Listen up, I'm talking about Clapham & Brixton Property at the Property Masterclass!

For those of you who follow the blog closely will have notice that more and more topics are being addressed thanks to the beauty of interaction. Those not keen to comment publicly can always reply to me via email and receive a personal response. After all, why not make use of my years of knowledge to help you build your property portfolio? Which leads me to the next thing which is even better – a meeting in person. You may be an aspiring landlord, you may be a seasoned developer. All the same you will value the face to face contact. So let’s meet!

An old colleague and good friend of mine Suzanne Vincent has asked me to speak at her Property Masterclass at the end of this month and I'd like to invite you to come along. There will be a free drink on arrival and a reduced table menu. Whether you are a seasoned investor looking to network with local professionals or whether you just want to find out more about investing in property and saving on inheritance tax for your children, there will be something for everybody. A good chance to meet local people, network with like-minded professionals and ask questions relevant to your circumstances. So please join me on Tuesday June 30^th 8pm at the Cambria - lovely pub off the beaten track and tucked away in a lovely residential area on the Camberwell/Brixton borders. Loughborough Junction and Brixton are your closest stations and no more than 5/10 mins from those respectively. The food is fantastic and the company will be too for sure.

The topics we'll be covering are:

• Property Finance
• Lease extension and freehold enfranchisement
• How to present for a sale or let
• Investing in Property

Please RSVP directly to Suzanne so she can organise accordingly on suzannelvincent@gmail.com.

If you are looking for a friendly chat about property or the weather by all means give me a call in the office on 020 3397 2099 or drop me a line on jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com. 

Freehold houses are better investments aren't they? Not always…

A landlord came in to see me the other day to talk property. Naturally I obliged. They had always invested in freehold houses. “I don’t like leasehold properties.” He said. “The freeholder is always asking for service charges and ground rents.” Naturally I agreed, as being a leaseholder does mean that you bow to a superior landlord ultimately. However, emotions aside, I urged him to look at the pound notes rather than the feelings. I was confident his feelings would turn gleeful when I drew his attention to the return as opposed to focusing on what he was paying in costs.

A leasehold is not a bad thing. Naturally some freeholders will be better than others, but to some extent it allows for more hands-off investing. A management company will be looking after the block, so all you would need to worry about is the confines of what’s behind the front door. Easy. And more lucrative it would seem in most cases.

We compared two properties up for sale at the moment:

Rathmell Drive – 2bed flat near Clapham South Station – Asking price of £339,950 – est rent 350pw = 5.4% gross yield.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50008571.html

Estoria Close – 2bed house near Brixton and Tulse Hill Stations – Asking price of £475,000 – est rent 400pw – 4.4% yield

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50571167.html?premiumA=true

Naturally the gross rent in the latter property will be closer to the net rent as there will be less costs in the order of service charges, ground rents, sinking funds and so forth, but to put this into perspective… for the latter to yield the same it would need to achieve £493pw in rent. In conclusion we agreed that no matter how frustrating freeholders and management companies can be they don’t cost anywhere near £93pw!

If you are after any property advice, be it sales, rentals, buying or letting please send me a line or call the office on 020 3397 2099. I'm always keen to talk property with you.

Jeroen Hoppe

Director

XanderMatthew