Landlord Voice Magazine April 2015 - Manchester | Page 16

Landlord

SPOT LIGHT

k Rose
Mar
Featuring Manchester Landlord:

Manchester has always been a great city ever since the industrial revolution caused its
population to explode
By the mid-1800s it was
famed as the greatest industrial city in the world.

Mark Rose (42), who works as coach
for the City of Manchester Swim
Team, invested in a rental property there when he realised just how
much potential the famous northern town had.
The father-of-one spent months
researching the city’s best locations for potential tenants in terms
of affordable rents and good nearby facilities and by sifting through
planning applications to see which
areas could expect to see transformative development.
Having originally decided against
investing in the beautifully restored
Macintosh Mill, an old Victorian

buy-to-let business in the hope of
avoiding costly mistakes, which
paid off for the most part.
Mark said: “The key to a good
rental business is being a good
landlord and giving your tenants
a fair deal.

He made the offer after hearing in
the news about the Mill’s building
developer Taylor Wimpey failing
to secure refinancing during the
early stages of the credit crunch in
2008.

“In five of our properties now we
have not changed tenants since
2008. A major reason for that is
not putting up the rent. We run
this as a part-time business and
you are going to save a lot more
money in the long run by doing

“I also believe
that Manchester
as an economy,
despite what has
happened over
recent years, is
buzzing.

“I walked in on the
spot and asked
the woman in the
showroom what
was the cheapest
offer she would
accept”
“We were very lucky really. We
were looking at prices up to
£150,000 and had about £40,000
saved for a deposit. The plan was
to make about £200 per month in
rent after tax and expenses.
“And the flat is within walking
distance of everything in the city
centre, right on the edge of the
university and business district, so
it is a good location.”
Mark and Karen, his wife, have seven rental properties in total with
most of them situated in Derby.
Their investment started as a way
of building a pension pot from
the rental yield and, though they
do use lettings agents for those
which are located furthest from
their home, they benefited from
good advice early on regarding
which agents to work with.
The pair, who both work full-time,
spent two years investigating the

Mark and his wife Karen
that and not losing tenants.”
Long-term, Mark and Karen
would like to increase their property portfolio to ten and Manchester swim coach Mark sees no
reason not to invest in more buyto-lets.
He said: “I think there are some
great profits to be had in Manchester. You can make £300 (profit) per month in rental income, no
problem.
“There are properties around the
inner ring road just 10-15 minutes’ walk from the city centre
which are an absolute steal.
You can pick up a two-bedroomed, two-bathroomed apartment with carparking space and
make £700-950 per month in
rent.

“Sport in the city is thriving
and we have major events every weekend and that brings
a lot of investment with it.
Manchester City FC is investing £1.5 billion in the Northern Quarter and since the BBC
re-located to Salford it is difficult to get a table at a restaurant on a Friday night.”
If you would like to find out
more about Manchester’s
economy please view the following links:
Media City
Spinningfields developments
Greater Manchester Housing
Market Monitor.
Page 17

Manchester in focus

And now most would argue that history is repeating itself, as the population
has seen a 19 per cent
growth increase
over the
p a s t

decade, attracted by a world-class
airport, burgeoning professional
services industry and the growth of
digital and creative industries which
saw the development of hubs like
Salford’s Media City, now home to
the BBC.

building which was the site of the
Dunlop factory in Central Manchester, Mark was able to snap
up a two bedroomed, two bathroomed apartment for £134,000
– a discount of £79,000 from its
original asking price.