Accidental landlady, or "How I made £200k"

super.landlady

alfiesmum wrote: »

You came on here, with a very upbeat, inspiring story. And some of the replies, I think, are supposed to make you feel like what you have is in some way less than enough.

Thanks, Mum. It never occurred to me that anyone would respond with negativity.

I can only assume that people who couldn't live on my income are drinking booze and smoking, running cars, paying mortgages and - most wallet-draining of all -- bringing up kids!

I must add that, when I had that accident and lost my job, I thought my world had ended. I was utterly devastated, could not imagine life without that job (I'd been there 20 years). If only I'd known then what I know now -- that "downsizing" is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Now I have more trips abroad than ever before, more freedom, more LIFE, real life, than I had when I was a wage slave.

Wee_Pilsbury

super.landlady wrote: »

So many problems and failures on this board, thought everyone might like to be cheered, entertained or maybe even inspired by my story. So grab a coffee and hear how I fell into a career as a professional landlady by complete accident.

In 1996 I owned no property. I had been living with my boyfriend in his flat, which he sold in order to release himself from having to pay the mortgage, so he could go to university. This left us both homeless and, as he had given me a free home for three years, I intended to repay the favour by housing him for three years.

All I had was £3k in savings and a blue collar job. I found the cheapest possible flat, which was £12k, and applied for a 100% mortgage. This was refused as, owing to some law, mortgages had to be for £15,001 or more. So I offered the vendor £3k more for the flat but to my utter amazement they turned it down. The vendor was a building society that had repo'd the place, and the sale price was to be £12k, no more no less. So I borrowed £9k from my boyfriend and, together with my £3k savings, bought the flat for cash. I repaid him at £300pm for three years and also put £2k a year away in savings.

In 1999 I bought a six-roomed, three storey terraced house for £58k on a £52k mortgage. The house needed quite a bit of work, which I planned to enjoy doing (mostly by myself) at a leisurely pace in my free time. I moved into the house and let the flat for £350pm, which covered the mortgage payments on the house.

At this point, I had a serious accident at work and lost my job because I was no longer able to carry out the required tasks. No matter how many vacancies I applied for, I could not get another job. Eventually they sent me to be assessed by the DSS doctor and he decided that my injury qualified me for Incapacity Benefit, so I no longer had to sign on and go through the soul-destroying process of repeatedly being rejected by employers.

The court warded me £12k industrial injury compensation and I spent it making the whole house habitable. Rather than scraping by on IB, as each of the three spare bedrooms became finished and furnished, I let them (and use of the house) to lodgers. By 2001 I had three rooms let and over ten years I have made over £100k from letting rooms to lodgers.

In 2007, after trouble with a tenant, I sold the flat (bought for £12k) for £70k, and used the profit to pay off the mortgage on the house, and invested the remainder in ISAs, bonds, etc. I add to that by putting all my spare money away and my nestegg has grown to £75k.

The house I spent £58k buying and £12k improving is now worth £175k.

I currently get £230 pw from rents. I pay tax by self assessment and offset many of the household expenses against the income. I no longer claim IB.

And so that is how I fell into a career as a landlady by accident.

The three most wonderful things about my new life are, firstly, I am protected from the terrible things going on in the employment market: I cannot lose my job due to the recession, be made redundant or sacked. I don't have to go on endless, pointless and soul destroying interviews, "sell" myself to some crappy employer, or suck up to some horrible boss telling me what to do for 40 hours a week. I don't have to retire at 65 and suddenly have a huge reduction in my income; I can keep this up so long as I am able to climb stairs. People will always need somewhere to live cheaply. Secondly, I no longer have to waste my life in the daily blue collar shiftwork that I used to do. Each day I get up and can please myself what I do, seven days a week. Released from the routine, tedious daily grind, I am instead able to pursue my hobbies and interests full time, and have written (and published) five books. Thirdly, I can go on days out, trips away, and holidays as often as I like, and there is always someone here to feed the cat. My lodgers are lovely and help me to carry heavy things or get them down from high shelves. It's a comfort when I hear a noise in the middle of the night to know I'm not alone in the house.

If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer them.

Well done you! It may not be everybody's cup of tea but you took your chance and seem very happy with what you have. I don't think I have it in me to do what you did - I work 37 hours a week in a reasonably well paid job and it's not too bad. I'd still rather be in charge of my own destiny so to speak but I don't have enough grit I think

FATBALLZ

Why would anybody be 'inspired' by this story? I'm not inspired when the bloke down the road picks six random numbers and wins a million on the lottery, because it is just luck on his part without any skill.

Anyway I did have a question, how long did it take you to think up this wind-up?

geoffky

What you probably do not realise is that none of it has been done through hard work at all, just luck in your timing...simple as that...The gains that have happened over the last ten years will never in my lifetime be repeated.but well done anyway.

flecker

super.landlady wrote: »

Thanks, Mum. It never occurred to me that anyone would respond with negativity.

Good for you. But if that's truthfully the case, I'm wondering why you changed your original post from something along the lines of "I know some people here will hate me for being on IB" to "I am no longer on IB" (and added in the bit about writing five books)?

Apologies if I'm mis-remembering - but your post and your self-contradictory edits (in your comments as well as your OP) all strike me as being a little odd.

ellies_angel

I find your story to be inspirational. You found yourself in a difficult situation which for many people would have left them unable to work, living off benefits. What you have done is turn your life around so that you have the life you want. While your lifestyle may not be what everyone want's, it's what you want, and that's what's important. Good for you

Jimmy_31

OP you are awesome, fantastic and such an inspiration, saying that though id be gutted if i had 3 randoms walking round my house so i take back my initial comment.

Eton_Rifle

flecker wrote: »

Apologies if I'm mis-remembering - but your post and your self-contradictory edits (in your comments as well as your OP) all strike me as being a little odd.

She's either blowng her own trumpet and fishing for admiration or she's laying the groundwork for her sales pitch ...

and how many more metaphors can I fit in one sentence? :rotfl:

thorsoak

WELL DONE YOU!

It's really nice to hear that someone has done well, is happy and content with their lot, and achieved it through their own work.

But of course, you will have to put up with the nainsayers who will grizzle and carp about your "boasting", that you could have done better, that you have caused all the misery in the world, etc etc etc - take no notice of them - you have reached a plateau of contentment - and what more could any of us wish?

Just enjoy...

sequence

Eton_Rifle wrote: »

She's either blowng her own trumpet and fishing for admiration or she's laying the groundwork for her sales pitch ...

and how many more metaphors can I fit in one sentence? :rotfl:

My first thought was "Where's the link to the website selling how to's"