MENU
Whether investing in property is the right choice for you depends on your goals, but here are some solid reasons why people chose to:
1. Because of inflation, money can depreciate in the bank over time, so it is wise to invest your money. Other investment ideas like stocks or cryptocurrency can be extremely risky.
2. Areas such as The North East of England give some of the highest yields on rental properties in the UK with yields of around 10% currently.
3. There is a need for housing in the UK, especially in the affordable areas we concentrate on, so there is good rental demand both from local tenants as well as tenants from other areas of the UK which have become unaffordable.,
4. Historically property has always increased in value over time so, so it gives investors the chance to invest in a safe and secure way, by owning a tangible asset which you are in control of and can sell at anytime if you choose to do so. Property prices are rising fast in the North East, and expected to increase by a further 28% in the next 5 yrs (Savills Research using Oxford Economics and Nationwide*) due to investment in the area and the attractively low house prices.
5. During a period of uncertainty or a global crisis, property is among the most reliable investment assets as it continues to deliver good returns even when the wider economic situation is going through a difficult time, according to research by peer-to-peer real estate investment platform, easyMoney. Their CEO Jason Ferrando, said:
“Property is a reliable investment class and resilient in the face of wider economic struggles, as has been proven since the start of the pandemic and throughout the current financial situation we find ourselves in. People expected house prices to plummet in early 2023 and that simply hasn’t happened."
Investing in property successfully requires knowledge and experience. Readylet helps you all the way through the process - finding a property in an area with good rental demand, checking through the legal pack ensuring there are no problems with the title, refurbishing it, finding a suitable tenant for it AND arranging the property management.
Please be aware we do not give investment advice. House prices and rents can go up and down
Unfortunately, we have seen many people make expensive mistakes when buying the properties in Auction. There are often hidden fees, and non-obvious issues, such as issues with the legal title, electrical issues, damp, and roof work may be required to bring auction properties up to our standard. Also, location is a key factor, the wrong street can be a disaster!
Readylet Properties have the necessary experience, time and skills to investigate every appropriate property for sale before selecting the most appropriate properties and then refurbish the properties up to the same standard.
So, when you purchase a property with us, the benefits include -
- selecting properties in areas with a high rental demand.
- the careful and highly skilled examination of the contracts and property for flaws
- refurbishment of the property by our builders before you complete your purchase plus no charge to fix snagging issues for 6 months from your completion date, any adhoc maintenance issues will be dealt with by our maintenance team swiftly and competitively.
-the detailed knowledge of the local area and people, and
-the acquisition and management of suitable tenants.
This means you have a totally hands off investment providing you a steady income for now and in the future.
We ask our investors to purchase with cash. This is because our standard business model is based on a quick turnaround time between buying, refurbishing and selling the properties, and mortgage lenders would slow down the process plus many have various lending criteria which can include the restriction that the seller must have owned the property for at least 6 months, so to keep our business moving smoothly we find that cash purchases are best, although Bridging finance has been used on occasion (please let us know if you would like us to put you in contact with someone to arrange this). However, the properties are all standard construction so many buyers have chosen to get a mortgage once they own the property/s to release funds for their next purchase / payback the bridging finance.
I hope that our requirement of a cash purchase is not a barrier for us to do business.
Please find some of the benefits of a cash only purchase.
1.The purchase process is quicker so you will be earning your rental income sooner.
2. You won't have to pay interest on a loan so you take home more of the rental income.
3. No exit or arrangement fees or extra legal fees to pay.
4. You won’t have to worry about losing the property if the lender decides to pull out or change its lending criteria or if the process is taking too long so the seller decides to pull out.
5. You do not need to worry about mortgage rates going even higher in the future or lenders changing their lending criteria and making it hard for you to remortgage in the future.
6. No one else will have a charge over your property so you are in complete control of decisions such as when you wish to sell the property or who you want living in it.
7. Ability to get access to great deals such as the ones we sell at Readylet, which wouldn’t be available with a mortgage purchase!
All of the properties that Readylet sell as in handpicked areas of Country Durham because we find the combination of low property prices and high rental demand means that buyers can get the best value for their money here compared to the rest of the UK, plus its is one of the best areas in the UK for property price growth as well!
Readylet set up our company so that you can make the most of the great property prices and rental yields in this area, with peace of mind, because we take care of all of the following for you-
- selecting properties in areas with a high rental demand.
