Friday 29 July 2016

‘Funky’ Falkirk villa!


As you might imagine, as the author of The Falkirk Property Blog I read many, many property descriptions but I take my hat off to Taylor William for being the first Estate Agent to include the work ‘funky’ in their description of a property!

Today’s buy to let opportunity from The Falkirk Property Blog is in Alyth Drive, Polmont, Falkirk.  Alyth Drive is off Gilston Crescent at the east end of Polmont.

The property itself has accommodation on two floors.  On the lower floor, there is a large lounge with a dining area and a separate fitted kitchen.  Access to the upper floor is via a ‘funky’ spiral staircase and on this floor there is a large bedroom with expansive fitted wardrobes and a bathroom with a shower over the bath.  The property has double glazing, only electric panel heating, a garden at the front and an allocated parking space.



Turning to the financials.

The asking price for this property, which is on the market with Taylor William is offers over £69,000 so let’s say it goes for £74,000.

A property like this in this area should rent for £450 pcms o that gets you to a yield of 7.3% with is good for a modern property of this type in Polmont.

We hope you find our posts useful.  If you would like some advice with your potential investment, please come and see me in my office at 6 Vicar Street, Falkirk.

Tuesday 26 July 2016

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


One of my landlords rang me last week from Lionthorn, 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 changes in the taxation towards landlords, the increasing legislation affecting the sector and the general uncertainty in the world economic situation particularly given the Brexit vote. 

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 throughout 2017 and beyond.

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, 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 July 1996, the average price paid for a Falkirk flat has risen from £38,192 to today’s current average of £139,645 in the town, an impressive rise of 265.9%  and a semi detached house have risen in the same time frame, from £32,737 to £133,799, an even better rise of 308.9%.  However, look back to 2006, and in that year, the average flat was selling for £75,499 meaning our Falkirk landlord would have seen a 12.9% rise and the terraced house owner would have seen an increase of 24.0% as they were selling for on average £79,679 .... not bad until you consider inflation.

Since 2006, inflation, ie the cost of living, has increased by 30.5%. That means to retain its value, a Falkirk terraced house bought for £79,679 in 2006 would needs to be worth £103,981 today when in fact it is only worth £98,815. Therefore, our average landlord has seen the ‘real’ value of his property fall by 6.5% (ie 24.0% less 30.5% inflation) over these 10 years ie 0.6% per annum.

The reality is that in the period since around 2005/2006 we haven’t seen anything like the average capital growth in property we have seen in the past largely as a result of the economic crash in 2008 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 us about your balanced property portfolio, please call me on 01324 469840, come into my office at 6 Vicar Street, Falkirk or email me at news@thekeyplace.co.uk.

Monday 25 July 2016

Time to negotiate hard on this 1 bed BTL flat in Falkirk


This fine new week for the Falkirk Property Blog starts with a 1 bed flat opportunity in King Street.  King Street is fairly near the centre of Falkirk being just next to Forth Valley College so is good for students and other alike.

The property has a lounge with a dining area, a galley style fitted kitchen, a large double bedroom and a bathroom.  It also has a shared garden to the rear, on street parking and gas central heating.  A couple of points to note: there is no double glazing and the shower over the bath only runs of the bath taps.



This flat is on the market with Clyde Properties for offers over £39,500.  It has been on the market for a while now.  It’s price was reduced on 26 May 2016 and it has still not sold so there should be scope for a wee bit of price negotiation on this one so let’s say it goes for £42,000.  A flat like this could rent for £375 so that’s a yield of 10.7%.

If you would like any advice on buying a property to let, feel free to pop into my office at 6 Vicar Street, Falkirk for a chat, give me a call 01324 469840 or email me on (news@thekeyplace.co.uk).

Have a good property week!

Friday 22 July 2016

Falkirk property market – evidence that there is life after Brexit vote


As you know, I keep my ear to the ground when it comes to property matters so I can keep Falkirk property owners informed.  As you also know, Brexit has been ‘hogging the headlines’ recently in the Falkirk Property Blog as well as further afield!

Inch by inch, we are beginning to see what life will be like in the post Brexit vote world and there is evidence that life will continue .... as if it wouldn’t.

