Leamington Spa property values increase by £240.38 per week

Last week, a landlord came in to our office to discuss the rising property values in Leamington Spa. He owns a varied portfolio of rental properties, primarily in Leamington Spa with a couple in Warwick and Coventry, so it is interesting to compare the increase in property values around the area.

Over the last 24 months the average property value in Leamington Spa has risen by nearly £25,000, from £239,850 to £264,500. 

Property values in Leamington Spa have increased by 10.4% in the last 2 years

This is a very reasonable 10.4% increase, which if you look at it on a weekly basis, average property values in Leamington Spa, throughout 2012 and 2013, have increased by an impressive £240.38 per week. When we looked at the values for detached houses in Leamington Spa, this average increase is even greater at £41,100, a rise of £395.62 per week.

When I looked at some of the surrounding towns, even though property values are higher in Warwick, Warwick has had a lower average increase in property values, at around £205.81 per week, whilst Coventry has an even more modest average increase of around £123.31 per week. It is, nonetheless, a rise in average property values to suggest the market is recovering steadily in our area – good news for home owners and landlords alike.

Detached houses in Leamington Spa are on average are £41,100 more expensive than 2 years ago

When considering this landlord’s buy to let portfolio, the rental values have remained fairly stable during the 12 months. They are slowly recovering to the average of around 5 years ago, therefore it could be a good time to invest in the property market in Leamington Spa. If you would like some advice about buying to let, be you a landlord with a portfolio or someone thinking of investing in rental market, please come and see me at our office on Regent Grove near Holly Walk

Coventry vs. Leamington Spa - which has the better property market?

Should you be investing in Coventry or Leamington Spa when it comes to property? 

Well it depends why you want to invest? Is it for yourself to live in? Is for investment? For buy to let? Everyone is different, but as I was chatting to a landlord from Stoneleigh, who popped his head through our door on Regent Grove in the Holly Walk area

Both towns are similar in size and, taking into account the surrounding villages, have similar average property values. The average property value in Coventry is £162,100 and in Leamington Spa is £264,500, whilst the average rents are at £866 per month in Coventry and £1,038 per month in Leamington Spa. 

This gives Coventry  an annual yield / return of 6.4% per year and Leamington Spa 4.7% per year. So surely Coventry is the better better bet if you were buying to rent it out?
This, however, is a great example of annual yield/return not being the only factor when choosing an investment property, as you should also consider.

Over the last five years, property values in Coventry have increased by 13.9% but by an impressive 20.1 % in Leamington Spa.

This is great for those that have already bought a property in Leamington Spa in the last 5 to 10 years. However, its even more interesting to note that even though prices have indeed risen by over 20% in the last 5 years, it hasn't been in a straight line. In fact, on average, even though prices are up by 7.6% since last Spring (2013), they did in fact peak in the Autumn 2013 and in the last 6 month's have dropped slightly by 0.5%  .. maybe a time to buy another?

It is in our interest that you buy a property which will rent well, and for long periods of time. If you would like any advice on choosing properties, come and see us at our office

 

Leamington Spa property values - 8th in Warwickshire

Just wanted to share some work I did for a landlord the other day, after he said property was the one of the most expensive areas to buy in Warwickshire. 

Even I was surprised our lovely town offers decent priced property, for both homeowners and buy to landlords alike.

.. however the thing that struck me was the position of Southam. Yes, it's true a detached house in Southam itself is nearly £50,000 cheaper than our Leamington Spa, but in the eyes of the Land Registry (where the info has come from you), Southam included the villages of Harbury,  Knightcote, Napton on the Hill and Priors Marston, which will of course bring up the averages!

1	Henley-in-Arden	£398,800
2	Shipston-on-Stour	£338,250
3	Stratford-upon-Avon	£322,500
4	Kenilworth	£316,950
5	Warwick	£301,600
6	Southam	£268,400
7	Alcester	£267,250
8	Leamington Spa	£264,500
9	Studley	£224,500
10	Rugby	£207,400
11	Atherstone	£192,800
12	Nuneaton	£165,300
13	Bedworth	£146,300

Leamington Spa - what we can (or cant) do for Leamington landlords

First and foremost, we’re a Lettings Agency. Once you’ve bought the property, we want to manage it for you(!), or help with just finding you a tenant. With that considered, it’s very much in OUR interests that you buy something that’s sensible and lettable – we don’t want you buying a dud, or something where the figures don’t stack up!

