The Wilsons - 875 buy to let property empire

fatpig_2

Are they dead yet?

Zandoni

fatpig wrote: »

Are they dead yet?

Nearly, most people are struggling selling one house, imagine selling 877. :j :j :j :j :j :j

blisk

In the boom years they were held up as icons by the Buy to Let investor. By their renters they were regarded with contempt. Now we have a massive housing downturn they think they will be fine as its only flats that are falling in price apparently.

With predicted 20% falls predicted by Christmas thats a massive loss on 875 properties. Some £50 million loss in one year on a formerly £250 million portfolio.

Good riddance, hope they rot

neverdespairgirl

I hope they leave Boughton Monchelsea well alone, it's a lovely village as it is.

dopester

PRICE PAIN Rich list couple say market slide is hitting hopes of buy-and-let gains

'We may start selling our property empire'
by Trevor Sturgess

That article is made up isn't it? Had me going for a moment.
Nice try. :T

Zandoni

dopester wrote: »

That article is made up isn't it? Had me going for a moment.
Nice try. :T

It's true as true can be

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/oct/04/buyingtolet.property

I reckon they are lot worse off than they make out.

dopester

EXCELLENT !!!!!!!!!!

I knew this day had to come soon.

There is so much to savour in both articles. Sometimes I can only read articles like this a paragraph at a time, break off for 30 minutes to digest the sweet information slowly, and then return to another paragraph.

"We are not a penny behind on our loan payments," says Fergus. "We are reasonably safe, I think. If we go under, then everyone's going under."

Dream on. Do I detect some worry?

Fergus says: "Buy-to-let landlords are not bad people. We are not like sub-prime in the US. Most of the properties that will now be sold will go to first-time buyers. What the government has to do is something about the size of deposits people now need to raise."

Yes those pesky deposits, higher borrowing qualifications, higher interest rates and rising unemployment and house prices still way out of reach for many sensible people. Shame isn't it for those trying to sell at what they like to think their house, or hundreds of houses, are worth. And it isn't the Government's job to manipulate the market for what you'd like them to do... they don't have the power.

"We are both over 60 now. My view is, 'thanks very much, it's been a nice ride but the party's over'."

You are right your party is over. Remember that park bench you once supposedly had to sleep on do you? And what about all the horsey stuff and the special tailor made jackets? Surely you need your rents and to sell at near current values to continue the high lifestyle.

What happened Fergus? Didn't you think it was just flats that would suffer in a crash, not houses? Shortage of houses isn't there? Surely that keeps the price stable and forever growing.

After all, only 2 years ago you were telling people there was never a wrong time to buy. I can't agree with you big-man, as you got it wrong that values will continue to go up because there isn't enough supply.

Remember that guy you did-over on Christmas Eve with the lie??????????????

A tad recklessly, Mrs Wilson can't resist telling me about one scam her husband pulled in 1994. After snapping up a four-storey house in South-East London at auction for £44,000, he noticed 'for sale' boards outside the property next door. So he called the estate agents to ask the price.

"It's £58,000," came the reply. Mr Wilson insisted that this was far too much, claiming he had bought the adjoining house for £30,000.

His bid was initially rejected, but a few days later, on Christmas Eve, the phone rang.

"If you've got £30,000, it's yours," the agent said.

The deliciously simple sting was concluded a few days later, when Mr Wilson had the house valued for mortgage purposes and it was deemed to be worth four times the amount he had paid: £120,000.

He borrowed the maximum amount allowable - £100,000 (85 per cent of its value) - and promptly used the excess funds as a deposit on several more houses.

Hmmm... I wonder if someone might try similar tactics for desperate sellers?

THE EMPIRE BUILDERS

Fergus Wilson, 58, and wife Judith, 56

Portfolio size: 677 properties in Kent

Portfolio value: £135m

Started buying: 1991

Still buying: yes, if the right property is available

“There is never a wrong time to buy,” says Fergus, “but he who hesitates is lost. Don’t mess around with detail: if you start nit-picking over tiny things, you could lose the deal. If I am buying a house, I don’t care if the vendor wants to keep his wheelbarrow, or a garden spade. I just want to get on with it.

“My advice? If you are getting 25% growth a year, which most people are, don’t be greedy. I also believe values will continue to go up, because we haven’t enough properties in this country to satisfy demand. Buy-to-let is the second-best thing that’s happened to me — the best was meeting Judith.”

mewbie_2

Mr. Wilson says ...

"His advice for property buyers? "Flats will not be worth buying again. There are far too many - that market is finished. What I tell youngsters is, 'rent your first flat, but buy your house'."

ad44downey

These sort of horrible speculators need to attract a penal rate of tax. It's obscene that they are allowed to distort the market to the detriment of the hard-working majority. Trust New Labour to encourage this spivery.

dopester

What value would you place on his/their advice?

Flats might crash hard, but doesn't stop them becoming good value for those who don't want loads of debt and like flats.

And maybe buy "your house", but not from some landlord freak who is trying to dispose of hundreds at hugely inflated asking prices which aren't justifiable value by the economic climate.

They've given gem after gem of advice in the papers, and were still buying houses in the first half of this year to big up their portfolio. There are near too many to list from so many of the interviews they've given to the press in their good times.

This month, she will also launch the Judith Wilson Investment Property Bond, a new concept in accumulating wealth via bricks and mortar. She will sell stakes of five per cent in ten of her rented houses, with a promise they will double in value every seven years.

The idea is for parents to buy a £10,000 stake for their children at birth, so that by the time their son or daughter reaches the age of 21, the investment will be worth £80,000; sufficient for a deposit on their first home.

"It could reach 1,000," says Mr Wilson. "There is no limit."

The couple deny this. "Put it this way," Mr Wilson says. "If you were selling a house, who would you rather deal with? A young couple who might pull out at the last minute, or Judith Wilson, who you know will not mess you around?"

Oh those cautious and underfunded FTBs trying to get on the market towards top money and seeing prices accelerate away every month - yes, don't deal with them ever.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-431224/How-maths-teachers-clocked-707-houses-240m-fortune.html