I met up with a landlord the other day which sparked up an interesting conversation. He was frustrated that he could not find any good property bargains in the Croydon area and he had been searching for the last 2 years! He was not the first landlord (and most definitely won’t be the last) who has stated this to me either. I know this question is at the top of most local landlord’s thoughts so I thought I would answer it for you all in this month’s newsletter.
I’ve built up an extensive database of every property sale since the early 2000s. That’s a lot of data, so I am able to give an objective and unbiased opinion on what, and what does not make a good property deal / investment.
Knowing what is and what has happened to the property market in the different areas of Croydon (including Purley, Sanderstead, South Croydon, East Croydon, West Croydon and Thornton Heath for example) or comparing Croydon against say Bromley or Clapham, enables me to spot any trends/opportunities for Buy-To-Let landlords.
In this Summer Edition Newsletter (and focusing on the all famous phrase ‘You make money when you buy, not sell’, we will have a quick look at some deals that I have kept notes on in the last few years:
There was a lovely 1 bed flat on Godstone Road, Purley, CR8 (we love CR8!). Just 2 minutes (0.14 miles) walk to Purley Station, prime central location which came on the market early August ’08 and sold for £153,000 of which, at the time, was a decent price. It was recently sold for £125,000 which is a change of -18.30%… This is type of property my landlords want to know about! We call the ‘Flops’. Now this 1 bedroom flat will rent until the cows come home at £850pm giving an absolutely outstanding yield of 8.16%. Lovely.
On the Flip Side, here is a deal which totally rocked this investor’s boat. It was put up for sale late May ’13 for £209,950. It was an absolute wreck, but as I advise many landlords, these are the goldmines. Two years on, it has been fully refurbished, and sold for £345,000! That’s £135,000+ in just two years, take off the renovation costs of £30,000, leaving £105,000 profit in the home owner’s wallet. I have written further detail about this on my blog site with pictures of before and after, its worth having a look at it, trust me (www.CroydonPropertyNews.co.uk)
