Will Manchester Property Blossom Like London Property Market
I am amazed at the sudden price appreciation in Manchester. As I have said time and time again we are getting outbid by new property investors and foreign property investors ( many of whom have no knowledge). True Manchester is now one of the fastest growing markets in the UK, however knowledge is key. Want to share an example of a viewing we had in Salford, Manchester for a Professional 5 bed HMO. The property was in a great area….and as usual very bad state of repair. New roof…new kitchen…new everything…we estimated at least 50,000 maybe more…There was a group of Chinese investors with their laser measures. They did not even bother to check the roof ( OOPS SURPRISE), the boiler….or even look at the electric box!
Rather comical actually. It reminds me of property investors who think they can find a builder…find a sourcer …and that they will manage the HMO project and all will be wonderful. Again…not reality…not a moment goes by without some issue. Brand new boiler that just brings cold water. Call the builder…builder calls plumber…plumber comes right out…( as he wants our next job)..Leave it with me…All good…9pm at evening get the call…cold water again. Or my favorite 10pm at night, we had a broken pipe in a Professional HMO we were renovating. It was not just a broken pipe, it was like a water fall. Do you really think that a builder or a sourcer who is getting a relatively small fee would get out of bed at 10pm at night?
Property is tough. What myself and my JV partners are seeing is a tremendous amount of newbies who are chasing and over paying for professional HMOs. They will likely get their fingers burnt with management or completely not budgeting their refurbishment. We had property investors from Saudi Arabia who “tried” to buy and manage Professional HMOs in Liverpool. They chased that proverbial 20% “promised by the estate agent” return only to sell the property at a loss. The property was not managed properly…tenants left and sat empty.
REALITY!
Property is not easy! Sorry to say…We are still knocking our heads…viewing after viewing…making offers..( having some accepted). Mitigating our risks. We hope that the prices will jump in Manchester. Who would have thought that property in Salford in 2010 which you could not give away…only a few short years people are fighting over these properties…
Go figure.
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