Campion Homes is a local, independent, luxury house builder so can be seen as a ‘bell weather’ for what is happening in the local house building sector.  Campion Homes announced on 11 July 2016 that is to accelerate its building programme following a multi-million pound investment from the Business Growth Fund (BGF)

This is hugely significant as clearly discussions between Campion Homes and BGF were ongoing before, during and after the Brexit vote .... trust me, these sort of investments take months to arrange! .... so both the house builder and the funder had sufficient believe in the local property sector post the Brexit vote to conclude the transaction.

As I have mentioned many times before in the Falkirk Property Blog, there is not enough housing being built to satisfy the increased demand for housing – this supply and demand imbalance will not be fundemantely affected by the aftermath of the Brexit vote, whatever the aftermath may be.

If you want to know the local property gossip, pop in and have a chat, our offices are at 6 Vicar Street, Falkirk.  The kettle is always on and we will even pull out the posh biscuits!  Alternatively, you can either email me on news@thekeyplace.co.uk or call us on 01324 469840.



A few more interesting articles about the Falkirk property market:

Wednesday 20 July 2016

Falkirk Buy to Let sees returns of 8.9% in the last year


Well, as the sands of summer start to trickle through the hour glass of life, a few days ago I got chatting with one of my out of town landlords who was back in Falkirk visiting his family. Brought up in Falkirk, he went to the Falkirk High School back in the 1970’s and is now a University Lecturer in central London. For his retirement, he has a small portfolio of four properties in the town and wanted my advice on where to buy his next property in Falkirk (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!).

Before I could advise him, I reminded him that the most important thing when considering investing in property is finding a Falkirk 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. As I have discussed before, Falkirk landlords are under a wee bit of more pressure at the moment to find the best permutation of yields and capital growth, as extra LBTT charges (the old stamp duty to you and me!) for buying properties and a squeeze on mortgage interest relief will raise their costs.

However, (you knew there would be a 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 Falkirk property currently stands at £489 per month, which is a rise of 3.2% 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 Falkirk property currently stands at £141,623, meaning the average yield stands at 4.1% 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 properties in Falkirk which are the sort of properties a lot of landlords buy, in Falkirk the average value of  a 2 bed house is £84,087, whilst the average rent for a 2 bed house is £467 per month, giving a yield of 6.7%. However, if that wasn’t high enough, there are landlords in Falkirk who own some specialist properties with specialist tenancies that are achieving yields of more than 10% – 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 that is what I told my University friend from Kensington. Return on investment is everything. So, looking at property values in Falkirk, they have risen in the last year by 2.2% .. which means the current annual return on investment in Falkirk for a typical 2 bed house is 8.9% a year .... not bad! 

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 pop in and see us (6 Vicar Street, Falkirk).

Tuesday 19 July 2016

Falkirk semi detached house buy to let opportunity


Today’s opportunity from the Falkirk Property Blog is a modern three bedroomed semi detached house on Buchan Avenue.  Buchan Avenue is in one of the modern developments in Carronshore.

The property has a lounge, a fitted kitchen and a wc on the ground floor with three bedrooms and a family bathroom on the first floor.  It also has gardens front and rear, a driveway, gas central heating and double glazing.



This house is on the market with Your Move for offers over £119,950 so let’s say it goes for £127,500.  A modern house like this could rent for £750 so that’s a yield of 7.1% .... and it is a modern property so it will be low maintenance.

We hope you find our posts useful.  If you want some buy to let advice on this property, another property you have in mind or anything else property related, come and see me in my office (6 Vicar Street, Falkirk), call me on 01324 469840 or email me (news@thekeyplace.co.uk).

Wednesday 6 July 2016

Falkirk Property Market – Reflections Two Weeks After The Referendum


If you’re anything like me then your Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter feeds have no doubt been full of Brexit news, stories, anger or petition requests to get the vote re-counted and if I’m honest I’ve tried to avoid it for the last 24 hours as there is a lot of negativity going around.  Of course in my usual conversations with the lovely local people of Falkirk there have been a number of questions about house prices and whether I expect to see a drop and whether investors should hold off buying property at the moment.

Two weeks after Brexit, I guess there are a couple of ways to look at this……

If you decide not to buy as a result of the referendum and property prices drop then in the short term you will have certainly won. Your money will still be in the bank earning you no interest but at least you won’t have lost anything.

