Thursday, 14 February 2019

Where have all the Sold signs gone in Chichester?


There are currently 159 properties in Chichester showing as sold (subject to contract), which is the lowest figure in the five years that I’ve been tracking the market on a weekly basis. A year ago there were 181 properties sold, which means we’ve seen a drop of 12% in 12 months. In fact, there has been a reasonably steady decline since a record high of 292 properties were showing as sold in June 2017.

And yet at £369,000 the average asking price of the properties for sale is up around 10% since last year (when the average asking price was £335,000). So, it appears that sellers are continuing to raise the asking price of their property even though fewer people are actually buying. Would the market be slowing down anyway (with the uncertainty of Brexit being a staple answer as to why) or is it the rising prices that are stopping people from buying?

Based on there being 462 properties on the market in Chichester, we can calculate that 34% are showing as sold. A year ago not only were there more properties sold (181) but there were a greater number of properties on the market (490). Even so, this suggests there was still a higher proportion of properties that were sold (37%) than there is now. For reference, at its recent peak in June 2017 there were 632 properties on the market, with a whopping 46% sold.

As ever with statistics like these though, they don’t mean a great deal unless you compare them against something. So, let’s look at a few areas nearby to see which area has the highest proportion of sold properties compared to the overall market:

Chichester - 462 total - 159 sold (34%)
Bognor Regis - 1,019 total - 380 sold (37%)
Midhurst - 120 total - 27 sold (23%)
Petersfield - 214 total - 75 sold (35%)
Petworth - 74 total - 27 sold (36%)
Portsmouth - 2,479 total - 1,103 sold (44%)
Waterlooville - 977 total - 388 sold (40%)
Worthing - 1,981 total - 877 sold (44%)


It seems that the largest locations with a higher proportion of ‘cheaper’ properties also happen to have the largest proportion of sold property on the market. It might be that Chichester’s sellers, who are used to the higher prices, may need to re-evaluate their asking price to be able to sell their property in what is looking like a more challenging market.

To follow how many properties are for sale, sold, to let and let agreed on a weekly basis, sign up to the weekly Chichester Property News e-mail by visiting www.tinyurl.com/chipropertynews


(This article was featured in the Chichester Observer's property section on February 15, 2019)

Clive Janes, CRJ Lettings


If you are looking for an agent that is well established, professional and communicative in Chichester, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.

E-mail me on clive@crjlettings.co.uk or call 01243 624 599.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view my previous buy-to-let deals and Chichester Property News articles:

c/o CRJ Lettings, 30B Southgate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1DP


Chichester rental valuation
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,
Location: Chichester, UK

Monday, 11 February 2019

BUY-TO-LET DEAL OF THE WEEK: 3 bed house in Chichester, £210,000, 5.6% yield

3 bed house, Charles Ave, Chichesterloungegarden
Summary:
3 bed house in Chichester
Listed for sale on 26/01/19 @ £210,000
Rent = £975pcm
Yield = 5.6%
The £210,000 price tag for this three-bedroom house (the cheapest listed for sale in Chichester) is a bit of a red herring. You see, it's up for auction - so that is just the 'guide price', which doesn't necessarily give an indication as to what the final sale price will be.

If I had to, I'd guess it will end up going for around £230,000-£240,000, which is still a decent price for this type of house (depending on its condition - as ever the details and photos don't give much away with auction lots). From the photos you can see it has double glazing and gas central heating, and as it's up for sale by a housing association you should assume it will be up to date with legislative requirements.

A house like this when done up will rent for £975pcm, which would provide a 5.6% rental return based on that guide price. Again, that's somewhat flattering and you won't be able to determine the actual return until you factor in the sale price and any refurbishment costs required. Typically though, houses like this in good order should be worth around £250,000 and thus offer a return of 4.7%, which is good in the scheme of things for a freehold house in Chichester. Quite a few of the houses here are let to students and therefore can achieve a higher return than this.

As it's an auction property you need to do your homework upfront in regards to viewing the house and having your finance ready to go. Properly assessing the property and what, if any, works are required and their associated costs means you can work backwards in regards to what figure you're willing to bid upto.

The property is on the market with Allsop and full details can be found on Rightmove via the following link: 
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-78902975.html


If you are looking for an agent that is well established, professional and communicative in Chichester, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.

E-mail me on clive@crjlettings.co.uk or call 01243 624 599.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view my previous buy-to-let deals and Chichester Property News articles:

c/o CRJ Lettings, 30B Southgate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1DP


Chichester rental valuation
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Location: 75 Charles Ave, Chichester PO19 7HE, UK

Thursday, 7 February 2019

Is tax just too taxing for landlords?


