To find that many landlords in one location all willing to talk and advise not only each other but also new attendees making their first steps on the property ladder makes it the place to be if you are serious about property and the various strategies available.

Richard Kerrison the first of the 2 speakers last night was not only full of helpful advice on networking related to property but for everyone who needs to network whatever their business.

His presentation talked us through the whole process of networking, how to meet and introduce yourself, build a business relationship, how to spot the time wasters, where to network and why you should be a listener amongst other very useful tips. There was something in his presentation for everyone to learn from.

Mark Dearing the second speaker and stand in host for the evening showed us not 25 ways of finding property that was promised, but 30 ways with a promise that he is on the way to making it 35! We all know the basic such as property portals, leaflets, Estate/Letting Agents but what about the Commercial agents, Council Asset lists, NHS asset lists, Police auction sites to name just a few of the areas you would probably haven’t considered ?

These meetings are held once a month at the Hampton by Hilton hotel in Luton and if you would like to attend the next one on Tuesday 24th May where one of the presentations will be on Profitable Commercial to Residential Conversions by Joe & Jane Harling and it will be your first time attending a PIN meeting you can use the code below for FREE entry

Click on this link: https://www.pinmeeting.co.uk/luton/
Click “Book using a voucher code”
Insert you contact details
Enter “belvoirluton” into voucher code box and click apply voucher button
Click, “Click Here to book your place now” - An email confirmation will be sent to you

When the Sunday Times on the 17th April listed the 10 areas of Britain with the highest proportion of homes sold to first-timers who would have thought that Dunstable with no train station would be on that list ?

With its connection to Luton’s train station via the Busway, the improved links from the M1 with junction 11a due to open next year, large employers such as Signature Flatbreads and Amazon employing large numbers of staff and the affordability of housing to buy and to rent it is no surprise to those who have an eye on the local property market.

Many of my articles have pointed out how the buyers and renters in London and the surrounding town such as Watford, Hemel Hempstead and St Albans have been looking to Dunstable to provide affordable housing.

Transactions for the previous 12 months by Countrywide, the largest estate-agency chain in the UK found that, last month, one in four sales was to a first-time buyer. These buyers are often looking at areas that are close to more expensive areas where they might have rented but cannot afford to buy.

Here is the list of the 10 areas of Britain with the highest proportion of homes sold to first-timers.
 
Hither Green, SE13
Silvertown, E16
Barmulloch, Glasgow
Harold Wood, RM3
Edinburgh EH4
Seven Kings, IG3
Birmingham B32
Dunstable, Bedfordshire
Barkingside, IG6
Ordsall, Salford

A check of the latest statistics from Zoopla for Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard and Hemel Hempstead show that in the last 3 months prices have dropped in all these areas by just over 2%. We had seen a rise in the last 12 months of 7.48% in Dunstable, 6.84% in Leighton Buzzard but only 4.54% in Hemel Hempstead as the London housing market cooled and this in turn affected the towns on the outskirts such as St Albans and Hemel Hempstead which had previously seen large increases in property values and rents.

I highlighted in an article last week how a number of properties have been reduced in price since 1st April in the Dunstable area and I have also seen some properties that had been advertised for rent also being reduced recently as agents pushed the prices too high.

A comparison of the 3 towns to see where the best investment purchase would be for a rental yield shows that based on Zooplas current figures the average rental yield for a 1 bedroom apartment in Dunstable would be 6.42% against 4.48% in Hemel Hempstead, a 2 bed apartment would be 6.4% against 4.05% in Hemel Hempstead and a 3 bedroom house in Dunstable would be 4.65% against 3.92% in Hemel Hempstead so all round a better choice would be Dunstable right now. For Leighton Buzzard the figures are slightly better than Hemel Hempstead but still about 1.5% below Dunstable for all 3 property types.

With the average asking price in Hemel Hempstead at £379,410 and for Dunstable £212,981 we can see that Dunstable for many is an affordable area to still invest in with a better return on your investment.

As always I recommend an investor asks for a rental valuation from an independent local Letting Agent before purchasing a property and a conversation last week enforced why this is so important.

A landlord who called me last week had a 2 bedroom apartment on the market for a month with very few viewings and no tenants found. I had spotted this when it came to market and it stood out like a sore thumb as and it had been advertised at £925pcm on a development where the market value was £800-£850pcm maximum. It might be that the Estate Agent had sold him the property by suggesting a rental figure of £925 but by last week he had reduced it to £850 before speaking to me. Without seeing it I suggested a figure of £825pcm as it was now an ‘old’ property and had lost the market interest by being advertised too high. He asked me to see if we knew of anyone who would be interested without marketing as he now had it on with 2 agents already. A few calls and I came across a lady who did want to take the property at £825 but had already seen it with another agent and was still thinking about it. Leaving the matter in her hands to choose the agent to use she did go back to the one who showed her the apartment, discussed the £825 figure which was agreed with the landlord and he now has his apartment rented. The whole episode cost him money while it was overpriced and empty and yes I didn’t get to rent it for him, but assisted in the process of him finding a tenant and have now built some trust into a relationship started with a chance phone call.