If you are brave and decide to buy that investment property anyway and the market drops 5-10% you would no doubt be a bit miffed and think it was probably a bad decision.  Let’s say that property cost you £100,000 then you could be looking at a loss of £5,000-£10,000.

With the above in mind, I was trying to consider whether I would advise putting a hold on your next purchase ‘just in case.’

We don’t know what the effect of Brexit will be on the local market yet. We don’t know how long it will take to trigger Article 50 and, once it is triggered, we don’t know how long it might take to sort all of the issues out but we do know there will always be a strong demand for rental property in Falkirk.

If you are worried about house prices in Falkirk then it might be worth considering this…..

2006 to today ....


In 2006, the average value of a Falkirk property was just £116,493 back then and broken down by type it was: Detached £194,034; Semi-detached £108,935; Terraced £80,077; Flat £75,245.

The average value of a Falkirk property today is £139,335 and broken down by type it was: Detached £232,157; Semi-detached £133,398; Terraced £98,488; Flat £84,981.

This means in the last 10 years the average value of a Falkirk property has increased by 19.61% which breaks down by type of property as follows: Detached 19.65%; Semi-detached 22.46%; Terraced 22.99%; Flat 12.94%.

Going back further ....


Go back 20 years and you find that the average value of a Falkirk property was £38,093 which broke down by type as follows: Detached £77,275; Semi-detached £32,575; Terraced £26,788; Flat £28,422.

So over the past 20 years a Peniciuik property’s average value has increased by 265.97% - the spread by type of property is greater: Detached 200.43%; Semi-detached 309.51%; Terraced 267.66%; Flat 199.00%.

Property is for the long term ....

We often talk about property investment being a long term thing and if you’re in it for the long term and can weather the storms then you will probably do alright. I have bought my properties fairly consistently over the last 20 years, I have been through many property booms and traumas and guess what……

I’ve done alright out of it! If prices drop 10%, I will still have done alright out of it.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’ll be a little upset if they do drop 10% but my personal opinion is they won’t.

If over the next 10-20 years (which is what I would call holding a property long term) we experience anywhere near the same kind of growth a small blip will not make a huge difference.

At the moment people are being cautious and this could present itself as an opportunity for anyone looking to buy a property in Falkirk as fewer people will be jumping in with both feet.

I’m not suggesting you rush out to buy a property but fortune favours the brave and either way in 10-20 years’ time you will probably have done alright!

Don't agree with me; let me know

I’m sure there will be plenty of people that disagree with me. I’d love to hear from you whichever side of the fence you sit on so please do give me a call (01324 469840), send me an email (news@thekeyplace.co.uk) or pop into the office (6 Vicar Street, Falkirk) and I’ll be happy to discuss this or anything else property related.


A few more interesting articles about the Falkirk property market:

Monday 4 July 2016

Looking back can get you a good deal on a Falkirk buy to let property


I am going to challenge some perceived wisdom today.  They say, never look back in life but I would say occasionally in property it is worth looking back to get a good deal on a Falkirk buy to let property so this is what I have done.

Now, most of the properties that I post about on The Falkirk Property Blog are sold quickly but there are the odd properties that aren’t .... most for reasons I highlight in the blog and some for unknown reasons. 

Today I am going to highlight a couple of Falkirk buy to let opportunities that I have put on The Falkirk Property Blog in the past that have not sold which you may be able to get for an even better price now as sellers will be very keen to sell.

Avon Court, Hallglen


On 14 March 2016 I posted about this property – it is a 4 bed end terraced house that I reckoned you could get a yield of 12% on.  It is still on the market today so you may be able to negotiate a lower price therefore getting you an even higher yield.


Victoria Road, Falkirk


This property has been on the market since 18 February 2016 although I posted about it on 23 May 2016 – it is a modern 2 bed flat that could yield you 9% + but there were a few complications that needed patience, ‘nouse’ and negotiating skills to land the deal.  Looks like nobody with sufficient patience, ‘nouse’ and negotiating skills has looked at this property yet so there may be a bargain to be had on this one.


So, sometimes it is good to look back to bag a bargain .... but only sometimes!

I hope you find our posts useful.  If you would like some advice with your potential investment, please come and see me in my office (6 Vicar Street, Falkirk), call me (01324 459840) or email me (falkirk@thekeyplace.co.uk).