There’s some mutual gain here. As such we can help in a number of ways:

We’ll Give You Tip Offs!

We keep a close eye on the housing market, and run an email list of decent buys that materialise. These cover the whole market – from repossessions, to cheap DSS bedsits, to family houses in nice suburbs – there’s something for everyone. Sometimes you can even buy with a tenant in situ, which means you pick up rental income from day 1.

Some Estate Agents will also tip us off when they get a property they need to sell quickly, and landlords can pick up a good deal as a result. There’s no charge for this service – just email sean.driscoll@martinco.com and ask to be put on the list.

We’ll Act as a Sounding Board

When you’ve not bought investment property before, it can be daunting. What area? What type of property? What type of tenant? How much work needs doing? You quickly end up in a situation where you have 5 different estate agents constantly phoning you and swearing blind that their deal is the best one you’ll find!

 We’re more than happy for you to come and see us for a chat about the options. Show us what you’re looking at and we’ll tell you what we think of the deal, or suggest alternatives. Or just ping us an email with a link. You’ll get an open and honest assessment of whether the deal on the table is as good as it sounds. Again, we don’t charge for this and we don’t pressure people into purchasing anything. If you want to come for a chat, email  sean.driscoll@martinco.com

Some people come and see us once, go and buy something, and don’t use our lettings service, which is fine. Others come and see us on repeated occasions for advice during their search for a property. This is fine too, but we kind of hope these people will use us to let the property once they’ve bought it. When we’re giving our time freely, and on repeated occasions, it’s quite frustrating to find the purchaser has let the property through another agent who bullied them into it, because they weren’t strong enough to say no!

We’ll Formally Source Property For You

We have a number of landlords who like to invest, but don’t want to do the legwork, go and see properties, or even visit Leamington Spa themselves! In this scenario, we can source properties for you - we need a defined set of criteria, so we understand what you’re looking for, but thereafter you can leave us to do the legwork. We do charge a finder’s fee for this service, payable on successful completion of a purchase.

I hope you like the advice .. and one final piece of advice to raise a smile!

Leamington Spa buy to let - take care with the professionals

If you’re lucky to find a good deal, you need to get it bought quickly before someone else steals it. I’ve seen people buy property in 7 days and I’ve seen it take 7 months. Sometimes (usually if there’s a chain) it’s out of your control, but often the length of time taken to purchase a property is something you can influence through the decisions you make.

Mortgage Companies

We all want the best rate, but in a competitive mortgage market you should also pay attention to which mortgage companies lend easily. A good mortgage broker will know this and you should take their advice. I know from purchasing myself that lenders such as The Mortgage Works move at pace and can get an offer out in 10-14 days.
 
Alternatively Barclays / Woolwich ask LOTS of questions and seem generally more reluctant to lend. From personal experience I’d favour a good rate with an easy lender rather than an excellent rate with a difficult lender, every time.

Surveyors

If you want additional reassurance regarding a property, a survey is important but you must be realistic regarding what that survey will show. The surveyor won’t want a situation where you accuse them of missing something at a later date – so they’ll mention everything! You need to be realistic that, for example, most Victorian properties will
have a “higher than average damp reading”. Don’t panic when you receive the report - when you get a list of problems, you need to ascertain if there’s anything on that list that doesn’t apply to every other house on the street.
 

Conveyancers

The best conveyancer is not the cheapest. You can buy conveyancing online for £99 but we’ll all still be here in 6 months whilst they look for the paperwork they’ve lost. A good conveyancer will get the deal done quickly - if you don’t have one, we can recommend a couple. Also, don’t forget your conveyancer works for you. Often people allow the conveyancer to set the pace of the transaction. You should be telling your conveyancer you’re looking for a quick transaction before you instruct them and chasing them regularly. People who do this purchase properties more quickly.