In August 2014 approval was given for the development of the Dukeminster Estate which is situated behind the new Priory View development currently in the process of being completed in Church Street, Dunstable.

The proposal for up to 170 residential dwellings shows the access to the site using the Road between the new buildings of Priory View and also lists conditions attached to the approval including tree protection measures, badger mitigation and reptile mitigation.

In March this year a Screening Opinion was submitted by Persimmon Homes in regards to a possible submission of a full planning application for the development of up to 330 dwellings on the site which currently has planning for up to 170 thereby increasing the number of dwellings by 160

25 ways to find a property, getting your vision and doing due diligence – Mark Dearing

Mark is an experienced investor with over 14 years in the property world. He has a portfolio worth £1.5m and a successful property sourcing company. For many years Mark has mentored and coached over 200 people to success in property.  He spends much of his time teaching people the basics of property development, goal setting and business planning.
At our Pin meeting Mark is going to share with us 25 ways to find a property, getting your vision and doing due diligence.


The power of referrals from PIN meetings – Richard Kerrison

All Property Investor's know that to find great property deals you need to get your message out there, but most importantly you need to be personable (after all this is a people business!).
Richard will take us on a journey from leaving our cave and venturing to a meeting to NETWORK…meeting strangers and having to talk to them! Speaking in public, and who make better networkers? Shy people, outgoing people, brash people or creative people.

• During this presentation you will learn;
• Why telling Everyone what you do is so important.
• How to build meaningful and lasting business relationships.
• What is a referral.
• How do you find referrals.
• How to work a room.

By the end of the Presentation you will see that it is possible to Network where ever you are. The importance of telling everyone what you do but most importantly how to become an active listener, finding out what the people you network with want…remember Givers Gain!
Of course there will also be the usual great networking and opportunities to meet and share ideas with like-minded property people, both before the meeting at 6pm, and then again during the break and after the meeting in the bar. So bring along plenty of business cards and arrive early so you not only get the best seat, but also have more time to meet the best people! 
 
If it is your first time attending a PIN meeting you can use the code below for FREE entry
Click on this link: https://www.pinmeeting.co.uk/luton/
Click “Book using a voucher code”
Insert you contact details
Enter “belvoirluton” into voucher code box and click apply voucher button
Click, “Click Here to book your place now” - An email confirmation will be sent to you

Probably like every other agent I have alerts setup in Rightmove and Zoopla to email me properties that are placed on the market for rent and also properties put up for sale. You need to keep an eye on both rental and sales to know what is happening in your area and to see what properties are selling for to keep landlords and investors informed on their likely yields.

On Saturday I received my usual update from Rightmove for one of my alerts for houses within a certain price range. Straight away if you look at the image above you can see what caught my eye. Of the first 8 properties on the list 6 had been reduced. Today I have received another Rightmove alert for a reduced property and it is the one on Chalk Hill which hadn’t been reduced on Saturday when I received the alert so now 7 of the first 8 properties on my email alert have been reduced in price.

Why so sudden and why now ? if I did sales I might be able to tell you and once I have spoken to a couple of the local agents I might know for sure but some might say it is related to the recent stamp duty change for homeowners/landlords buying a 2nd home. One of our landlords collected the keys to the house he was buying on the 31st and it would have cost him £8000 more if he hadn’t.

I spoke to Ed Harrison of Estate Agents Deakin-White in Dunstable about the price reduced properties. His thoughts on it is “sellers and some agents had become too optimistic with pricing in the current climate and they are still seeing plenty of buyers including home movers and investors. Investors have just accepted the fact that they will be looking for a better return long term and may try a lower offer.”
 
With regards the property on Chalk Hill that I mentioned above he had been invited to value that property and put a value of £400,000 on it. Another agent had valued it at over £450,000 and marketed it at that price. It has now been reduce a number of times, placed with a second agent and is below his original valuation. The best time to sell a property is as soon as it comes on the market and is fresh to all those active buyers. Whereas when it was new to the market it should have sold at £400,000 the property is now old stock because it was priced too high and the seller is looking at taking a lower price to be able to find a buyer.
 
Maybe we are seeing the start of a correction in the prices and it might just be that the local market in Dunstable which had seen significant price rises in the last 12 months is now calming down.

There were definitely more reduced properties appearing in the last few weeks before this sudden rush last week.