UK Landlord Forum / Life

I have around 70k saved to put into a property investment and while my initial thoughts were to buy in London, I am now looking into buying in Blackpool where the rental yield is far more. Being able to put down a big deposit will help me avoid the new tax policies coming into play over the next few years and to be honest, it make perfect sense given the yield is higher than London due to the massive increase in property prices this side.

My only concern is that there are risks I am unaware of when buying in a place like Blackpool vs London. Not sure if the tenants will be more difficult, or perhaps less likely to pay the rent as I will be renting a property out for far less than London rate.

Judging from what I am seeing online, I could possible get rent of around 400/month - does anyone have a better idea of property yield in the area?

Any advice would be appreciated.

The idea is misguided.

Useful response.

Care to explain...?

Are you aware of what a complete and utter *hit hole Blackpool is?

Is your 70k to buy outright?

Quote from: Fishfinger on June 18, 2016, 05:17:07 PM
I will be renting a property out for far less than London rate.

Probably a very good idea as..................it's not London.

Have you researched the market in Blackpool?  You can indeed get a lot for your money in Blackpool but your tenants are going to be low income, on the whole.  South shore is cheaper, North shore/Bispham is tidier.  St Annes might be a slightly less grim option.

Quote from: Fishfinger on June 18, 2016, 07:35:41 PM
Useful response.

Care to explain...?

Not really, no. I think if you can't grasp that you're in for a wild ride. Ask a sensible question and you can expect a sensible and considered set of answers from the forum... behave as though you're retarded and expect short shrift.

Quote from: Riptide on June 18, 2016, 09:46:13 PM
Are you aware of what a complete and utter *hit hole Blackpool is?

Is your 70k to buy outright?

Quote from: Fishfinger on June 18, 2016, 05:17:07 PM
I will be renting a property out for far less than London rate.

Probably a very good idea as..................it's not London.

The intention is to buy outright. I have come across a 3 bed property that already has a tenant in it and has a yield of around 10%. I am still in early stages of researching (part of the research being seeking advice on this forum). Provided the checks on the tenant are fine, it seems like a good deal but need to look into it further.

Quote from: Red and Black on June 19, 2016, 05:54:30 PM
Have you researched the market in Blackpool?  You can indeed get a lot for your money in Blackpool but your tenants are going to be low income, on the whole.  South shore is cheaper, North shore/Bispham is tidier.  St Annes might be a slightly less grim option.

Thank you for the useful repsonse. I am in the process of doing the research now but from what I have seen, there is a lot of potential. The main risk I see, is the quality of the tenant. There are steps I can take to mitigate that though. I would be more than happy to rent out a property for slightly lower than the market rate in order to secure a good tenant and make sure it does not stay empty too long.

Quote from: Hippogriff on June 19, 2016, 09:36:40 PM

Quote from: Fishfinger on June 18, 2016, 07:35:41 PM
Useful response.

Care to explain...?

Not really, no. I think if you can't grasp that you're in for a wild ride. Ask a sensible question and you can expect a sensible and considered set of answers from the forum... behave as though you're retarded and expect short shrift.

I have spoken with quite a few people who have made very good returns on their investments in Blackpool, hence me looking into it myself. That aside, the purpose of a forum like this is for people, with and without experience, to be able to ask  for advice.

Judging from the tone of many of your posts, it is hard to understand why you are a moderator. Instead of encouraging people and trying to steer people on the right path, you seem to enjoy the negative responses. Obviously, I cannot force you to do anything you do not want to do but in future, if you are unable to reply with something of use to my posts, then rather save your time. I honestly hope you have better things to do.

I'll try and help explain a bit more although I understand where Hippogriff is coming from..........it's similar to when my son was young at school (he had Aspergers) and for maths answers he literally put down the answer and lost marks for not putting down his working out.........having aspergers he couldn't quite see the point - anyhow I digress.

I'll start off by saying I'm from the North West of England and although I now live down South I'm proud of my roots.

Apologies for anyone who lives in Blackpool.....but..........it's an absolute hole - a bit like a lot of English seaside towns (think Clacton-on-sea) but it's very grim.  A lot of the old traditional B&B's and now big HMO's - lots and lots of folk on benefits, big drugs issues, it's not an overly safe place. 

You had some good advice from others looking at the "nicer" surrounding areas.

Reasons to avoid Blackpool

1. House prices are not likely to rise
2. You will have to get an agency to fully manage it
3. HB tenants
4. Higher risk of rent arrears
5. Increased spend in maintenance etc.,

All of which tend to make a potential 10% yield look less attractive particularly as the total rental income won't be big figures in the first place - so for example replacing a boiler will seriously cut into your revenue.

I'm sure if you lived closer - bought a 3-4  of large HMO's with 15+ tenants in each one, managed it hands on without paying agent fees - I'm sure there is potential money in it.

Hope this provides more of an explanation.   Good luck in whatever you choose to do.

Appreciate the advice, Notgotascoobie.

No such thing as easy money these days, it seems. I do not mind a challenge but I might be biting off more than I can chew with Blackpool. Thanks for steering my in the right direction though, I will carry on researching different areas. There must be somewhere I can buy with a sweetspot between risk and yield, given my circumstances.

Will look into some of the suggestions made.

Your yield is always compromised the further you are away and have to remotely manage the place.