Musings of a London Property Finder

Guestinvest, the buy to let company which allowed private individuals to invest in hotel rooms has gone into administration.  The Guestinvest website is still advertising rooms for sale at £317,000 in The Jones Hotel, Inverness Terrace.  But a canny investor could also have bought a flat in the same road, which may not have come with room service but would have proved to be a more fluid investment, appealing equally to prospective buyers and tenants, be they students, commuters, first-time buyers, young professionals or down-sizers.

A number of flats in Inverness Terrace have sold for around the £315,000 mark over the last 18 months and a flat at 58 Inverness Terrace sold for £250,000 in May, according to the Land Registry figures published by house price comparison website www.ourpropety.co.uk

Guestinvest provided a more luxurious and hassle-free investment, offering to manage and sell the rooms and split the room income 50:50.  The investor was also entitled to stay for free up to 52 nights per year.

Property Week has reported comments from one of the Directors of Savills, Gerard Nolan who is an expert in hotel room investment.  Mr Nolan said that it may be possible to arrange a rescue package for the group and added:

‘The model was flawed as it split the existing income. Splitting the profit is a different story but giving away half your income is flawed. Secondly investors were given 52 days free and nothing is free. You still have to pay for servicing whether it is the owner or a paying guest in the hotel and that was a further hit on income. Hotel room investment can work but the Guestinvest model was not sustainable.’

The hotel group was reportedly put into administration by joint owners HBOS but Johnny Sandelson, the entrepreneur who set up the company is  trying to restructure the company.

Our opinion: Don’t be dazzled by polished presentations and the involvement of major financial backers.  With any investment take a step back and compare the deal with other property prices in the market and seek the help of a reliable London Property Finder.

www.ourproperty.co.uk

www.propertyweek.com

Technorati Tags: Buy-to-let, Buy-to-rent, Guestinvest, hotel rooms, investment, investors, London Property Finder, property investments, property investors, property prices

Tags: Buy-to-let, Buy-to-rent, Guestinvest, hotel rooms, investment, investors, London Property Finder, property investments, property investors, property prices

Musings of a London Property Finder

As of today, anyone letting or selling commercial property needs to provide an Energy Performance Certificate or EPC as does anyone letting a  residential property.  EPCs became mandatory for all vendors of residential property on a rolling basis from last year, as part of the Home Information Packs.

The EPC is a result of an EU Directive, the aim of which was to decrease apathy regarding energy efficiency throughout the EU.

Is it a good idea or just another pointless cost?  Most residential buyers won’t care and people affording the high end rental properties which we specialise in, probably won’t either.  We have never had a Client who has been interested in the EPC. 

For residential Clients, underfloor heating can double the heating bills if it is not insulated properly when installed but future occupiers won’t know whether it has been installed correctly or not because the EPC doesn’t tend to deal with this in any great detail and the certificate can only take into account insulation which is visible, eg in an unconverted loft. 

For buyers of sub-£1 million property perceived fuel savings may be of interest but the EPC it is budget conscious tenants who are the most likely to take an interest and include the EPC as a criterion of housing choice.

Overall, since period property continues to be so desirable and dominate housing stock in the UK, it is hard to imagine the EPC making much difference here, where there is little room to build more energy efficient houses.

In any case, the government is missing it’s targets for building any new houses, never mind carbon neutral or highly energy efficient ones.

For buy-to-let landlords, you don’t need to provide an EPC for existing tenants, only for new ones.  This London Property Finder is interested in the energy efficiency of any house they present to clients.

Technorati Tags: Buy-to-let, Energy Performance Certificate, EPC, London Property Finder

Tags: Buy-to-let, Energy Performance Certificate, EPC, London Property Finder

Musings of a London Property Search Agent.

London is bearing up well as the gap between asking prices and purchase prices continues to widen, according to new research published yesterday by the RICS.  Vendors are accepting an average of 9% below asking, with vendors in the North East accepting the most, 12.5% below. 
Scottish vendors are accepting 2.4% less, which appears less than it does for a country where prices are normally advertised as ‘offers over’ and once an offer is made it cannot be rescinded.  We have thought Scottish prices have been over-heated for some time, given the limited employment market and long-term demand.
Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist commented:
€œWith housing transactions currently at a 30 year low, many vendors are being forced to lower their asking prices to achieve a sale in an ever shrinking market or they are being forced to rent their property until the market picks up.
In recent surveys, Chartered Surveyors have reported that some buy-to-let investors are re-entering the market to take advantage of rising yields.
In addition, €˜predatory buyers€™ have been hovering over the corpse of a stalling market with many others cut out by the lack of mortgage liquidity.
The gap between asking prices and selling prices could widen in the coming months as the downturn in the economy becomes more visible.  
The London market could be adversely affected as employment in the financial sector drops off.€  The advice of this London Propeerty Finder is to buy now before it is too late.

Technorati Tags: Buy-to-let, House Prices, London House Prices, London property, London Property Finder, London property market, London property prices, mortgage liquidity, North East property market, North East property prices, Scottish house prices, Scottish Property

Tags: Buy-to-let, House Prices, London House Prices, London property, London Property Finder, London property market, London property prices, mortgage liquidity, North East property market, North East property prices, Scottish house prices, Scottish Property