- the careful and highly skilled examination of the contracts and property for flaws
- refurbishment of the property by our builders before you complete your purchase plus no charge to fix snagging issues for 6 months from your completion date (direct Properties only)
-the detailed knowledge of the local area and people, and
-the acquisition of suitable tenants, and a trusted local management company to manage the property for you on an ongoing basis.
This means that you do not need to live close to the property and you have a totally hands off investment providing you a steady income for now and in the future.
This is why we have many happy regularly returning customers.
Yes, either included in the price or clearly split out before you reserve the property.
Our builders check out every property before we buy them and we refurbish them all befoer you complete your purchase, ensuring that all properties meet or exceed the Durham Decent Home Standard, and also the selective licensing conditions (if applicatble) before you complete your purchase. The work we do improves the desirability of the properties and the neighbourhoods, and helps home approximately 10 families in better homes every month.
The amount of work will vary depending on the original state of the property but include the following (if necessary);
We are happy to confirm that as part of the refurbishment will also provide you all the documents and information that you will need regarding your property so that you can apply for the selective licence, this includes ensuring that all relevant certificates are in date.
We also provide a warranty to cover any snagging issues on these refurbishment items free of charge within your first 6 months of ownership (This does not apply to properties that we are selling on behalf of current landlords which are already tenanted).
Please note that with our fully refurbished properties, we put the property onto the market before completion of the property refurbishment so that legal completion can take place as soon as the property is refurbished and we have a tenant lined up to go in.
Please visit our Refurbishment Process Page to view pictures and walk through videos of our completed proeprties.
Over the years as distant property landlords, we have come to realise the importance of good property management. It can literally mean the difference between success in your portfolio and failure.
We understand that you are purchasing property in the North East primarily to give yourself an income and the majority of our investors want to be armchair investors with little or no involvement in the day to day management of their property.
We work with a trusted, experienced local agent the area who we have know for over 17 years. They have streamlined systems and procedures in place to ensure they offer you the best possible passive property ownership experience, and keep tenants happy. They have all had many years experience letting properties in the North East, and are registered with the property ombudsman & deposit protection scheme.
They charge between 10% +VAT of the rental figure pcm, and their management services includes the following;
The lettings team is set up to maximise the rent collected from every property they manage, as well as assisting you in understanding your legal requirements as landlords including health and safety, tenant/owner rights and responsibilities and take all reasonable steps to achieve compliance.
There are few who thoroughly understand the complexity of the benefit system. You can rely on the training and expertise of their team to try to resolve benefits issues promptly, and in the landlord’s favour. Issues rarely present themselves or their solutions clearly when they first arise. Issues left unresolved could quickly degenerate into deeper problems more costly to resolve -sometimes requiring even more costly legal resolution. This speedy resolution of payments issues is therefore a priority for them.
For more information about the management of your property please speak to one of our friendly team. Please also let us know if you choose not to have your property managed, as you are not contracted to use the management we recommend, you are more than welcome to use any management agent you prefer.
Sometimes properties are sold with tenants who are already in situ who were set up be previous owners, but normally Readylet has 2 main types of tenant that we can choose from but either way you can be confident that we understand the importance of selecting the right tenants for the long run, so we only choose properties in areas that can be let out easily, plus we refurbish the properties to a good standard, so there is a good selection of tenants to choose from, and we only choose the ones who are most suitable.
a) Local tenants – Our management agent pays close attention to applicant history and references. Financial references, fraud and credit checks, employers and previous landlord references are all taken before completing the process. Deposit held in the Deposit Protection Scheme ensuring peace of mind for both the landlord and tenant. Many of the tenants are on some kind of benefit as it is still not a very affluent area but all are still eligible for Insurance backed Rental Guarantee. Most are referrals from our other tenants which works well as they all want nice neighbours. These tenants tend to start on 6 month AST’s but tend to be long term tenants that have normally grown up in the area with family close by.
B) Relocate Tenants – Tenants that are relocating from the south of England to the North of England where it is cheaper for the government to cover their costs. The tenant gets a relocation package which includes white goods, beds, a moving allowance and their housing costs paid in full for the 2yr period. For the tenants to be allowed to benefit from this scheme they all have the right to rent in the UK and are affordability checked and vetted and must not have any history of antisocial or criminal activity. The tenant is not able to move properties for 2 yrs once they have accepted the package, because they have agreed with the Council and the Relocation Agency that if they move, they lose any entitlement to benefits. The tenancy agreement is in the tenants name but the council underwrites the payment of rental, so in the unlikely event there should be a problem, they will step in and pay the rental, so the owner of the property gets the security of knowing their property is rented to a tenant fully supported (financially and practically) by the Council for a 2 year period. In the vast majority of cases the tenant makes a home of the new property and continues to stay in the property after the 2 year period.
