Hi there,  

This is it,  the full 12 Landlord Nightmares Before Christmas! 
A freezer breaking at the time when you need it most is a 'chilling' thought! 

If this happens with your tenants, we really do have a team of reliable and trusty contractors who will be more than happy to help. 

I really hope you have enjoyed my 12 Landlord Nightmares before Christmas. It really is a bit of fun but also to show you how important having the right team around you to look after your most expensive asset is so important.
I really love to help my clients become a stress-free and relaxed landlord.  They know their property really is in safe hands with Perren Property.

Till next time,  

Hi there,  

On the eleventh day of Christmas my tenant's phoned me.... (remember to sing it now!) 

Eleven electrics sparking! Arghhh this is not good at all.

 At Perren Property we recommend your property electrics be checked prior to a tenancy start.  But need an emergency electrician fast- no problem we can help. 

I hope you are enjoying the 12 Landlord Nightmares Before Christmas. I wonder what number 12 will be...

Till then, 

Hi there,  

Tenth day of Christmas,  and I really hope your property chimney does not start smoking! However, it is important that you or your tenant (depending on what is in your tenancy agreement) gets the chimney swept. I would suggest every 12-18 months. 

I hope you enjoy the 12 Landlord Nightmares Before Christmas.

Till next time,  

Hi There,  

Ninth day of Christmas and the oven decides to break just before your tenant needs to cook the turkey.  

We want to create the best possible service for you and your tenant . If the oven was to break on Christmas Day and we couldn't get it repaired. We would do our ultimate best to provide a relaxing Christmas with minimum stress. 

I hope you enjoy the 12 Landlord Nightmares Before Christmas.

Till next time,  

Hi there,  

Eighth day of Christmas, and a broken dishwasher over Christmas is not ideal.

We always want to be on hand to help our landlords and tenants.  We will get our domestic maintenance contractor out as soon as possible.  We have collected washing up in the past on Boxing Day to really help our tenants  and landlords to have a relaxing Christmas. 

I hope you enjoy the 12 Landlord Nightmares Before Christmas.

Till next time,  

Hi there,  

Seventh day of Christmas, and your tenant calls with a leak in the property. Big or small you need to make sure your tenant knows exactly where the stopcock is.  

Whether it be an insurance claim or a small repair, we are on hand to coordinate all necessary works to a high quality standard. 

I hope you enjoy the 12 Landlord Nightmares Before Christmas.

Till next time,

Hi there,  

Sixth day of Christmas, and a power cut has happened in the street. Leaving your rental property burglar alarm to fault and guess what it's 11pm.

Here at Perren Property we have a 24 hour maintenance line so your tenant can call and report any time they like. 

I hope you enjoy the 12 Landlord Nightmares Before Christmas.

Till next time,  

Hi there,  

Fifth day of Christmas,  and the wind storm hits, fence panels are down leaving the garden open for your tenant's dog to runaway! 8am the following morning,  just as your leaving for work and fit in the school run,  your tenant rings you to report the broken fence panels. 

This is one of the busiest times of year for fencing companies. We have trusted suppliers who can repair and replace any broken panels quickly and efficiently.  

I hope you enjoy the 12 Landlord Nightmares Before Christmas.

Till next time,  

Hi there,  

Fourth day of Christmas,  and your social diary is booking up fast. But before you go out your tenant calls with a blocked drain.  But who do you call? (not ghostbusters!)  We can organise any maintenance required over the season and in 2017. 

I hope you enjoy the 12 Landlord Nightmares Before Christmas.

Till next time,  

Hi there,  

Third day of Christmas, it's getting colder and the frost is on the windscreen. What is one of the worst things that can go wrong? - your tenant's boiler to breakdown (it never happens in the summer!)  At Perren Property our Gas Engineers can be out within 24 hours of the initial call.

You can relax, your tenants won't be cold this Christmas.  

I hope you enjoy the 12 Landlord Nightmares Before Christmas.

Till next time,  

Hi there,  

Second day of Christmas and as a landlord, you don't want to be finding a glazier when your tenants call you at this busy time of year.  At Perren Property we have a list of trusty window glaziers who are always on hand to help.

I hope you enjoy the 12 Landlord Nightmares Before Christmas.

Till next time,  

Hi there,  

Last month of the year, time to start planning Christmas and indulge in some glorious food and festive spirits.

First day of Christmas and believe it or not many tenants lose their keys or get locked out. When your property is managed by Perren Property we always have a spare set of keys available in case your tenant does lose their keys at the office Christmas party!

Being a landlord over the winter months can be testing, especially when you have other plans. I have recreated my version of the 12 Days of Christmas and over the next 12 days you'll receive the next verse to the very well known Christmas song.

I hope you enjoy the 12 Landlord Nightmares Before Christmas.

Till next time, 

What is Really Happening in the Local Property Market

Well it has been a few months since Brexit and as we settle into the Autumn with X factor, Strictly and the Football season ... the newspapers are returning to their mixed messages of good news, bad news and indifferent news about the property market.

The thing is the UK does not have one housing market. Instead, it is a patchwork of mini property markets all performing in a different way. At one end of scale is Kensington and Chelsea, which has seen average prices drop in the last twelve months by 6.2% whilst in our South-East region, house prices are 12.3% higher. But what about Mole Valley?

Property prices in Mole Valley are 4.3% higher than a year ago and 0.6% lower than last month.

So what does this mean for local landlords and homeowners? Not that much unless you are buying or selling in reality. Most sellers are buyers anyway, so if the one you are buying has gone down, yours has gone down.  Everything is relative and what I would say is, if you look hard enough, there are even in this market, there are still some bargains to be had in the local area.

However, the most important question you should be asking though is not only is what happening to property prices, but exactly which price band is selling? I like to keep an eye on the property market in Mole Valley on a daily basis because it enables me to give the best advice and opinion on what (or not) to buy in the local area.

