landlord bashing

ognum · 13 June 2017 at 5:19PM

I am a LL, I may well get bashed for what I have to say but that's fine.

I own a few rental properties, I have no mortgages, no one has given me anything in my life. When we were young we were very poor. We have both worked and have had some lucky breaks.

We have good pension provision, have money in the stock market and our rental property is part of our spread of assets. Having said that I am dedicated to providing comfortable property that I would live in myself. I employ a carefully selected agent who manages the property well and if a tenants property needs maintenance it will be done quickly.

If interest rates had not fallen to the small amounts they are now ( I am happy that people with mortgages have reduced their burden and as a country we can't have high saving rates and low borrowing rates) I would have kept my money that provides me an income in the bank and got a much easier life.

I am not an accidental LL, I have a careful strategy of what I buy and what rent I charge to keep good tenants. All my tenants have stayed at least 2+ years most more than 4 years, many leaving to buy themselves.

I do feel guilty that I am causing a property shortage but simply by me stopping buying will not change the world.

fairy_lights · 13 June 2017 at 5:21PM

OP hasn't come back to add anything further to the discussion so I suspect his intention was to try and stir up an argument.

AdrianC · 13 June 2017 at 5:22PM

fairy_lights wrote: »

OP hasn't come back to add anything further to the discussion so I suspect his intention was to try and stir up an argument.

TBF, that was less than three hours ago.

leslieknope · 13 June 2017 at 5:25PM

i have nothing against landlords.

landlords who don't think they should have to fulfill their legal requirements or who post for advice on tax avoidance? i have somewhere they can go.

DaftyDuck · 13 June 2017 at 5:33PM

Thing is, most threads on this board are, understandably, from one side(!)or the other with a problem or two; that's why they are posting.

Hop over to the Consumer Rights board, and you'll soon learn that Currys PC World are run by a bunch of teenage idiots that couldn't put a battery in a vibrator, and that their attitude to any problem is to lie/cheat/say "la la la" or whatever.

Now, I have shopped at five or six PCW over the last ten years, the staff have always been polite(ish), reasonably helpful, and accepted genuine returns without problems. They have also been cheap, for the items I wanted, or I would have shopped elsewhere.

The posts don't reflect reality, they are a skewed sample.

Equally, I have let out properties for over 20 years, never had a problem, never had a dispute, had very good relationships with tenants (including cakes, kittens and booze as presents - even a wedding invite!). So, neither I nor (to my knowledge, my tenants) have ever posted moans, groans or gripes on this board.

Of course, it's entirely possible my life is skewed, all tenants are scum, and all landlords cheating shysters.....

LadyL2013 · 13 June 2017 at 5:55PM

Guest101 wrote: »

Hold on you want to regulate who can buy property? You see nothing wrong with that?...

I think there needs to be regulation, yes. I'm not saying there shouldn't be rental properties of all kinds, of course there should be, but I also think there needs to be more fairness in the housing market, which there currently isn't.

AdrianC wrote: »

Who gets to decide on when that priority is outweighed, then?

...and this is something, therefore this has to be done!

Cash buyers, or landlords? Don't confuse the two. The BtL buyers you're complaining about are usually highly geared, not cash buyers.

...the numbers don't work anywhere NEAR that simply...

Let's take an example of a £100k property.
MSE best buy mortgage is 2.45% for 90% LTV. That's £402/mo repayment, using the MSE mortgage calculator.

Are you telling me that a £100k flat would rent for £800/mo? That'd be a damn near 10% raw yield. No... Not realistic at all...

I could point you to a very nice 2-bed modern flat in the centre of my local city at £112,500, with service charge/ground rent/management/sinking fund payment slightly north of £110/mo. The rent on it would be around £550/mo. So that's around £440/mo in the landlord's pocket, before other costs and tax - a yield of around 4.7%. Mortgage repayments on that flat would be £448/mo, so £560ish after the service charge. And that flat has been for sale since SEPTEMBER 2015... Simply, it's overpriced. That service charge doesn't help one bit.

Yes, you are right. I mean BTL, rather than cash buyer. I apologise, it has been a long day!

Perhaps where you live, maybe. Where I live rental payments are nearly a double a mortgage payment and that's before you add bills. For example, on a 1 bed property where I am my monthly mortgage would be approx £430, an identical house is (looking on Rightmove right now) the very cheapest I can find is £720pcm without bills and it's not in the best condition. A house share alone will set you back £500.

Guest101 wrote: »

Bravo! - I cant believe someone would actually suggest that. - and then when it came to selling their property they'd be back on here complaining.

"I have a cash buyer offering more, but have to accept the lower offer of the FTB HELP!!!"

I just think the system needs to be fairer. I'm not sure exactly how it may be done, but the bottom of the market is absolutely strangled. Maybe X % of starter homes can be rentals (to make sure that people who want to rent have their needs met), then another x% of houses for sale have FTB as priority (as long as FTB is offering at or above asking price). Again, I don't know exactly the way to make it work, but I think you'll struggle to find anyone currently in the situation who will tell you the system is fair or isn't entirely skewed towards BTL.

AdrianC · 13 June 2017 at 6:00PM

LadyL2013 wrote: »

Perhaps where you live, maybe. Where I live rental payments are nearly a double a mortgage payment and that's before you add bills. For example, on a 1 bed property where I am my monthly mortgage would be approx £430, an identical house is (looking on Rightmove right now) the very cheapest I can find is £720pcm without bills and it's not in the best condition. A house share alone will set you back £500.

They sound very unusual figures. Can you give any examples?
£430 mortgage for a 90% LTV would be around £105k purchase price.

Or are you meaning interest only mortgage payments? If so, that may allow you around £230k purchase price, but those loans are very hard to obtain these days without having some kind of other repayment vehicle in place. What were you thinking of, and how much monthly allowance are you making?

And what about when interest rates rise, as they will inevitably do?

caronoel · 13 June 2017 at 6:11PM

rentmekid wrote: »

After reading a number of posts/replies on this forum, I have noticed that many people hate the idea of someone owning more than 1 property and renting out.

Frequent comments are: "people cant afford to buy one property, why should you have 2", or similar.

Such attitudes can be summed up in one nasty word: envy

Marvel1 · 13 June 2017 at 6:28PM

caronoel wrote: »

Such attitudes can be summed up in one nasty word: envy

Envy - no, just want landlords to learn what they should be doing not to screw tenets over.

Cakeguts · 13 June 2017 at 6:44PM

I am a landlord. There is one small mortgage. None of the properties are typical 1st time buyer properties. We specialise in 3 bed properties. 2 of our properties have tenants who have stayed for more than 10 years. Most tenancies last for at least 3 years. 5 years or more is not unusual. The properties are managed by good agents and repairs are done as soon as we are told about them. We have very few voids. Some of us are trying to do a good job.

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