We don’t offer a rent guarantee facility, but we do only sell properties in areas which we know will rent out easily, and ensure that there is a good tenant for each of the properties we sell, who has been properly referenced and affordability checked and who has agreed to pay the minimum of the rental amount that we advertise. Many of the tenants are on universal credit or housing benefit which is normally paid directly to the management agent, not via the tenant, so it is a safe form of payment (this is a condition on the AST which they sign). The tenants also tend to be long term tenants. Also the properties are all refurbished to a good standard and so there is often a waiting list of tenants wanting to move in and the few move-outs we can easily replace. All of this means that you should not experience many void periods, and if there are any at all, are resolved swiftly. To illustrate this, I am happy to say that many of the landlords who can, often return and purchase more property from us as they are pleased with the returns they make on the properties they buy.
Yes. Our experienced Project Manager, Glynn, has been working with us for over 20 years, will happily show you a selection of properties included finished examples so that you can have a good idea of what we have on offer, and will tell you more about the area, and the refurbishment process but he may not be able to show you the properties which are currently already tenanted.
If you would like to visit by train, he is happy to collect you from Durham train station which has regular trains from all over the uk including a direct train from Kings Cross which only takes 3 hrs. Some buyers also travel to Newcastle Airport which is only 30mins from the centre of Durham so he is happy to collect from there as well.
Please note that we have a lot of interest in the properties so if you wish to reserve anything before your visit to avoid any disappointment, please let us know.
We also have video walkthroughs available of the properties, before and after refurb, for those who don’t have the time, or live too far away for visiting.
When you are ready to reserve the property, its as simple as confirming your choice and we will send you back a Memorandum of Sale confirming our details and the property details including the agreed price.
The property/s will be reserved on receipt of the deposit of £1,000 per property into the given bank account (this comes off the price of the property, the rest is paid on completion via the solcitors).
Payment to:-
READYLET PROPERTIES LTD
Sort Code 23-05-80
Account 37259586
Note that we accept deposits from rival buyers on a first come first served basis, so please do this ASAP to avoid any disappointment.
We then ask that you return the approved Memorandum of Sale along with the documents below (within 7 days of reservation)
• Certified ID of the buyer/s (or directors of the company) -Either passport or photo driving licence (in date)
• Certified ID proof of address of the buyer/s (or directors of the company) - Either driving Licence, Utility Bill or Bank Statement (dated in the last 3 months)
• Proof of funds - Ideally copy of your last 3 months bank statements with your name and address on it (or companies name and address on it),dated within the last 3 months, showing where your funds are coming from. Please note that if you have recently transferred money into the account, or will soon be transferring money into that account, your solicitor will also require the statement of the account from where the monies have come from.
We are able to help throughout the process, for example putting you in touch with solicitors to help you with the purchase who we know works efficiently, their fees are approx. £950+ VAT + disbursements (details of one are on the MOS, others are also available).
We can also provide details of brokers who can help organise the landlord’s buildings insurance and Rent Insurance.
We do everything so you don’t have to! We have the necessary experience, time and skills to investigate every appropriate property for sale before we select the most appropriate properties in location we know will let easily for high rental yields, and we refurbish them all to the same standard making sure that they are compliant, offering a 6 month warranty fto cover any snagging issues.
We will also set you up with a trusted management agency who will find you a suitable, fully vetted tenant and look after you property on an ongoing basis.
This means you have a hands-off investment providing you a steady income for now and in the future.
Yes they do! We are proud to say that Readylet Property is highly recommened by our clients. We are rated excellent on Trust Pilot, and has 4.6 stars on Google.
We are a family company and we have had over 20yrs experience buying, refurbishing and letting property in the North East of England, building up contacts, knowledge and experience.
Helping buyers all the way through the process from start to finish, offering a simple buying process, a 6 month warranty on the refurbishment work for peace of mind and a reliable management company that fully vets tenants choosing only the most suitable tenants for the long ru
Key highlights from client feedback:
Please find out more on our Customer Feedback page