £109,278 in the town, an impressive rise of 256.7% and semi-detached houses have risen in the same time frame, from £36,892 to £146,859, an even better rise of 298.1%. 

However, look back to 2009, and in that year, the average terraced house was selling for £81,760 meaning our Falkirk landlord would have seen a 33.7% rise and, interestingly, the semi-detached house owner would also have seen an increase of 33.7% as they were selling for on average £146,859 .... not bad until you consider inflation.

Since 2009, inflation, ie the cost of living, has increased by 31%. That means to retain its value, a Falkirk semi-detached house bought for £110,655 in 2009 would need to be worth £144,958 today to counter the impact of inflation. Therefore, our average semi-detached house landlord has only seen a marginal increase of 2.7% (ie 33.7% less 31% inflation) over these 10 years ie 0.27% per annum.

The reality is that in the period since around 2009 we haven’t seen anything like the average capital growth in property we have seen in the past largely as a result of the ongoing effects of the economic crash in 2009 and it’s not predicted to grow at the rates it has previously done either. So it is high time anyone considering investing in property stopped believing the hype and did some serious research using independent investment expertise.  You can still make money by buying the right Falkirk property at the right price and finding the right tenant. However, remember, investing in Falkirk property is not only about capital growth, but also about the yield (the return from the rent). It’s also about having a balanced property portfolio that will match what you want from your investment – and what is a ‘balanced property portfolio’?

If you would like to talk to me about your balanced property portfolio, please call me on 01324 469840, email me at robert@thekeyplace.co.uk or pop into the office at 6 Vicasr Street, Falkirk for a chat – the coffee is always on.

www.thekeyplace.co.uk

#falkirk #property #buytolet #realestate #ownermanagedbusiness #retirement #retirementplanning #privaterentedsector #prs #firsttimebuyers #lettingagents

Today’s Confession, well, where do I even start?

Latest from The Key Place’s ‘Confessions of a ..... Letting Agent’ series which takes a behind the scenes look at the operation of a busy lettings business.

We have a property on our books which we have managed for a long time.  The tenant is a 50 year old man who lives with his mother, and the lease is in his name.  The tenant has a sister who is not on the lease but who has been authorised by the tenant to deal with all property related matters on his behalf.  And so the sister, let’s call her Susan, is who The Key Place has to deal with.

Now I suspect Susan is the older sister.  She works for a public sector body and has the talking style of a 6 page letter without punctuation.  She clearly has too much time on her hands given her level of involvement in the property, and she has read up on every single possible legality with regards to renting in Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales and beyond.  She claims to record every call we have with her.

We wanted to inspect the property but were refused access.  The reason given was that the tenant would be too stressed by the inspection, plus he has allergies which prevents anyone who has gone within an inch of a bar of soap from entering the property.  We gave the required notice as per the lease to gain access to the property to carry out an inspection.  Myself and a manager were on our way to the property when we received a phone call from Susansaying that under no circumstances were we to come to the property and if we did, the police would be called.  The reason given was that we had not sent written confirmation that we accepted their conditions of entry – we hadn’t had this request so couldn’t give written confirmation.  We abandoned the inspection as we knew we could not inspect without approval or a court order.

We refused to give up!  Eventually it was agreed that our Chief Exec could inspect the property as long as he didn’t shower with soap that morning and used no deodorant or aftershave.  He had to agree that the tenant would smell him at the door before he was allowed access (yes really!).  And so the inspection took place.  The property was found to be OK, not in the best condition but not bad.  There were some things needing seen to, however the family were not keen (you can imagine) on work being done in the house, and so we had to negotiate what could be actioned, balancing landlord obligations under repairing standards verses smaller jobs that could be left. 

The main repairs needing attention were a damaged back door, some work to the kitchen and a cracked front door step.  Taking the front step as an example of how difficult this all became - the tenant eventually agreed the step could be fixed but stated the repair could take no more than 1 hour.  Apart from this 1 hour they wanted continuous access to their house.  When we explained that this was impossible and that the tenants were being unreasonable Susan said she would go the police, MP’s, the newspapers.  As we always do when we are threatened by people, we acknowledged that it was Susan’s right to go to the police, MP’s, the newspapers etc. but we suggested that speaking to a lawyer in the first instance might be a better idea from herpoint of view to ensure that her position was sensible.  This surprised Susan who has assumed that her threats of ‘taking things further` would scare us, but, as we were doing things by the book, we had nothing to be concerned about.

And so where are we today?  Well the step has been mended after incredible negotiation, however some of the other repairs have not been dealt with due to tenant refusal.  The property does at least meet the repairing standard.  We have not been allowed to re-inspect yet but we hope to shortly.  The landlord has been kept fully informed at all points and knows exactly what is going on at his property.  We do not believe the tenants are going to intentionally damage the property and they pay their rent every month without fail.  The owner would need to spend money on his property if the tenants were to leave, and so for him, he would rather keep the paying tenants, even although we can’t carry out inspections as regularly as we would like.

This is an on-going difficult situation as we still have a job to do.  We certainly feel that we have earned our management fee on this one!

www.thekeyplace.co.uk

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