Would you buy a buy to let at the moment

Rinoa

rockitup wrote: »

The HMRC are starting to crack down on property developers/refurbishers and BTL over the last year or so and I don't think someone could even get away with more than the first one now Rinoa.

Times they are a changin'

You are right that HMRC are looking more closely at BTL and the new Tenancy Deposit Scheme provides them with lots of juicy information.

However, I believe their efforts are concentrated on those they believe to be evading tax rather than those who openly declare profits on their tax forms and legitimately use the allowances available. Although I accept there are probably rules stipulating how many you can buy and sell over a period before they class the transactions as a business.

It would be interesting to know what those rules are now.

Rinoa

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Maybe your under investigation.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Thrugelmir

Rinoa wrote: »

However, I believe their efforts are concentrated on those they believe to be evading tax rather than those who openly declare profits on their tax forms and legitimately use the allowances available. Although I accept there are probably rules stipulating how many you can buy and sell over a period before they class the transactions as a business.

Whether it is a business or not isn't important. The distinction is whether you are trading or investing. As obviously different tax treatment applies. Churning property on a frequent basis is most likely going to be determined as trading. Particularly if the property is bought cheaply, refurbished and sold on. Obviously you can do this with your own home. With second "homes" and commercial property harder to argue.

Self assessment is what it says on the can. This isn't going to stop the HMRC reviewing your returns at some point in the future and making a retrospective assessment of your liability.

neverdespairgirl

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

Do some people really wish for WWIII or anothe black plague in order to see houses drop earlier than they were 15 years previously.

I think they'd have more worrying things to care about.

It's not a question of wanting or wishing for it.

There was a question - have house prices ever been lower than 15 years earlier. I answered it. They have. It doesn't mean I'm predicting WWIII or the Black Death Mark II!

tartanterra

Chaos_A.D. wrote: »

As I said in the other thread I started, many many ordinary people are skint, barely able to pay their bills and eat, for the average mewing BTL'r, things are probably much worse.

Highly unlikely.

BTL has been happening in various forms for decades. Most of the people I know who rent out properties have minimal or zero debt. House price fluctuations are irrelevent to them, as the rental income is more or less steady.
Hardly surprising really, as they wouldn't have been in the position to own multiple properties if they had been financially reckless in the first place.

Your rabid hatred of BTL'ers is based on those who bought properties during a very short period, when there was a reckless borrowing/lending bubble.
As this period was only for a few short years, the law of averages would surmise that only a small proportion of multiple property owners were caught up in it.

Whilst you may want to sit at home exciting yourself that the U.K's landlords are living in penury and eating gruel, wondering where the next penny is coming from, it's unlikely that this is actually happening.

But hey,..don't let this spoil your fantasy....just keep on sitting in that darkened corner repeating "....they're going to lose everything.....they're going to lose everything.....they're going to lose everything.....". You never know eh?

nollag2006

fertyskids wrote: »

Me and hubby paid off our mortgage a couple of years ago.

we spend the £900 a month thats was on the mortgage on "nice" things but would rather save it.

we also have about 25k in the bank

we looked at the stock market but were not happy with the advice we were given

we are thinking of buy to let... use 10k cash deposit. £40k mortgage on our home and £150k mortgage on buy to let.. this would give us a 3 bed house with garage in bh21 a good area good schools and very rentable.

i am unsure if the housing market will go down and interest rates will go up.

we see this as a longterm descion 15 - 25 yrs we are happy to have a mortgage on our own property as we will be "saving" this money each month. if interest rates went up we could cope on the £40k mortgage on our home but not sure how it would affect the mortgage on the buy to let... although we would still have at the moment £150k ecuity in our house.

would you do it? thoughts please...

sorry i also manage a buy to let (no mortgage but in trust for my son so financially seperate) so im ok with tenants and property maintenance etc its the mortgage side that will be new to me.

Sounds like you've got your head screwed on and that you have thought this through. I got a couple of BTLs last year, and the rental yield is very healthy on them, but with prices up 15% YOY in that area, its not going to be as easy to do again.

I'm always keeping an eye out for another one though. It's a very nice way to keep something for your children, as my first two BTLs are, or to put towards the pension pot, as my next one or two will be.

The important thing is to buy in at the right price, and find something that will give a decent rental yield. And you really have to be in it for the longer term. Any thing less than 10 years is just too risky.

Some good ideas for places to invest here:
http://www.propertyinvesting.net/content/specialreport-birmingham.htm

Graham_Devon

tartanterra wrote: »

Highly unlikely.

BTL has been happening in various forms for decades. Most of the people I know who rent out properties have minimal or zero debt.

What you say may well be true, the people you know. But this in no way correlates to the wider BTL scene.

Hence BTL mortgages being such a big business.

A._Badger

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

Huge ConDem-inspired job losses are about to destruct the UK economy.


Q. Will interest rates rise?

A. Yes (eventually).

When they start to rise, the ConDems will be keen to inflict as much misery as possible on borrowers so that their rich friends are happier.
/QUOTE]


That's right. The Tories and the LibDems want to deliberately destroy the economy. It's not that they believe they have a different way of making the country prosperpous. It's simply that they want to ruin everything. Just to make their 'rich friends' happy.

Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds?

Exocet

tartanterra wrote: »

As this period was only for a few short years, the law of averages would surmise that only a small proportion of multiple property owners were caught up in it.

I couldn't find a website for them but here is a company that sounds as though it specialises in BTL. Good job only a few fell for the fantasy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Track

tartanterra

Graham_Devon wrote: »

What you say may well be true, the people you know. But this in no way correlates to the wider BTL scene.

Hence BTL mortgages being such a big business.

And it's also obvious that a bubble in the market for three or four years (which is unlikely to ever be repeated) couldn't possibly be reflective of the entire multiple property ownership market, which after all, has been in existence for an extremely long time.