Want your property in Clapham sold? Price it with a 0 in mind...

No, don't sell it for naught, that would be daft. How often have you bought something at £3.99? £2.99? There's always a penny taken off the price to make it appear magically cheaper. Great marketing tactics for a tin of baked beans, a top, a pair of shoes, all good.

What about property?

If you are selling arguably your most expensive asset surely you'd want the best price? Is that the highest price? Maybe. But you certainly want the best target audience, and that would most certainly be the biggest audience.

Imagine this. You are selling a flat for £500,000. Most agents would market this at £499,950 or £499,995. To make it look cheaper. Wrong approach I say. Why? Well go to rightmove in your area and punch in that you are looking up to £499,950. You can't. You can go up to £500,000 though. And guess what shows up first. That's right! The flat at £500,000. Well the flats plural. There's a few. And like the second page of google nobody visits, the flats at 499,950 are on page 2. Which gets less hits. And less viewings. And less interest. And less offers... you see where this is going?

You want your property in people's faces when you are selling. And conversely if you are after a bargain... look at page 2 in your search results. Chances are there will be less eyes there than on page one!

If you'd like some pointers with your purchase, investment, sale or letting feel free to pick up the phone and give me a call. Happy to talk. Or if it's easier drop me a line on jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com.

STOP PRESS – 8.5% yield in Clapham – BUY NOW

If you aren't doing anything that will yield you 8.5% stop what you are doing and go and buy this flat.

Spotted on for sale this morning: A 3 bedroom maisonette with roof terrace for £275,000. They either got the price wrong or it’s earmarked for a sale TODAY!

Oaklands Place is just off St Alphonsus Road SW4, and there are probably only a bunch of flats above shops that are actually closer to Clapham Common Tube.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49806079.html

Normally I would say it may be tricky to let as 2 out of the three bedrooms are a bit on the smaller side, but location prevails. It will let in a day surely. I put a conservative estimate of £450pw on it, but I think given the location a bidding war isn’t out of the question, especially with the Summer Rush taking place by the time you complete on this beauty.

It’s in immaculate condition and features outside space.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?

Call me the moment you’ve placed your bid as I’m keen to hear what you’ve secured it for. I’ll be keeping my eye on this one!

Drop me a line for further property talk on Jeroen@xandermatthew.com or call 020 3397 2099.

Emerging Outer Prime London Area Sees High Yield

This 3 bed property in Tulse Hill offers a buyer a chance to acquire a flat that is poised to benefit from high yields. At an asking rental price of £380 per week the yield will be 6.58% which is not so readily available nowadays. Jereon Hoppe (director of Xandermatthew) has discussed the advantages of capitalising on the more competitively priced properties available which are slightly further away (emerging outer prime) from Tube stations such as Tulse Hill. There’s plenty to do in the area with Brockwell Park moments away, locals enjoy swimming in the lido as well as all that the trendy and authentic village of West Dulwich which is close by has to offer.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34179831.html?utm_content=v2-ealertspropertyimage&utm_medium=email&utm_source=emailupdates&utm_campaign=emailupdatesinstant&utm_term=buying&sc_id=15889878&onetime_FromEmail=true

Given its location of being within an emerging outer prime area the property stands to benefit from capital growth which the neighbouring prime emerging property areas such as Clapham have continued to enjoy even in the run up to the election. This is largely due to the area being regarded as a hotspot for young professionals and overseas investors too with the trend set to continue due to the undeveloped stock in the area.

Property on the Oaklands Estate outperforms Abbeville Road SW4

What would you choose? A beautiful period property situated in a desirable location, or an ex-local authority in a block? A good question for those new to investment and seasoned investors alike. Most investors prefer one or the other, for different reasons. One may prefer ex-local authority for its better rental yield, and others capital gains from period property. Historically there has always been a trade-off. Is that still true today?

Having taken a sample of data from the Oaklands Estate and Abbeville road for comparison:

Flat 4 Selby House Oaklands Estate, SW4 8AN was sold in 2000 for 118,000 and then again in 2007 for £279,950. This represents an annual capital growth of 13.18%. (It had been sold prior to 2000 but this figure is likely to include the right to buy discount, so was ignored). Our comparison property: 16a Abbeville Road SW4 9NJ was sold in 2000 for 285000 and then resold in 2007 for 555,000, representing a capital gain of 9.99% annually. Both properties are 3 bedroom leasehold flats.

