London Studio Flat - BTL Advice

balsingh

lynzpower wrote:

Sorry TommyC but I always have to smile when people talk about what money will be made when the olympics are on- thats Over 6 years away!!!!

... and the olympics only last a month!! After that, its all downhill.

balsingh

lynzpower wrote:

Balsign. Im sure someone will be along to contradict me, but personally, I wouldnt even dream of buying a flat to let out in london at the moment. The voids are tremendous. Im hearing of people all over the place negiotiating thier rents down and a mate of mine who lets 2 flats in london is making a loss on both of them month in month out in the hope that there will be capital gains.

I dont want to sound patronising or treat you like a muppet, but do be very careful, you sound like this is going to financially stretch you? HAve you factored voids into your projections?

I did look into other cities but found that the rents are very low compared to London. One thing about Central London is that there will always be people looking to live there and even if the rents are slightly less than they were, property is more likely to get rented there than in other places.

I have looked at the student market up in the midlands too and found that is very saturated .... add to that the fact that the Midlands doesnt seem to attract professionals in the same way as London. Obviously, everyone has their own ideas ... and I feel London is a safer bet than most.

lynzpower

OUt of interest Balsingh, can I ask what your budget is?

Tommy_C_2

balsingh wrote:

... and the olympics only last a month!! After that, its all downhill.

Sure the Olympics only last a month but in that short time you will have covered the interest payments for a whole year. Plus you could have that money in the bank a year or more in advance.

If you are willing to look away from London, then Norwich is a very good prospect. I know of a really good apartment that went up for sale yesterday in NR1 for only 120K and is next to the railway station, swimming pool, multi-plex cinema, shops, Castle etc. Plus it has parking and a garden. See:

http://www.dezrez.com/DRApp/Search.ASP?WCI=Particular&WCE=00538442&CURRENCY=GBP

balsingh

lynzpower wrote:

OUt of interest Balsingh, can I ask what your budget is?

Lets put it another way .... based on how much mortgage I will take, I will need to collect around £600pcm rent to make sure the mortgage payments are covered. I feel that a 1-bed place in the right location can easily achieve this ... unless you want to correct me. (I've even seen studios getting this much rent).

lynzpower

Tommy_C wrote:

Sure the Olympics only last a month but in that short time you will have covered the interest payments for a whole year. Plus you could have that money in the bank a year or more in advance.

If you are willing to look away from London, then Norwich is a very good prospect. I know of a really good apartment that went up for sale yesterday in NR1 for only 120K and is next to the railway station, swimming pool, multi-plex cinema, shops, Castle etc. Plus it has parking and a garden. See:

http://www.dezrez.com/DRApp/Search.ASP?WCI=Particular&WCE=00538442&CURRENCY=GBP

Cor thats lovely!!

Tommy_C_2

lynzpower wrote:

Cor thats lovely!!

I wish I was in a position to buy it. A few months ago, or in the future and I would have, it's just bad timing for me at the moment.

I found out that it includes the loft space too. The houses next to it have converted the lofts so should be easy to get planning permission. Say 10K for a loft conversion and it would be worth 150k easily. It's also south facing over the garden with views over the city. If the loft was converted then the views would be amazing.

Found some more pics on rightmove:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-6619336.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

Grrrrrr if only it had been for sale a few months ago.

lynzpower

Sure is a nice find that, is that garden shared or sole use?!!?

Balsing, Im sure you have done your maths as one of the other posters said earlier. Personally, if you are deciding on a 1-bed and not a studio, i think this is a good move. As long as you have budgeted for work, wear adn tear, and any management fees etc you should be fine.

BobProperty

Tommy_C wrote:

...Say 10K for a loft conversion...

Say £10k for the materials for a loft conversion. To do it properly to Building Regs you are looking more like £25k-£30k. :eek:

Tommy_C_2

lynzpower wrote:

Sure is a nice find that, is that garden shared or sole use?!!?

I know a lot about the property because I was very interested in one next to it a few months ago, but I was too slow to put in an offer. It's a big shared garden that is rarely used.

The mangement fees are only £30 per month in total which includes a gardener, buildings insurance, and window cleaner. No extra fees for private off road parking spaces. I would guess that the free parking alone would save quite a bit of money from paying to park in car parks.

I found out that there is no management company taking money out because the owners each own an equal share of the management company. There is about 10K sitting in the account and if I were to buy then I would actually get a say in how that should be spent. I think they are doing some painting of sash windows, and resurfacing the driveway this year.

I wish I could buy it, but I can't at the moment.