Purchasing A Second Property

Dec_3

I am looking at renting my house out as an investment for the future and possibbly purchasing a second property. Can anyone tell me what I should be careful of and what dangers there are? Apart from being able to afford both mortgages. Any replies welcome

k500xjs

Hi
Make sure that you get advice from a good letting agent, they will tell you what legal responsiblities you have to the tenants of your home, ie servicing boiler, electric test etc, good news is that all the expenses are tax allowable from the income you get when you maintain the house, a good landlord usually gets good tenants

Buying a second home wait a while prices are about to fall back after christmas then bargin hard to buy it at the right price

imported_Dizzylizzy

Dont forget to check with your mortgage lender to see if you can actually let the property - they may put some restrictions on letting. There are some letting Companies who will take on the property for a fixed term and guarantee rental whether or not there is a tenant in there. The tenancy agreement then is with the Co. who then sub-let to the tenant. I think this is a better way as you will always be sure of rent - and any probs with the sub-tenants the Tenant i.e. the rental company has the problem of dealing with. Also they guarantee to put the property back to original condition.

Dec_3

Thanks for the idea. I never thought of that. Not having any rent coming in was one of the biggest worries. I will take this further. Thanks once again

stuartlwilliams

Beware rising interest rates! Too many people see the profit of renting at current rates. Redo your numbers with a 1.5% or more rate rise, and see what happens.

Dec_3

Good thinking, but its all on the back burner anyway. The missus is now pregnant so i am going to be to stressed anyway to dealing with a new baby as well as a 2 year old, arrrrrggghhh!!!!. Thanks for your input. Oh by the way if you have any ideas how to deal with the stress of kids i would apprecaite it. Cheers

voucher_queen_3

make sure that the letting agent you pick is a member of a trade association my old one ran off with 2k of my money and my tenants >:( buyer beware

He is being investigated by the fraud squad!!


Also if you are planning to buy a house of multiple occupation (hmo) more than 2 separate households at address then you will need to comply with certain regulations eg fire extinguishers, fire dectection system, enviromental health inspections - check with your local council should be able to advise good luck

Reaper

Tax wise you would be better off moving into the new property and letting out your existing one. A good explanation of the odd CGT rules can be found here