Post by Leanne on Nov 30, 2010 17:00:32 GMT 1
"The Bill may be over, but the bills are still flooding in for actor Chris Simmons"
By Mark Anstead
Last updated at 10:53 AM on 30th November 2010
Chris Simmons, 35, has properties in Kent and London
When ITV axed The Bill earlier this year, the timing could not have been worse for Chris Simmons, the actor who played DC Mickey Webb.
For the past 18 months, Chris, 35, has been building a functional six-bedroom house in Cliffe, a remote Kentish village on the Hoo peninsula in Medway, which he had hoped to sell. Higher than expected build costs had already seen him facing a loss.
But instead of selling, Chris upped the stakes by deciding to add a two-bedroom annexe to raise value.
However, work on the annexe came to a halt when Chris lost his beat on The Bill in the summer.
With house prices now falling back in the area it seems unlikely Chris will find someone willing to buy a property with an unfinished extension at the bottom of the garden.
On the other hand he doesn't feel comfortable spending any more money on it until he lands his next TV role.
'Obviously, I don't know how long it will take me to find my next job,' he says.
'Thankfully I'm not desperate - I have some voiceover work and a few scenes in an independent British movie. But I would be mad to throw more money into it until I am on a better footing.'
He is fortunate to have another source of income - his property investment portfolio.
Over the past ten years he has used his steady pay from The Bill to invest in three other properties to let in London and Kent.
In Cliffe, Chris owns two 400-year-old cottages. And in London, where he lives alone in a two-bedroom flat in Greenwich, he owns another flat he lets in Crouch End.
Cliffe is where he has concentrated his activities, buying his first cottage in 2004 for £280,000. A year later he bought the cottage next door for £250,000.
'I have mortgages on each of my properties, but with interest rates so low I'm seeing high rental profit,' says Chris.
Then in 2006 he bought a bungalow nearby for £220,000, but when the council refused planning permission for more than one dwelling, he decided to build a large house.
Waiting game: Chris has been investing in his six-bedroom house in Cliffe
Waiting game: Chris has been investing in his six-bedroom house in Cliffe
Chris designed a house with three bedrooms on the top floor, three big reception rooms and a fourth bedroom on the ground floor and two bedrooms and a large gym in the basement. He expected it to fetch £650,000.
He formed an informal partnership with a builder friend and the pair expected to share a £150,000 profit if they stayed within an estimated build budget of £280,000. But that was too low.
'My mate quit, but thankfully another friend of my family made me a loan I only have to repay when I sell,' he says.
But by the time the house was completed last year the cost had mounted to £350,000.
Chris managed to let it for £1,400 a month, but then came up with the idea to do more building work.
Kelly Haines, manager of Bairstow Eves estate agents in Strood, says Medway prices have been falling since April.
'We have five or six properties on the market nearby for around £650,000. These tend to come with acreage and even they are not shifting at the moment,' she says.
Source
By Mark Anstead
Last updated at 10:53 AM on 30th November 2010
Chris Simmons, 35, has properties in Kent and London
When ITV axed The Bill earlier this year, the timing could not have been worse for Chris Simmons, the actor who played DC Mickey Webb.
For the past 18 months, Chris, 35, has been building a functional six-bedroom house in Cliffe, a remote Kentish village on the Hoo peninsula in Medway, which he had hoped to sell. Higher than expected build costs had already seen him facing a loss.
But instead of selling, Chris upped the stakes by deciding to add a two-bedroom annexe to raise value.
However, work on the annexe came to a halt when Chris lost his beat on The Bill in the summer.
With house prices now falling back in the area it seems unlikely Chris will find someone willing to buy a property with an unfinished extension at the bottom of the garden.
On the other hand he doesn't feel comfortable spending any more money on it until he lands his next TV role.
'Obviously, I don't know how long it will take me to find my next job,' he says.
'Thankfully I'm not desperate - I have some voiceover work and a few scenes in an independent British movie. But I would be mad to throw more money into it until I am on a better footing.'
He is fortunate to have another source of income - his property investment portfolio.
Over the past ten years he has used his steady pay from The Bill to invest in three other properties to let in London and Kent.
In Cliffe, Chris owns two 400-year-old cottages. And in London, where he lives alone in a two-bedroom flat in Greenwich, he owns another flat he lets in Crouch End.
Cliffe is where he has concentrated his activities, buying his first cottage in 2004 for £280,000. A year later he bought the cottage next door for £250,000.
'I have mortgages on each of my properties, but with interest rates so low I'm seeing high rental profit,' says Chris.
Then in 2006 he bought a bungalow nearby for £220,000, but when the council refused planning permission for more than one dwelling, he decided to build a large house.
Waiting game: Chris has been investing in his six-bedroom house in Cliffe
Waiting game: Chris has been investing in his six-bedroom house in Cliffe
Chris designed a house with three bedrooms on the top floor, three big reception rooms and a fourth bedroom on the ground floor and two bedrooms and a large gym in the basement. He expected it to fetch £650,000.
He formed an informal partnership with a builder friend and the pair expected to share a £150,000 profit if they stayed within an estimated build budget of £280,000. But that was too low.
'My mate quit, but thankfully another friend of my family made me a loan I only have to repay when I sell,' he says.
But by the time the house was completed last year the cost had mounted to £350,000.
Chris managed to let it for £1,400 a month, but then came up with the idea to do more building work.
Kelly Haines, manager of Bairstow Eves estate agents in Strood, says Medway prices have been falling since April.
'We have five or six properties on the market nearby for around £650,000. These tend to come with acreage and even they are not shifting at the moment,' she says.
Source
