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By rikur_
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1690853
eltonioni wrote:....When I produced my first large student scheme in 1998 I remember pals with student lets telling me that students didn't want to live in big blocks instead of living in a house with their mates. I've done a few more since then and each one fills as soon as it is completed, and another hundred or so houses drop out of the student lettings market. Many of these have been picked up by smaller landlords looking to rent to non students. Those houses are going to find themselves without tenants in the next few years too, so they will cycle back into private family homes as landlords drop out of the market.

That very much mirrors what has gone on locally here, except at the final step there appears to be a significant number that have been converted to holiday lets / Airbnb.
Not sure if that's reflective of an increase in demand for such accommodation, or if it's abstracting from e.g. traditional B&Bs, hotels, etc.
#1690858
Best tenant? Bought a block of 4 flats with sitting tenants. Vendor said "flat 4, Sue, lovely lady, don't know much about her, uses it as an office". Runs it as a massage parlour/brothel more like. Pays rent on the dot, no hassle other than when a client had a heart attack and died!

Had two of those, in different blocks. Happily, not my tenants but the fallout affects the whole building. They were no problem in terms of dirt, noise, unpaid rent (apparently) but they left the communal entrance doors open so any passer-by could get into the building. That tee-ed off the rest of the tenants who had bikes, prams etc in the storage areas and one of my tenants moved because his teenage son was showing too much interest in the goings-on downstairs!
#1690859
After three years at a rent of £1200 per month the house we rent out is making a return after the damage caused by Lithuanian squatters did whilst empty.
In this county, any empty property - the council double the rates.
#1690861
Sooty25 wrote:
Flying badger  wrote:I still think property is a good long term investment in spite of recent changes. In general, property grows in value over time, and can earn income in the meantime.

Avoid the over 55's flat. You're limiting your potential market and i doubt it will appreciate at the same rate as an unrestricted property.


It is potentially a good long term investment, but owning just a single property is very risky. You need multiple properties to make it a reliable.

A simple questions to ask yourself,
    can you afford zero income for a year?
    Can you afford/face gutting and refitting the property with little notice?
    Are you prepared to evict?

It may sound like I've had a bad run of tenants, I haven't really but it has been hard work at times.

Worst tenant? School teacher. Turned out to be an alcoholic that constantly beat his partner, who had recently been released from prison. Including legal costs, that one cost the equivalent of about 6 months rent.

Best tenant? Bought a block of 4 flats with sitting tenants. Vendor said "flat 4, Sue, lovely lady, don't know much about her, uses it as an office". Runs it as a massage parlour/brothel more like. Pays rent on the dot, no hassle other than when a client had a heart attack and died!


Thanks all.....
I have others .... I have also had some awful tenants , requiring complete refurbishments, central heating , new kitchens, bathrooms etc.- 50% ended up in eviction and court cases, so I do have experience. I am a DIYer so quite happy to fit new kitchens, upgrade, repair where necessary.
I wanted to put this one in my daughters a name (20 yrs)to get her on " the housing ladder" she has the money sat in a Unit Trust and although she takes no income from it, there is also very little growth in the invested sum.....
I am leaning towards the leasehold property based on the advice here....
#1690864
rikur_ wrote:... there appears to be a significant number that have been converted to holiday lets / Airbnb.
Not sure if that's reflective of an increase in demand for such accommodation, or if it's abstracting from e.g. traditional B&Bs, hotels, etc.


This is just anecdotal, but if I'm visiting somewhere for a few days I far prefer AirBnB to a hotel. For a similar or lower price I get much more space and more privacy. Plus I make a better breakfast than most hotels manage!
#1690905
cjrpaterson wrote:
I wanted to put this one in my daughters a name (20 yrs)to get her on " the housing ladder"

I'm sure you're aware, but if she then buys somewhere else she'll be paying the second-home stamp duty on it


Well, I guess as there is no stamp duty on this one - she would still only be paying it once...
#1691309
Why, oh why, is everyone and his dog, and his kid, and his mate-down-the-pub always so keen to put all of his/her money into a single asset on one single street, in one city, in one country? It's an asset that's illiquid, immovable, massively leveraged, has huge costs to buy, even higher costs to sell, subject to political interference, makes you a sitting duck for taxes, has a price-to-earnings ratio likely in the 40's, is 100% inversely-correlated to interest rates, and subject to costs of bad plumbing, bad heating and bad tenants.

Why not get yourself a portfolio of balanced & globally-diversified stocks, bonds, REIT's and preferred index funds? The costs of entry and exit are negligible, you can optimize for tax. You can easily have a price-to-earnings ratio in the teens, a long-term history of inflation-busting income-growth with a strong investment-grade credit rating.

Just go to the library and educate yourself.
Flyin'Dutch', PaulB liked this
#1691367
Avoid the retirement flat, you have no control over the communal charges and your paying for stuff you dont need. Its also a difficult converstion when the tenant has popped their clogs and you want rid of their possesions in order to relet. Grieving relatives see this as harsh & often dont want to cover the rent during this period. Retirement properties dont always appreciate as much as normal properties dues to their limited resale market.

Consider a HMO, much better returns, can be hassle, tenant expecations can be lower as well.
#1692063
Barcli wrote:
Popeye wrote:If you can stretch to it go for a small freehold house. We started off with a flat and had our fingers severely burned by service charges, etc. Management companies are largely licensed bandits.

Surely the tenant would be paying the service charges? ( and a managed let through an agents would be taking 10% plus vetting costs)

We let the flat at a rent that included the service charges which were much higher than we'd anticipated (new build). Unfortunately there's only so much you can charge for a residence. We sold the two bedroom flat (no garage but a parking space and shared garden) and bought a two bedroom house with garage and private garden for not a lot more in a similar location.