Pensions

[bankhouse builder]

10 hours ago, Rough Hewn said:

Buy to let landlords are scum.

We have more houses than people in the uk, yet massive homeless and housing problems.

My family was made homeless in September 2017, when our letting agent decided to put our rent up by £300 a month.

No other BTL landlord or agency would touch us, as we are both self employed???

Even though we had £7k to put down???

Buy to let? Don't be that c***

☹️☹️☹️

Obviously you have had a bad experience but don't tar everyone with the same brush. I am involved with a business that has been letting properties out for nearly 30 years our longest sitting tenant is on their 20th year with us they are like family . We have also built and let some local needs housing in the village which I grew up in for the over 60s. So to go about throwing abuse at people who you don't know and has worked hard for what they have got and are just trying to support themselves and family in their old age. The property which I mentioned was in that bad a state you wouldn't have got a mortgage on it so I haven't bought a property which a first time buyer would have gone for but now if I decided to sell it a first time buyer would be able to get a mortgage on it. Like people have said their are good and bad tenants and landlords.

[eggsarascal]

10 hours ago, Rough Hewn said:

Buy to let landlords are scum.

We have more houses than people in the uk, yet massive homeless and housing problems.

My family was made homeless in September 2017, when our letting agent decided to put our rent up by £300 a month.

No other BTL landlord or agency would touch us, as we are both self employed???

Even though we had £7k to put down???

Buy to let? Don't be that c***

☹️☹️☹️

Rouhgy, £7k would get you a £140k mortgage which would buy a terraced house in some parts of the country, possibly a semi in other parts. Hanley economic are offering 5% mortgages at very reasonable rates, depending how long you've both been self employed and what money you've shown I can't see what the problem is?

[eggsarascal]

Just now, eggsarascal said:

Rouhgy, £7k would get you a £140k mortgage which would buy a terraced house in some parts of the country, possibly a semi in other parts. Hanley economic are offering 5% deposit/mortgages at very reasonable rates, depending how long you've both been self employed and what money you've shown I can't see what the problem is?

 

[Rough Hewn]

BBuiler I agree, good landlords do exist, but extremely rare.
I apologise if you think I'm insulting you.

Eggs, the 7k was 6 months rent in advance.
A small 2 bedroom house in Brighton/hove is £650k and upwards.
[emoji51][emoji51][emoji51]

[eggsarascal]

10 minutes ago, Rough Hewn said:

BBuiler I agree, good landlords do exist, but extremely rare.
I apologise if you think I'm insulting you.

Eggs, the 7k was 6 months rent in advance.
A small 2 bedroom house in Brighton/hove is £650k and upwards.

First one on rightmove.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66829546.html

 

I live in what I consider an expensive area and it would be a streatch on my own to buy a decent house where I 'wanted' one. Cut ya cloth accordingly fella.

[Richard 1234]

5 minutes ago, eggsarascal said:

First one on rightmove.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66829546.html

 

I live in what I consider an expensive area and it would be a streatch on my own to buy a decent house where I 'wanted' one. Cut ya cloth accordingly fella.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-59042304.html

 

street name caught my eye?

[eggsarascal]

8 minutes ago, Richard 1234 said:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-59042304.html

 

street name caught my eye?

Ah, but I didn't read the conditions of the house in my link.

[Richard 1234]

11 minutes ago, eggsarascal said:

Ah, but I didn't read the conditions of the house in my link.

Yes saw that your link had some old folk discount on it. Still more affordable than £650k!

[Ratman]

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-59042304.html
 
street name caught my eye[emoji16]

[emoji15] please dont!

[petercb]

Hmmm. Well I took my pension money when I could as my final salary scheme went pop and also basically brought my company down as well. If you remember the talk was about people getting their money and buying Lambos. Having suffered the extortionate fees levied by our pension managers well if anyone was gonna have a Lambo with what was left of my pension (thank god for the FAS) it was gonna be me!

Didn't buy a Lambo put it into property which we had started doing when my company was struggling. We buy modernish properties which require refurbishing. New bathroom, new kitchen usually, new carpets and decorate throughout nothing fancy. We let at reasonable rent preferably to families and while most just pay monthly after referencing we have taken people with bad credit ratings who are up front about it and put  3 - 6 months rent up in advance. The vast majority of our tenants have either owned their own property and can't handle it or don't want to take on the commitment. Most are okay, some are great and some are have been b******s. We don't get close to tenants but as my wife quotes "we've fed kids, cats, done the washing up, cleaned the place and ran relationship or financial guidance sessions". We're not perfect but we try to help where we can. 

If we weren't renting places out I don't know where most of our tenants would be as they mainly couldn't or wouldn't buy and the local councils/housing associations are snowed under.

We're not all scum and neither are all tenants but its gutting when you walk into a property which was clean, well decorated and homely and its been neglected or abused and you have to start over plus the tenant lies their head off about the state of the place when they took it on despite photos to the contrary. On the other hand we've got some lovely tenants who have improved the property and look after it as if it were their own BUT it is THEIR HOME and that's how we play it. 

As for the bombardment of unsolicited letters from letting agents saying kick your tenants out and we'll get you more money - straight in the bin. The rent money obviously pays for repairs, insurance etc but the balance goes back into buying another place and providing a nice home for people who need it. If we get wiped out by a 40 ton truck one day our tenants have the security of  a couple of years before executors can sell up plus first refusal on purchasing at a good discount.

In a perfect world everyone could have whatever home they wanted no problem and England would thrash the Aussies at cricket every time.

So we're not all rogues with angels for tenants and like arborists there are good and bad examples and we usually only hear about the bad. Letting ain't easy, you hand the keys over to a stranger on something worth nigh on £170k and hope! If you would spend your life worrying about it - don't do it.

Think I might write a book about it one day but no-one would believe half of it.