If you look at Dorking and split the property market into four price bands.

•    Nil to £300k             45 properties for sale and 21 sold (stc) i.e. 31% sold

•    £300k to £450k         32 properties for sale and 41 sold (stc) i.e. 56% sold

•    £450k to £7000k       37 properties for sale and 32 sold (stc) i.e. 46% sold

•    £700 +                    36 properties for sale and 32 sold (stc) i.e. 47% sold

Fascinating don’t you think that it is the whole Dorking market that is doing well?

The next nine months’ activity will be crucial in understanding which way the market will go this year after Brexit ... but, Brexit or no Brexit, people will always need a roof over their head and that is why the property market has ridden the storms of oil crisis’ in the 1970’s, the 1980’s depression, Black Monday in the 1990’s, and latterly the credit crunch together with the various house price crashes of 1973, 1987 and 2008.

And why? Because of Britain’s chronic lack of housing will prop up house prices and prevent a post spike crash. ... there is always a silver lining when it comes to the property market!

Yield Versus Capital Appreciation

You are ready to buy a house to let out and make your fortune - but what kind of fortune do you want?
Are you looking for hard cash now or a nice nest egg for the future? Naturally most people would like both but one will outweigh the other according to your business plan.
This is where you need to consider what your goals are as an investor - and ask some shrewd questions of estate agents and letting agents in your target area.
For those landlords looking for a good monthly return now, the rental yield is the all-important economic term.
Simply put, what percentage of the property price you will make in rent each year? You can work this out as a gross figure excluding your costs of business such as insurance and maintenance - or as a net figure, where you have included these costs.
Yield is usually most important where the landlord is interested in maximising the income received every month, so they tend towards smaller properties and put down high deposits or even buy for cash. Landlords looking for large portfolios of property for multiple income streams will focus on the yield more than the appreciation.
In contrast, landlords looking for a good nest egg to perhaps provide in retirement are less concerned with making their profit now and instead are looking for the property to increase substantially in value over the long term.
This means they can cash out in 10, 20 or even 30 years time by selling the property and taking their capital gains (minus tax alas).
With a bit of careful research and a splash of luck on picking such a long term investment there can be big profits ahead.
These landlords are more likely to choose properties they could imagine themselves living in, higher priced in more desirable areas.

If this is you, you should be looking for areas you think will gentrify over the coming decades, where there are good schools and infrastructure, where development is likely to add amenity to the neighbourhood. It is noted property prices increase markedly in town where Waitrose build new stores.

Is it a Good Time to Buy Property?

Prices are up, prices are down, prices are stable…the newspapers are full of good news, bad news and indifferent news about Britain’s favourite subject (after the weather)…the property market!

 I have had an interesting chat the other day with a chap who lives in the local area and was thinking of buying a buy to let property in Dorking and he wanted my opinion on the state of the market and if it was a good time to invest. 

He was particularly worried that with all the newspaper headlines of an uncertain market, there would not be any demand from tenants. One of the best pieces of advice I can give to those looking to invest in property is a simple trick of the trade. You can judge the affordability of an area’s property market (and thus how much demand there could be) by simply finding the ratio of the average property price to the average salary. The lower the ratio the more affordable property is.

When we put this to the test, we found out that Dorking currently has an average property value of around £462,865. The average salary for someone living in Dorking is estimated £29,028 giving a ratio of  15.94 to 1.

Most lenders will only lend up to 4.5 times the income, so to buy that average house in Dorking at £462,865 a first-time buyer would need a salary around 100k and even then, would need to raise the 5% deposit. Which when your take into consideration buying fees, will be in the order of £27000.

The questions I seem to be asked on an almost daily basis by landlords are:

•       Is the time right to buy another buy to let property in the local area and if not local, where?

•       Are there any local property bargains out there?

When considering this landlord’s buy to let portfolio, yields can be in order of an average 4% - 6% per year, depending where you buy, so combine that with a steady rental growth, excellent increases in capital values of the properties themselves and it could be a good time to invest in the local property market.

Tenants inabilities to raise that sort of money for the deposit is driving demand for rental property. If you would like some advice about buying to let, be you a landlord with a portfolio or someone thinking of investing in the rental market for the first (second or third...)  time, please do give me a call on 01306 880442 and we can book a discovery meeting.

 

How to Let or Sell your Home this Autumn

Maximise your chances of letting or selling your home this Autumn.

The summer holidays have gone, the kids are back at school and normality returns. If you are thinking of letting or selling your home, now is the time to do it. The property market often sees a surge of people looking to move before Christmas. Whether your property is empty waiting for a loving tenant or buyer  to move in or your tenants have given notice- there are lots of things you can do to maximise its potential.

Check Gutters and Roofs - These easily get clogged up with falling leaves. Don’t wait for your current tenant to report your gutters are full and over flowing during a downpour. Get them cleaned and checked regularly and check for any missing/slipped roof tiles. It is little things like this that bring top quality tenants.

Gardens - Empty properties with gardens can soon become overgrown and full of leaves this time of year. So clear away any leaves and summer memorabilia (barbecues and furniture) Properties that have tenants packing to leave might not have the gardening at top of their mind and probably will not take care of it until a week before they move out. Why not offer a one off garden tidy up. Neat and tidy gardens this time of year really sell.

Windows - Try to keep windows sparkling clean. Tenanted property? why not include this in your tenant incentive when clearing the garden and gutters. Clean windows are such a great way to enhance natural light and create bright rooms.

Warmth-  If your property is empty and the Autumn temperatures really begin to drop set the heating to come on 30 minutes before the viewing. But remember don’t go too hot, the last thing you need is a stuffy house which sees your viewers rush to the door.