The self-assessments were in last week and the late fines were avoided….right? Landlords will have noticed that their normal ‘rent minus finance costs & other expenses = profit’ calculation has gone a little awry this year. The reason for this is the mortgage tax relief changes that have started to bite. For the 17/18 tax year only 75% of a landlord’s finance costs could be taken into consideration, with a tax ‘credit’ substituted for the rest.

For those landlords thinking it didn’t affect them too much, it might be wise to re-calculate what your tax liability will be based on the rules for 2020 and beyond…when none of the finance costs are deductible and all of them are instead subject to the 20% tax credit.

The biggest issue this raises is it artificially increases your earnings in the eyes of the taxman. That’s pretty important when it comes to which tax band you fall into and thus the rate of tax you pay. It can also have knock-on effects when it comes to claiming certain benefits or repaying certain loans.

Consider Jeff, who is self-employed and earns £30,000 per year. He also owns five rental properties, which act as his pension. He receives £60,000 a year in rent, meanwhile his mortgage costs are £45,000 a year and other expenses come to £6,000. Whilst this means he makes a modest £9,000 a year from his rental properties, he thinks that’s ok as he’s ‘investing for his future’.

Last year Jeff would have paid £1,800 income tax on his rental profits (an effective rate of 20%). From 2020 the same scenario would see him pay £6,200 i.e. an effective rate of more than 68%! It actually gets worst than this for Jeff, as his new ‘income’ of £84,000 (as far as the taxman is concerned) will see him become completely ineligible for child benefits, whilst the student loan office will up his loan repayments just for good measure.



This may seem like a unique set of circumstances, but it will actually be very common for landlords to be caught in at least one of the traps the new taxation regime creates. Of course, for those landlords without mortgages it will make no difference, but for the majority of landlords who use buy-to-let mortgages they will find themselves worse off.

So, what’s the upshot of this? Some landlords are already exiting the market as they’ve calculated it just isn’t worth it for them anymore. Whilst that may create some opportunities for people looking to buy, it will mean a further reduction in the number of properties available to rent and, as a consequence, an increase in rents for those that remain.

If you’re a landlord and would like me to review the health of your rental portfolio, please call me for a free chat to see how you might be affected by the changes.











(This article was featured in the Chichester Observer's property section on February 07, 2019)


Clive Janes, CRJ Lettings










If you are looking for an agent that is well established, professional and communicative in Chichester, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.

E-mail me on clive@crjlettings.co.uk or call 01243 624 599.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view my previous buy-to-let deals and Chichester Property News articles:






c/o CRJ Lettings, 30B Southgate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1DP


Chichester rental valuation
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,
Location: Chichester, UK

Monday, 4 February 2019

BUY-TO-LET DEAL OF THE WEEK: 3 bed house in Chichester, £380,000, 4.7% yield

3 bed house, Longley Rd, Chichesterkitchenlounge
Summary:
3 bed house in Chichester
Listed for sale on 20/11/18 @ £425,000
Now = £380,000
Rent = £1,500pcm
Yield = 4.7%

I regularly highlight properties on Graylingwell Park as a decent buy to let deal, but typically the houses I focus on are from the first phase of the development. This three-bedroom house (we'll get to that in a minute) is on the second phase, so is a little newer than some of the houses on Graylingwell Park. Originally listed last November for £425,000 it has creeped down in price and I feel it now represents a good buy at its current asking price of £380,000.

The core reason for this follows on from my latest article ('How useful is calculating '£ per square foot'?') in that I believe the house to be great value for money, offering a whopping 1,529 square feet of space. That equates to just £249 per square foot; some 30% cheaper than the average in Chichester - yet it's a nearly new house in excellent condition and in a nice location!

And this gets me to another 'bonus' of the house, which is that I would classify it as a four-bedroom house. You see, downstairs is a perfectly acceptable kitchen and living room, much as you get in any new-build house. And yet on the middle floor there is an additional 'family room', which I would personally view as a bedroom. Doing so means it has four (double!) bedrooms, two of which have en-suite shower rooms. Treating it like this would, in my opinion, mean a rental value of £1,500pcm compared to the £1,200pcm-£1,300pcm the three-bed houses achieve in the area.

All of this combined means some canny buyer will get a huge amount of space for a reasonable asking price. Better yet it's a modern and well-presented house with nothing required prior to letting it, whilst generating a very decent 4.7% rental return.

The property is on the market with Cubitt & West and full details can be found on Rightmove via the following link:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-58245909.html

If you are looking for an agent that is well-established, professional and communicative in Chichester, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.

