Are there any property bargains in Cheltenham?

Newspapers report property prices in England have soared to a record high – sparking predictions that the country is facing another dangerous property bubble. Values in the South West are still 3.8 per cent lower than their previous peak in the Autumn of 2007. Even with that news, I have been speaking to a couple of landlords over the last few weeks who had concerns in some quarters that the state backed schemes to boost the supply of mortgages such as Funding for Lending and Help to Buy are inflating a new housing bubble. Those landlords are asking if this means the end of property bargains in Cheltenham?

Well, if you do your homework, there are still plenty of good buys in Cheltenham. Don’t expect them to come on the more popular streets in the town. The first rule of buy to let investment is that it is isn’t you that is living in the property, it’s the tenant, and there is always demand for every street in Cheltenham.

Back in July 2013, a two bedroom apartment situated in a Grade II listed period town house on St George’ Road in Cheltenham came up for sale with an asking price of £179,950. I kept the photos of the inside and it was very pleasantly presented inside, however, furniture had been removed and it did look rather stark. It sold for £167,000 in November 2013. A few months later, in May 2014, with what I can see was just some inexpensive new carpets, some emulsion on the wall  and a bit of furniture from Ikea, it sold again for £202,000 some eight months later, a rise of 20.96%, not bad when you consider that the average Cheltenham house price only rose by around 5.5% during the same time frame!

By keeping an eye on the local market, I am able to judge if a property is good value to buy for a landlord. I give this advice and opinion freely to anyone who asks, be they an existing landlord of ours or of another agents. I will also give it to anyone thinking of becoming a buy to let landlord for the first time.

I do not charge for this service, because if I offer you an honest and straight forward opinion, you could consider using me to manage your property. However, I must stress there is no obligation to do so. Feel free to pop your head through our door on Bath Road in Cheltenham to chat about the ups and downs of the property market in Cheltenham