Be careful buying property near improved rail links says Letting Focus

Be careful if you buy property near soon to be improved rail links
If you buy property near a place that will benefit from faster rail links, you need to watch out.
For example, many people bought in Ashford, Kent because it was going to a stop on the London to Paris and Brussels route. Now, however, services have been massively trimmed back and only a few international trains will stop at Ashford.
Still in Kent, the new services on High Speed One (the new name for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link) will start from December 2009 and the timetable for our existing 'classic' routes will be re-drawn completely.

Faster Rail Links
Services using High Speed One will go to London's St Pancras station and journey times from places like Ashford, Folkestone, Canterbury and Dover will be significantly reduced.
However, whilst many people are keen to know exactly what the timetable will be, this is all still at planning stage and the details are yet to be finalised.
It’s not out of the question that existing services might have to be reduced to accommodate the new trains.
If you need more advice on where to buy property as an investment or buy to let please ask me. I’m David Lawrenson from property investment experts http://www.lettingfocus.com/
I’m the author of the buy to let book “Successful Property Letting - How to Make Money in Buy to Let” the UK’s top selling property title.
I’m an expert on residential property letting and a well known property freelance writer and I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites.
I also work as a consultant helping banks, building societies, housing associations and web portals with their buy to let and property products and services.
You can read more of my property investment blog and details of my networking, advice, property seminar programme at my website http://www.lettingfocus.com/
My next London landlords networking meeting is coming soon. Click here for details: Property Investment Advice
What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we offer independent property mentoring because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, developer, agent or bridging loan financier and do not receive commissions from any of these sources.
If a property investment is lousy – We’ll tell you straight and we will tell you all about buy to let and property investment - the good and the bad and we won’t make silly promises that you’ll become a millionaire overnight.

LINKS
Find out about GREAT DEALS we have arranged for landlords by clicking here: Property Investors’ Affiliate and seeing our Affiliates page.
More products will be added over the coming months. If you are a merchant with national coverage, get in touch!
For SEMINARS, click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
For the NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors click here:
Next Seminar Event
For ONE TO ONE CONSULTANCY help click here: Private One to One Consulting
For TESTIMONIALS from past customers click here: Testimonials
To BUY THE BOOK click here: Buy the Book at Amazon
For THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
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For GREAT OFFERS on Products and Services for Landlords, click here: Landlords Resources
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Copyright: David Lawrenson 2007. This blog is updated at least twice a week. Permission must be sought before using the material in the blog.

RICS predicts a soft landing for house prices says Lawrenson of Letting Focus

In the last blog I said that repossessions are on the up – and explained how to buy repossessions at auction.
However, as I predicted throughout last year, unless you are in an area that is oversupplied with a particular property type, the fall off in house prices could be short-lived.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) believes that the heaviest falls in house prices are behind us, going against current opinion of more house price falls
They said that the Bank of England's commitment to keep the market liquid will mean that interest rates will be cut back to five per cent during the first 6 months of 2008, making any negative price growth in the market short-lived.
They also said that repossessions will rise from 30,000 to 45,000, but that the current employment situation is strong enough to keep the market resilient and avoid any repeat of 80,000 repossessions back in the 1990s.
I agree.

Credit Availability - Mortgage Loans Harder to Get
Despite the RICs predictions for next year, they still see tough times ahead in 2008, with tighter lending conditions that are likely to impact on the buy-to-let market in particular. So, unless you have good credit, it could be tough to be an investor.
However, they also state that their research shows "little evidence of widespread sales of investment properties taking place".
The effect of the credit crunch will dissipate slowly meaning that those seeking to obtain finance in the first half of 2008 may struggle.
But the employment picture should be OK throughout the year, helping to prevent significant numbers of repossessions and the subsequent influx of supply into the market.
This should ensure that house price growth remains broadly flat over the course of the year.

ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
We are LettingFocus.com - the property investment experts.
I’m, David Lawrenson, the author of “Successful Property Letting” which for the last 3 years has been the UK’s top selling property book.
What’s unique about LettingFocus is that I offer independent unbiased
property networking seminars covering property investment and letting because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business I am not linked to a property company, developer, agent or bridging loan financier.
I can tell you where to buy (which areas), what type of property to buy, when to buy, how to buy property at a low price, how to make sure you get tenants who are going to pay the rent and how to manage a rental property to make money.
I can also comment on “No Money Down” Schemes and “Buying Below Market Value” methods too.
I can answer all your questions on letting property because I have been a landlord and property investor for over 25 years.

LINKS
Find out about GREAT DEALS we have arranged for landlords by clicking here: Property Investors’ Affiliate and seeing our Affiliates page.
More products will be added over the coming months. If you are a merchant with national coverage, get in touch!
For SEMINARS, click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
For the NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors click here:
Next Seminar Event
For ONE TO ONE CONSULTANCY help click here: Private One to One Consulting
For TESTIMONIALS from past customers click here: Testimonials
To BUY THE BOOK click here: Buy the Book at Amazon
For THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
For THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
For GREAT OFFERS on Products and Services for Landlords, click here: Landlords Resources
To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!
Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009.
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Copyright: David Lawrenson 2007. This blog is updated at least twice a week. Permission must be sought before using the material in the blog.