It is very unusual to find that a purpose-built property that outperforms a period property over the same time period. On the face of it therefore the ex-local authority property seems to be a winner. But the real win here isn't just in the capital appreciation, there’s more.

You see with a lower purchase price from the outset and similar rental yields the real reason that an ex-local authority flat is a sound investment is simply because you can buy more of them. You can buy 2.5 flats in Selby House with the deposit you were going to put down on Abbeville road. So not only are you winning by capital appreciation, you will be doing it at a rate 2.5x greater than the investor who chooses a period property.

In the past period properties have outperformed flats in purpose-built blocks – but as the above illustrates this trend is coming to an end. With more first time buyers struggling to get on the housing ladder the demand for (relatively) cheaper homes has risen substantially. This increase in demand has led to a dramatic valuation increase for ex-local authority properties. Do bear in mind that the increase in valuation will only be capitalised upon re-mortgage or resale, and point to note is that period properties did hold their value better in the recession, but if you are not looking to exit the market in the next 10-15 years they are certainly a safe bet today.

So next time you are looking at a period property for investment, think again. One period property for two ex-local authority properties. Double your winnings? I do believe so.

If you are looking at a buy-to-let investment and need some assistance crunching the numbers do get in touch. I’m always happy to help and assist you source a viable investment in order for you to get the best out of the property market.

Jeroen Hoppe

Company Director

XanderMatthew

Hot Property in Cold Weather

What has the lettings market of 2015 told us thus far?

We have found in the past that January was an extremely busy month. Up until 2013 we would say it was the busiest month of the first two quarters. This was driven by relationships made and broken over Christmas and New Year’s resolutions to find a new home. We found that one and two bedroom properties were most popular in the early part of the year leading up to Spring.

2014 and 2015 have been different. A different trend is emerging.

This year and last we have noticed that there is a much higher demand for three and four bedroom homes. These offer a lower rent per person and are being snapped up quicker than they would have been a couple of years ago. I feel the main contributing factor is that tenants are now looking for bargains to minimise their spend on rent every month. This has also led to more and more tenants pairing up through on room share sites and through flat-mating events (equivalent of speed dating for a flat mate, could lead to romance - who knows?). in summary the cheaper one and two bedroom flats will still let relatively quickly but any landlords looking to achieve a large rent increase will have to be a little more realistic or may end up being left disappointed with an unexpected void period!

And so we conclude… 2015 so far has left us hunting for bigger properties!

Looking for a bargain at auction? Look no further.

Three bedroom apartments are always in high demand with sharers. In my experience they command the least void periods and provided they are refurbished to a high specification they always attract top-notch tenants. Gone are the days where renting a 3bed meant opening the doors to 3 rugby players that party all day and night. The gross of our 3beds are rented to respectable professionals with good jobs. Depending on the specification completely, but tenants range from graduate first-jobbers to qualified accountants, PhD students, doctors and lawyers. Naturally doctors and lawyers don't want cheap IKEA furniture though!

I saw this lot in the auction for 17th February with Savills and it represents an ideal opportunity. With over 100 years left on the lease and situated in a convenient spot between Oval and Stockwell it's ideal for those who want a serene home life and do their socialising in the City.

Click here to see the Savills Auction Property in question - 24 Cleveland Mansions, Mowll Street SW9

With Flats 4, 6, 16, 7 and 28 in the block all sold last year for 495k and over it looks like a safe bet, even if works are required. Estimated rental (depending on quality of refurbishment) between £500 and £550pw). I found another one in a neighbouring block too.
More photos on the late sales below, bear in mind most of these are listed as 2bedroom apartments so it would be interesting to compare layouts on the visit if you are indeed going for a look:

Comparable 1 - 28 Cleveland Mansions
Comparable 2 - 6 Cleveland Mansions
Comparable 3 - 4 Cleveland Mansions
Comparable 4 - 33 Aigburth Mansions

Remember, as always, if you do have your eye on an investment property and you'd like to pick my brain to see if it's worthwhile drop me a line: Via email or ring the office for an informal chat: 020 3397 2099.