Investment tips for City Buy to Lets

On a slightly different subject, having renovated property in London and worked in the property investment sector, many people are asking, how do I invest in today’s climate for capital gain?  I have a couple of thoughts for those people based on experience!

1) Look for ripple areas where downsizing is happening..

This is really interesting and is happening right now.  Think of the richer areas in London and consider the areas around them.  Many folk over borrowed in the good times, even the rich, and have had to downsize.  However, it is unlikely they went too far from their current location if possible, due to children at school, work issues, etc. 

An interesting example is Greenwich and Westcombe Park in South East London, where I have been based on and off for 10 years.  A friend of mine purchased a terraced house in Westcombe Park in 2005, having done nothing to it, and it has been recently valued as 10% above the buying price.  This is incredible when prices are tumbling in many other areas, so why is this?

Simply, many folk have downsized from Greenwich.  Both settlements sit around Greenwich Park, with a number of train stations 20 minutes away from Charing Cross, and 15 minutes from London Bridge, so for these homeowners there would have been little change other than the postcode from se10 to se7.  It is widely acknowledged that houses are selling well and reasonably quickly here.  So the downsize factor is an interesting criteria to consider if you are looking to buy.

2) Infrastructure improvements

An old one, but still one of the best tips going.  Consider new rail or underground links, like the jubilee line extension through South East London.  This will make getting into the centre of London more accessible, and thus likely to increase property demand and prices, which has already started to happen. 

It is important to consider permanent improvements, which brings me onto the hype surrounding the Olympics.  Clearly the surrounding area is being massively improved, but does the area provide sustainable property capital gains based on this one event?  This is up for debate.  The Olympics lasts 2 weeks and is then over, so I would certainly consider the fact that long lasting infrastructure improvements in transportation would have a more significant factor in property uplifts.

I hope those tips help; happy hunting!