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

wynnvegas

Morning All,

Hope may yet spring eternal for our goal. We're tantalisingly close to our goal and may well yet hit it if a couple of loan repayments come through. Despite having to pay the lawyers £500 and the mortgage company £1,000 for the pleasure of having our new offset, we're just over £11,000 at the moment so with bills and such to come off, we should keep our heads above £10,000 after all. I've got about £700 of expenses for this month to claim back as well having dotted about the place on many a short-haul flight so all is rosy to that end. Goal potentially achieved.

Work is calming down a little bit. I've got a couple of problem employees to deal with but that won't happen now until the new year. If I can get the paperwork sorted over the next couple of days, that will let me finish and finish properly on Friday for a break until the 4th of January and I feel as though I need it. Ready for Christmas and a proper attack on the gym and the pool as I've put on 7 pounds in the last three months. All this business planning, lunching and house hunting isn't good for the waistline!

Business number 1 (BTL) (which, I'm reliably informed, isn't a business or a trade at all), is coming on a treat. We haven't actually bought any houses yet but we've agreed to buy three houses and a flat so far. We've got a second visit to a property in Livingston tonight and we'll likely slap an offer in there as well to give us our five. The squalour received it's officialy valuation yesterday at £145k which isn't much of a worry as I'm pretty confident on achieving £155k were we to sell it as it's in very good nick since we've been on our improvement kick. Only really the kitchen to do and that should be us until we move out. The business plan has grown arms and legs and, in a major shift, we've decided that, with the experience of 10 under our collective belts, we'll have a good go at auctions in the 11-20 phase of next year.

Business number 2 (Home Improvements) has been valued and we've agreed an equity swap in principle. We'll end up giving a little more away than is strictly necessary but there's a clear difference between being in a dominant position and abusing it. We need to trust each other implicitly and, for the sake of a few tens of thousands somewhere down the line, I'm pretty ok with it. If everything comes off, we'll be looking at an overall equity after ten years of somewhere between £2-5 million depending on where house prices go in that period. There's some professional advice to come down the line from accountants and lawyers on what it all actually looks like but I'm happy with the way it's progressing.

Business number 3 (Employability) is nowhere at the moment. It's still a brilliant idea but it needs a lot of time and effort that I just don't have at the moment. This one may take a couple of months to get off the ground but I'm still confident this will be my favourite one of the lot and the one with the biggest growth potential by far.

Business number 4 (Management Consultancy) has unexpectedly taken off in the last couple of weeks. No fewer than 3 Consultancy gigs have come to bear so I need to try and schedule those into January.

The charities have been pretty slow in coming back with confirmations so there hasn't been much done with either of those at the moment. Looking forward to getting my teeth into them next year though.

The book is coming along nicely. Billy's 2012 diary is in place and ready to go. At the current rate, it may well end up a guide to fast-tracking grey hair and manic depression but I've every intention of keeping it business focused and funny in equal measure. Thereafter, I'll finally take the plunge and enter "The Apprentice" to tell Sugar what a (insert sweary word of choice here) he is and what a useless bunch of (insert appropriate deprecative term here) they keep putting on.

Hope everyone is well. In case my diary tardiness continues over the next few days, I'll take this opportunity to wish everyone a fantastic Christmas and a wonderful 2012.

Cheers,

Billy

Twiddy

All the best to you and yours Billy!!

Cheers
T

waughc01

Hi Billy,
Sounds like you have been really busy again. The btl are coming on great guns, where in Livinston are you looking at? Will keep an eye out for you over the new year for anymore bargains. We will be busy over the holiday period now that my husband is home, with our plans for the rentals over the year, organising what improvements we will carry out, accounts and budgets. Thought I was getting 2 houses back but both tenants phoned to ask if they could stay for another year. I got an e-mail yesterday from WLC with the new law about deposit protection scheme which will come in to force in April 2012 in Scotland, so will need to read up on that during the holidays.
I am always amazed at how organised you are with all your new businesses, goals and aims in life, full credit to you.
Need to go as starting work early today, as we are taking 50 screaming weans to the panto tonight in Edinburgh. I have a large bottle of smirnoff ice in the fridge chillin for me, for when I get home at 10.30pm.
Hope you and Moyra have a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year. An aww the best for 2012 xx

wynnvegas

Thanks Twiddy,

Here's to a profitable and healthy 2012 for everyone!

Cheers,

Billy

wynnvegas

Evening Louise,

Yes, really busy! It turns out that I'm 39% tight. If I've got time to answer questions over whether I'm so much of a skinflint I only flush the toilet every now and again, then it shows that there's plenty of time still to be better utilised...

You'll be nothing short of amazed to find out that I'm looking at Deans! The one you recommended is a potential goer (other than some serious roof repairs!!) Who do you use for repairs? I'd be remiss if I didn't try to punt you Company No. 2 given half a chance...

Do you have any information on the deposit guarantee scheme? Is West Lothian doing anything special with it? My plan was to put all rental deposits on 00 in the Bellagio - I'm guessing the council won't be for my plan!? We were told to leave it with the letting agents so that's the current plan.

Glad Mr Waugh is back home for Christmas. Hope you're currently having a grand time at the panto and that you enjoy every drop of your cheeky wee tipple later on. Have a fantastic Christmas and New Year. See you in January at the West Lothian Landlordy Convention (any chance of holding it in Vegas??)...

Cheers,

Billy

waughc01

Hi Billy,
Had a fabby dabby time at the panto and the kids loved it which was the most important thing.
You being a bit tight is that just not being Scottish lol.
I pm you roofers number, I will get details of you about business 2 as it is always good to have contact details of local tradesmen in our area. Who won't rip you off.
Pm me you e-mail address and i will send you the information wlc sent me. I won't be able to attend the training course as I will be on holiday at the time and yes I will be in sunny Florida lol, when it is cold, wet and bloody misreble in Livingston.
Another tip I would give you, is to get wlc to come out and do an inspection when you get your rentals so that they can see it is an unfurnished property, you are allowed to have white goods in the kitchen, so if you have any down time you won't need to pay council tax for 6 months.
Louise

wynnvegas

An early Christmas present from Moyra...apt as you like!

Cheers,

Billy

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Morning Billy, just dropping by to thank you for being one of the guys to inspire me on this journey. It has been a huge kick up the bum and well needed.

Your latest posts are both inspiring and scaring me in equal portions. I wish you every success with all your ventures and look forward to following your journey. You are certainly persuading us to consider B2L and very likely sooner rather than later.

Our very best wishes Tllly and DH Tilly - plus send Christmas greetings to Moyra and we both love the mug x:beer:

wynnvegas

Hi Louise,

Thanks for that. Glad you had a good time last night. I like that - I'm not tight, I'm just Scottish! It works for everything. I'm not dour, just Scottish. I'm not putting on weight, just becoming more Scottish...

I'm on the ball with the inspection piece. That's a great bit of advice. I resent council tax plenty enough at the moment without paying any more! What is your view on rental insurance? We've had a quote of £340 for insurance for property 1 which includes every insurance under the sun, including rental/vacancy insurance.

Cheers,

Billy

wynnvegas

Hiya Tilly,

You've certainly taken the baton and started with impressive vigour. I'm enjoying your diary. When we've all, between us, bought up the entire rental market in the UK, it will be time to arrange a mass landlordy meeting to see how we start conquering continents!!

Cheers,

Billy