Mortgage Free - so good they'll do it twice! Wynnvegas aiming for the big house

wynnvegas

Hi TYO,

Yep - a 75% (of purchase price) mortgage of £54,736. This whole thing will now hit a critical point in the second week of August when we attempt to release a decent proportion on what we put in to finance the next lot of houses. We put in £17,700 and we're expecting to be re-mortgaging to 75% of the house value which should give us £12,764 back in our pockets. If that ends up not being the case, things go downhill pretty quickly!

Cheers,

Billy

abouttimetoo

Hi Billy and greetings from your neck of the woods this week

Great to see that things are gathering momentum. Money foesnt take any spending does it and I'm sure it's all part of the learning curve; does it feel 'odd' at the moment to be spending so much suddenly? I know the spends are 'investments' rather than being a scatter cash but it still must need a period of adjustment to get used to it after being MSE (not suggestin you're not doing the refurb MSE style mind)

Ps. STEP AWAY FROM THE TOOLS :eek::eek::rotfl:

wynnvegas

Hi ATT,

Let me take your last sentence first! I saw a "FatMax" toolbox yesterday which looked amazing. It was half the size of a room. I might not have the first idea what I'm doing but I'll look thoroughly professional when I'm doing it! Colin thankfully dragged me away from that section of the shop!

It felt plenty weird just buying all day. Can't say I'm keen on the practice at all being firmly rooted in the MSE way of things. What we're getting is a complete re-wire with all the bits and bobs that go with it like lights and fancy light fittings, brand new big kitchen, brand new bathroom and plastered / painted throughout and all the fitting for a touch under £6,000 which is a mile less than my bathroom cost on its own so I'm trying my best to make my peace with it! At this rate, I don't think I'll be owing any additional tax for quite a while.... in saying that, if I get my South Glasgow plot, that appears to come with a total tax exemption forcefield so I'll have great fun there!

Have fun up our way. As much fun as it's possible to have in the wind and rain anyway!

Cheers,

Billy

waughc01

Hi Billy,
Can't remember if I said to you that you can claim mileage (petrol money) through your btl business, keep a spreadsheet for mileage with your coming and going to the houses and when out buying for the propertys.
Would still try and get some money out the lawyer, they mucked up not you. Also you are planning on buying more houses in the future, they need the work from what I hear !!!!!
Try and keep to a budget I know it is easier said than done at times, your have some big jobs to do with a rewire, bathroom and kitchen. Shop around there will lots of bargains to be found. Good to hear your getting your hands dirty and getting stuck in with some of the jobs. This is the part of being a landlord that I love, when your ripping the guts out of a house and doing it up. How long do you think it will take you and your team to do the house up? When I get a house for the first time I always say it will take a month to turn it around and have tenants in. Take your time, enjoy the next step in becoming a landlord and don't rush things it will all fall into place through time.
Take care
Waughc01

wynnvegas

Hi L,

That may well be useful. Can you do that if you don't set it up as a business? I'll happily take any excuse to set up another spreadsheet.

May need some assistance from the lawyer on three negative fronts...more to follow on that! As such, I may well leave them be for a wee bit as it didn't cause too much hardship and there are certainly bigger battles to be fought (and hopefully won).

I'm enjoying the bargain hunting. I was away looking for soft closers for the kitchen units a few days back and those arrived today. Next on my exciting shopping list is tile spacers! From start to finish, we're looking at three weeks and that includes this week where not an awful lot is going on. Things start in earnest this coming Tuesday.

Cheers,

Billy

wynnvegas

Afternoon All,

We've hit several hurdles all at once so there's no shortage of activity at the moment - all of it potentially stressful!

Property 1 (purchased). We've been hit with a council bill for a communal chimney repair for £1,500. This wasn't my preferred first letter. The lawyers and the council are on the case with this one as it seems to have been ongoing for a while. That was quickly followed by a TV licensing investigation which we've thankfully sorted out. The re-wiring is now complete so that's all good news.

Properties 2&3 (both due to complete on Friday). Chasing the mortgage company (Natwest) as they promised the offers would be available on Monday. As yet, there is nothing of the sort. One has a seller moving house on Friday and the other has a particularly nippy agent pushing for the sale to go through on Friday but Natwest won't be rushed into anything. If this ends up costing me money as well, I won't be at all happy.

On the sunnier side, we've got two properties to get ties up to make our 5. The first is a wee end terraced house in Livingston valued at £80,000 (agreed price at £63,000) which doesn't need anything doing to it. The second is not only ok for needing stuff done to it - it has a sitting tenant. That could be a proper winner. It's in Winchburgh which is off the beaten track somewhat but we'll have a look at it and see whether it's a goer or not.

Cheers,

Billy

waughc01

Hi Billy,
Get the new spreadsheet started Billy, as you dont to be set up as a business to claim mileage.
Sounds like your going to be busy over the coming weeks. Hope everything works out for you on Friday, it's sounding a bit tight but you never know. Sounds like a wee bargain in Livingston and a good buy in Winchburgh. Both good rental areas, Winchburgh is in a good location for traveling into Edinburgh.
Take care
Waughc01

wynnvegas

Hi L,

Already done! The taxman won't know what has hit him when I have to fill in my first tax return. I need to look into when exactly I need to do that for the first time now!

Decent enough deal in Livingston. We've got the backhander to pay before anything moves on that so I'll string that along to give some flexibility in getting the mortgage signed off and through. Winchburgh is attractive due to the existing tenant who looks set for the long-term. We actually considered the Winchburgh primary school site for the big house early on in the process.

Cheers,

Billy

wynnvegas

Afternoon All,

Everybody is freaking out today. The selling agents, the lawyer, the intermediary and, to a certain extent, me! Thankfully, the only ones keeping a level head are the glacially-paced administrative team at Natwest. I'm beginning to understand how RBS got into the trouble they did...

Also have the property sourcer on the case for her backhander. Telling her to calm down a bit and that she'll get it when she gets it didn't go down too well!

Cheers,

Billy

wynnvegas

Afternoon All,

Less freaking out today. Mortgage offers are confirmed and everything should go through today or on Monday at the very latest. Properties 2 and 3 on the horizon!

Cheers,

Billy