E-mail me on clive@crjlettings.co.uk or call 01243 624 599.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view my previous buy-to-let deals and Chichester Property News articles:


c/o CRJ Lettings, 30B Southgate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1DP

Chichester rental valuation
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Location: Longley Rd, Chichester PO19, UK

Friday, 1 February 2019

Community Focus: Chichester Cinema at New Park


Chichester Cinema at New Park, the city’s only independent cinema, celebrates its 40th Anniversary this year. There are a lot of events to celebrate this milestone, including the introduction of Ruby Tuesdays; iconic films being shown from February to December on the first and last Tuesdays of each month, with tickets costing just £2.

Ruby Tuesday kicks off on the 5th February with a showing of Manhattan, Woody Allen’s classic, starring Diane Keaton and Meryl Steep. Other Ruby Tuesday films include Brazil, starring Jonathan Pryce and Michael Palin, on the 19th of February, Testimony featuring Tony Palmer on the 5th March and the fabulous The Ladykillers with Alec Guinness, on the 19th March.

There will be plenty of other events, themes and mini-seasons to mark this remarkable milestone created by Roger Gibson, the cinema’s President and Artistic Director of the Chichester International Film Festival.

A magazine charting the cinema’s 40 years will be published in March, just in time for the Annual Film Quiz on the 16th March, which will focus on the cinema’s 40th Anniversary. You can pick up a copy of the current Awards Season brochure, which has details of current films from all over the world, including Mary Queen of Scots, Vice, Green Book, Burning (South Korea), Ralph Fiennes’ The White Crow and many more. Look out too for ballet, opera, theatre and art shows screened from London, Berlin, New York and elsewhere.

The cinema attracts over 75,000 people through its doors each year at Chichester Cinema at New Park, New Park Road, Chichester, PO19 7XY.

Their plush red seats are waiting for you and the café’s open before screenings.
More information on what’s on can be seen at www.chichestercinema.org

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,
Location: Chichester, UK

Chichester Property News - Issue 35 - February 2019

Featuring the articles:
"How will the letting fees ban affect Chichester’s tenants?"
"Chichester’s Monopoly board"
"Community Focus: Chichester Cinema at New Park"
and "Buy-to-let deal of the month: 4 bed house in Chichester, £450,000, 4.3% yield"

Plus, the latest average property values, rents and yields in Chichester.

➕ Plus, the latest average property values, rents and yields in Chichester!

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,
Location: Chichester, UK

Thursday, 31 January 2019

How useful is calculating ‘£ per square foot’?


I was chatting with a landlord who questioned why I bother looking at the £ per square foot of a property when analysing my ‘buy-to-let deals of the week’. I explained that £ per square foot is one of the metrics I always calculate when analysing a potential property purchase (property price divided by total square footage of the property) as it gives an idea of the value for money you’re getting.

It can be a good gauge as to how much you should be paying for a particular property too, as well as being a good comparison of different areas. For example, I often say I like Fishbourne, Tangmere and Westhampnett as they are popular amongst renters and offer a little more ‘bricks for your buck’ than more central Chichester.

This is shown in the average £ per square foot paid for a house in each area: Chichester costs £366 per square foot, Fishbourne £345, Tangmere £326 and Westhampnett £314.

However, what is of even more use is when comparing properties near to one another. For example, last year I was tasked with finding a modern three bed house in Fishbourne. There were three available at the time, all within 200 yards of one another and each of a similar age and specification. They were priced at £289,950, £315,000 and £325,000. 

Seems pretty obvious which one to plump for right? This is where my trusty £ per square foot calculation came in handy.

The three-bed house at £289,950 was set over two storeys and had a footprint of 887 square feet, meaning it cost £327 per square foot.

The three-bed house at £315,000 was also the traditional two storeys high, but had a far greater footprint of 1,125 square feet, meaning it cost just £280 per square foot.

Even better value was found from the most expensive three bed house though. Set over three storeys it had an impressive 1,315 square feet; meaning you were paying just £247 per square foot.

Whilst the rental figure may only have been around £150 a month more for the extra 433 square feet of space (meaning the gross rental yield was comparable) I was confident as to which property would be the more appealing to prospective tenants and thus let quicker.

If you are thinking of buying a rental property and would like me to crunch the numbers on it to ensure you are maximising your investment, please get in touch.










(This article was featured in the Chichester Observer's property section on January 31, 2019)


Clive Janes, CRJ Lettings










If you are looking for an agent that is well established, professional and communicative in Chichester, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.

E-mail me on clive@crjlettings.co.uk or call 01243 624 599.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view my previous buy-to-let deals and Chichester Property News articles:






c/o CRJ Lettings, 30B Southgate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1DP


Chichester rental valuation
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,
Location: Chichester, UK
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)