Welcome to our March 2017 Newsletter
Spring is in the air…well one day soon anyway. Apart from the wind and the rain, which is keeping us busy with fence and roof repairs! Sunshine helps the housing market – It does! People are in a better mood and with the lighter evenings it means more viewings can be arranged, and as usual we’re after more stock. So, if you know anyone looking sell or rent their property, please think of Martin & Co!
01455 636349 or email Hinckley@martinco.com
We love stats. They keep us on our toes within the market place. With the pie chart shown here you can see where we are locally, and it shows the amount of sales for January and February this year. Who’s missing?
We’re quite pleased in that we’ve been instructed to sell 31 properties and have sold 23 so far, meaning we’re selling about 75% of our current stock, and at 99.72% of the asking price! Nice.
Low stock = high customer service
Steve recently visited the local MP for Hinckley and Bosworth, David Tredinnick, and discussed the upcoming ban on tenant fees. David promised to pass on Steve’s concerns to the relevant parties. Even though a consultation is pending, it’s unfortunately a foregone conclusion that a ban “will support better competition in the market and bring down overall costs”. That’s what Gavin Barwell (Housing Minister) said in reply to Steve. Great of course for tenants, but not so for the small business which will have a slice of revenue forcibly removed. How will the industry react to this? Well, the revenue will have to be found from somewhere, and already some contractors have been hit with an extra 20% increase requirement for commission on property repairs. So, Landlords be careful – and just make note that as usual, we won’t be inflating the cost of defect repairs. It’s not competitive for the contractors, or fair on you!
Google reviews are fantastic. They’re honest accounts of the service received by the customer, and sometimes they can be scathing! Without wishing to tempt fate, ours seem to be fine currently. Here’s a recent testimonial;
Some people may be nervous as Martin and Co are significantly cheaper than most Hinckley estate agents, you should not be. We had quite a challenging sale of our property, and with us buying a new build we also had pressure from the builders. The team were superb, the chasing, the communication with solicitors, builders buyers and ourselves was not anything other than outstanding, and I mean outstanding. The advice, the knowledge of not only the property market but also the house sale and purchase process was massively reassuring, and they helped to keep us calm when we had pressure on us from the builders. This is a proper full estate agency service for more than £1500 less than a very well known Hinckley competitor. I cannot recommend Martin and Co enough, brilliant service, outstanding value for money and a real eye opener for how much other agents make out of your house sale.
Inheritance Tax for Landlords! One thing landlords often overlook in building up their portfolio is Inheritance Tax. Every year approximately £4 billion is paid in inheritance tax and a large chunk of that comes from property. Inheritance Tax is probably the most unfair tax there is as it is effectively double taxation, taxing assets that have already been taxed during a person’s lifetime at 40% on death. There are some reliefs and exemptions against Inheritance Tax, however unfortunately, but perhaps not unsurprisingly, none of them apply to rental properties. Can anything be done about it? In short yes, in most cases it is possible to restructure your property portfolio to protect it for your children from Inheritance Tax, perhaps using a company, a trust, or a partnership.
ensible Inheritance Tax planning is essential to enable you to pass on your hard earned property portfolio to your children without them having to sell properties simply to pay off the tax man. We work with a specialist firm of chartered tax advisers who would be delighted to meet with you on a no obligation basis if you would like to explore your options further. To find out more please contact Rob Abell at Will Planning Solutions Ltd. on T 0116 2784862
Recently there was an article in “The Hinckley Times” about the derelict land opposite the old Holliers School. The Councillors were complaining about it being an eyesore – and we agree. This land is literally in the town centre and has been abandoned for years since the factory that used to occupy it, closed down. Steve was able to track the owners down thanks to his various networking contacts; this is what they had to say;
“The current situation is that our land, together with adjoining land (total 2.25 acres), is subject to an 18 month Developer Option agreement expiring Feb 2018. The Developer is in advanced discussions with HBBC and a planning application is imminent.”
Are you wondering how much your property is worth, compared to when you bought it? See below!
Conditions for Landlords are increasingly challenging. There’s the mortgage relief tax, stamp duty tax on further purchases, EPC rules regarding improvements, never ending legislation…it’s hard to keep up sometimes isn’t it? Not only that, there’s also rental inflation, tenant issues, utility problems, need we go on?
We’re looking to increase our rental portfolio this year, and by doing so we aim to continue to offer excellent customer service to all our Landlords, and reduce their hassle factor.
Why should you choose us? After all there’s plenty of competition in Hinckley. If you want to gamble your hard earned asset with the cheapest agent in town, go ahead, you have that option.
If you want your asset to be looked after correctly, you should be instructing a professional licenced ARLA agent; one that is a member of The Property Ombudsman and has in place Client Money Protection Insurance. Martin & Co 01455 636349
