Daily Archives: December 9, 2016

DIARY OF A PROPERTY INVESTOR – DAY 13

As we develop this blog I want to incorporate videos and photos to try to give a real impression of where we are and the sort of properties and people we are dealing with.

I am a Londoner through and through and if someone had told me there might be a day where I would be buying Properties “Up North” and eventually living up here I would not have believed it.

Like most Londoners who have not been to the North I only have a very vague idea of what it is like and many of my impressions are based on images that are no longer relevant. Not unlike Americans coming to London and expecting to find pea Souper fogs and Sherlock Holmes living at 221B Baker Street.

When you are used to London prices and the London Property Market it is very difficult to understand markets that are radically different. I find a lot of my friends have similar misconceptions and the aim of this blog is to help dispel those misconceptions and present a picture of the truth as I have found it.

There are so many misconceptions I cannot possibly list them all but typical examples would be:

  • Not understanding that prices can fall or stay static and fail to rise over a sustained period.
  • That rents can stay stable for many years
  • That the level of renewal and gentrification is far lower than in London and in many areas never really happens
  • That City Centres are not always so desirable
  • That sharing accommodation is much less prevalent
  • That there are far fewer flats and those there are, are usually best avoided
  • Most importantly in this list that because you buy a property for £50,000 and let it to a housing benefit Tenant and make a yield of 12% you are NOT necessarily a slum landlord. A lot of the housing stock in the North at £50,000 is surprisingly good quality. You can let the property to one family to make your yields You do not have to divide it into 6 little flats as in London.
  • Although I am sure there are poor Landlords in the North there is no need to be one because actually from a commercial and moral point of view it makes sense to keep your properties in good repair to minimise management and ensure you get your returns with the least fuss. When I see our Tenants in their accommodation I can honestly say that if I had to choose to be living on benefits where they are or in London I would choose the North. A couple with a child in a typical two or three bed house on benefits are in a space which if they choose to keep it nice is very acceptable. They do not have to share. They have adequate space over two floor with all facilities plus a yard and normally will be in a good location for shops and amenities. Hopefully as this blog progresses you will see what I mean.