22nd October 2016
We just managed to close a deal last week, in a purpose built block called Donnington Court. The property is a three bedroom flat on the first floor of an ex council building.
It was purchased at £560k, which works out to be £630 per sq. ft.
This is a bargain given it’s in Camden. This is an area which I have seen rising over the last twenty years.
The area of Camden is rising fast, attracting billions of pounds of investment.
This is due, in part, to the Israeli billionaire, Teddy Saggi, who has invested billions in purchasing Camden market stalls and then after floating his company on the AIM market. Not that he needed the money, but as a vehicle for future investment should he need it.
Our investor who done the deal, fair play to him, exchanged on the deal within two days from cold start.
He didn’t see the investment, he bought blind on faith. Extra blind, given a recent deal he’d done with us hadn’t gone quite to plan to say the least. However, he understands that this is the nature with all investments.
Once the deal had completed, he did drive past the area and then called me and told me it was a real dump. I reminded him he shouldn’t even be using his eyes to look at the area. What he should be looking at is the comparables, which are properties which have been sold in the area and the generous yield of eight percent which he can get from this property on a room let basis. The major demand for this property will come from overseas students who attend many of the universities scattered around this location.
This is not the first time an investor has given this response in regards to an investment.
This is an investment, not a marriage. Therefore, how the property looks to you is not important, the main objective for the investment is for it to make money, preferably on day one. Conversely getting married should not be based on a secondary income coming into the household!
Suresh Vagjiani
