Wilsons - The buy-to-let gurus' empire crumbles

sjaypink

I'm fairly neutral regards the Wilsons. I just like the threads because it allows for transference from the ignorant, greedy, selfish, rude, thick-as-!!!!!! amateur LLs I have to meet in RL on a regular basis, who I would desperately love to smack in their demanding fat fcuking faces, but sadly can't ..........

Zandoni

brit1234 wrote: »

I don't want to be rung up every day by someone complaining about a dripping tap.'

As if any tenant was allowed to ring him, he will only communicate via email. Easier to ignore that way...

dopester

Malcolm. wrote: »

I am not interested in spewing hatred towards people who are in a financial mess.

I'm sure he's had his moments of feeling pure glory when he's bagged another 'bargain'... from some poor sap he thinks lost their home because they 'weren't paying attention.'

If the market is leading them into a financial mess.. then perhaps they weren't paying attention, and were not actually as smart as they've bragged they were to many journalist over the years, as they bought up a portfolio of hundreds of FTB style homes.

If they've put themselves in a financially vulnerable position then they've done it to themselves as a consequence of extending claims on resources to an extreme that could be supported only if boom and easy credit conditions were sustained uninterrupted into the future. They could have stopped buying when they reached 50 properties years ago, and been very rich, successful and secure.

Their failure? It's so entertaining and gives me a lot of satisfaction.

It’s not surprising Wilson always manages to get a good deal. “Someone is always trying to rip you off,” he warns. “Anyone can buy a Mars bar for 55p; the trick is getting it for 40p.” Recently, he convinced an estate agent to knock down the price of a house from £245,000 to £180,000.

“Agents know to come to me if they think people are prepared to drop the price,” Wilson boasts. In a few instances, he has bought properties from people in financial difficulty and rented them back to them. “It’s sad sometimes, but we’re in the business to make money, not to house people,” he says. “People end up in financial difficulty because they don’t pay attention. They’re busy watching the rugby rather than doing their paperwork.”

http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/buying_and_selling/article3368828.ece

carolt

Malcolm. wrote: »

I am not interested in spewing hatred towards people who are in a financial mess.

I am interested in helping people and socialising.

I think they are a particularly unpleasant couple, as well as symptomatic of systemic problems (hate that phrase - sounds like the police) in the UK housing market.

So I do admit to appreciating the karma involved re a man who took a tenant to court to try to get 3 grand for a broken toilet cistern.

Frankly I think there are people out there more deserving of our sympathy.

dopester

The karma would be so pure.

Recession of the 90s... teachers in secure jobs, feeding like greedy monsters on the unfortunates losing their jobs; losing their homes... 'lived in the auction rooms'.

Whilst I agree the mechanics of possession/repossession is necessary in a lot of circumstances... although it wouldn't be my preferred way of buying home... they really fed, really seemed to enjoy it, and even told lies to desperate people. Christmas Eve !!!!!!.

Unlike so many teachers, the Wilsons never fell out of love with the education system. In the early Nineties, however, after Mrs Wilson failed to land a headship, they quit the classroom to concentrate full time on their business.

This was the era of 15 per cent interest rates and a record number of repossessions - the perfect time to buy.

"We virtually lived in the auction rooms," recalls Mrs Wilson.

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.

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

So there is no sympathy from me if they are now in financial distress... and wanting £750,000 (each) for a couple of shoddy looking new builds (in my opinion) in a postcode which hasn't exactly ever seen house prices transact at such levels, signals to me they still have their heads in the clouds.

I reckon we'll soon find out whether they really are in a position to survive the storm ..... whether other people are right and their position is good enough to come out of it with £millions or remain protected from creditors in other ways.

Malcolm.

Will their demise lead to your happiness? I think you'd be better focusing on trying to buy a home rather than on what some guy you've never met is doing with his homes. Just my opinion of course.

But then I don't rent, and i guess it's an individuals right to vent..

Mr.Brown_4

Malcolm. wrote: »

Will their demise lead to your happiness? I think you'd be better focusing on trying to buy a home rather than on what some guy you've never met is doing with his homes. Just my opinion of course.

But then I don't rent, and i guess it's an individuals right to vent..

No, and enjoying Tiger Woods discomfiture does not mean I want to be a golfer.

Malcolm.

Mr.Brown wrote: »

No, and enjoying Tiger Woods discomfiture does not mean I want to be a golfer.

Perhaps it means you want to be successfull and revered!?

I'd like it off the news, it's trash tv. I understand he's made an apology, or his PR dept have.

Mr.Brown_4

Malcolm. wrote: »

Perhaps it means you want to be successfull and revered?
I'd like it off the news, it's trash tv.

Oh come on. It may be boring now, but what a great breaking story it was. Car crash, outside house, fire hydrant, 2 in the morning, wife smashed window to 'rescue' him, and with a golf club as well. And all this happens to a pre packaged, carefully managed 'product' who has been sellign us !!!!!! for quite some time.

Great golfer. But that's all.

carolt

Malcolm. wrote: »

Will their demise lead to your happiness? I think you'd be better focusing on trying to buy a home rather than on what some guy you've never met is doing with his homes. Just my opinion of course.

But then I don't rent, and i guess it's an individuals right to vent..

I don't think that enjoying the story of the big bad wolf falling into the pot of boiling water meant that one wanted to be a wolf, Malcolm. It just meant that one enjoyed the happy ending, the little pigs able to enjoy their houses in peace and the greedy wolf getting his just deserts.

One can enjoy a happy ending - or karma, in more modern lingo - without standing to benefit personally. It's called empathy. One can feel a warm glow when Cinderella marries her prince without any similar desire to nab her prince or any pathological hatred of plain-looking sisters.

It's good to be reminded that we live in a moral universe.