Millionaire Challenge

lessonlearned

Gothic - not quite sure what you mean. Do you mean how to put together a business plan to take to the bank or an investor. I'm sure if you have a good "Google" you will find a good how to guide. Or maybe your local library.

BTW - as an aside - when did "to google" become a verb:rotfl::rotfl:

Anyway it's good that your creative juices are flowing again and that the ideas are coming.

Hi Allie - good to see you on this board. So....... we will be rich and fabulous - sounds good to me. Thanks for the linky - I will take a look at that.

Hi Ray Kay - I think we have "spoken" before on the housebuying and selling thread.

Good to see that the moaners and whingers on there didn't put you off your property developing plans. There is an awful lot of negativity on there at times.

If I remember correctly you are going to based around Sheffield way - not a million miles from me. I wouldn't worry too much about the mortage situation. Property this neck of the woods is still pretty affordable - you should have enough cash to get you started.

Good luck with the baby - do keep us posted.

I am intrigued by some of this "Second Life" stuff - far too technical for me to get my head round. Oooops that's me showing my age.:rotfl::rotfl:



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gothrockchic1

I was meaning a guide to running a business and planning it. Sounds like I was still half asleep morning doh!

GreatBigBookcase

Hi LL, yes, I very much appreciated your positive comments over on the other thread...one of a few bits of positivity amongst the negativity. You're right re property prices in/around Sheffield. I could buy a decent BTL in one of the towns on the edge of Sheffield for around 50k. For my own place I'm looking at around 100k for a little terrace....I think my preferred plan would be to be able to buy my own place *and* a BTL both in cash, but 70k's not quite enough for the area I want to live and I'm not prepared to be flexible on my own area as I want to be close to my parents as my mom wants to be a very hands on grandma and my dad has mobility issues and none of us drive... There are a few options at around 70k, e.g there's a block of flats in a great location, where there's the occasional 2-bedder for around 70k, but the service charge is 125 pounds a month which makes the finances a bit trickier and you can't get a mortgage on those above the third floor...not a problem for me, but it might be a problem when I come to sell. But, anyway, I'll have a good look at what's on the market when I'm back and take it from there. I do still love the flipping idea (much more interesting to be involved in that, rather than just BTL investments) but I think that might be too much for me to take on initially at the same time as becoming a new mom! Have you started looking at property? You're looking for ones to flip, right?

gothrockchic1 wrote: »

I was meaning a guide to running a business and planning it. Sounds like I was still half asleep morning doh!

Two of the books I've got waiting for me in the UK are Business Plans for Dummies and Starting and Running a Business for Dummies. I've read a few Dummies books over the years and find them, on the whole, pretty useful for newbies to a subject. I'll let you know what these two are like when I get round to reading them

The Second Life thing sounds interesting. I've recently started using sites like Swagbucks for a bit of an extra income. It's not going to make me a millionaire, lots of faffing around for little reward...that said, since joining 6 weeks ago, I've done enough faffing around to have earnt myself 40 pounds in Amazon giftcards, so I'm looking at it as a way of making things like BabyKay's future birthdays and Christmas presents 'free'.

droopsnoot

[Deleted User] wrote:

Update - I just clicked onto the authors website at www.3plus1plan.com and got a free download of the book plus various other tools.

Thanks, I also visited that site to try to download as this is something I have some interest in. On my PC (XP, IE8) the form fields didn't have any titles on them, so if anyone else has the same problem the four fields are: firstname, lastname, email address, telephone number.

My problem (aside from motivation and trying to be positive) with BTL is that although I read lots of positive stories, I also know someone who has one (or possibly two) BTL properties and seems to have no end of trouble with the tenants. I don't have details, but he does seem to be continually talking about something going wrong and costing him money.

droopsnoot

EvilJaz wrote: »

Because its a website similar to PCSpecialist, Dell, Alienware.

Where you build computers. It was a great idea when i decided i wanted to do it (like 8 years ago). But not so much now that competition is so fierce.

I wouldn't necessarily let the competition put you off, as long as you can remain savvy enough to continually re-evaluate the business. From my perspective, these businesses seem to fall in and out of favour all the time, so there's plenty of room for someone else to come in and do a great job.

Dell was the poster-boy for this kind of operation, but you hear a lot of people who've had a problem with them (unavoidable that a business of that size will fall out with someone, I think, despite all efforts to the contrary) and won't touch them again. I would expect that all on-line sellers are the same.

A lot will now buy the parts from the lowest place on-line and build for themselves, but there are still plenty of people who either can't, or don't have the time, or would prefer to have someone else do that while they use their time for something else. You know you can build ten PCs alongside each other in only a little bit longer than it takes to build one.

And try to pay no attention to whoever it was that said "it's easy to make a small fortune in the computer business - just as long as you start with a large one". Or something like that.

lessonlearned

Droopsnout - you obviously seem to know a lot about computers. I'm impressed.;)

I know a fair a bit about property - I ought to after 30 years in the business.:D

My take on BTL's is rather like Martin's mantra "prepare for the worst" and hope for the best.

My advice is simply this

A good tenant is one who pays the rent. An excellent tenant is one who gets the hoover out now and again. Anything over and above that, then your tenants qualify for halos.

Accidents do happen, just make sure you are adequately insured. Luckily wilful criminal damage is extremely rare. Yes it does happen but that's what deposits are for.

Tenants are just people, messy and mucky just like anyone else. Children scribble on walls, teenagers stick posters up, pets have accidents, smokers stink the place out, boilers break down, cookers die.

Landlords should be aware that they will have to get the emulsion paint out between tenancies and that floor coverings will need to be professionally cleaned as will kitchens, especially cookers.

This will need to be done every time a tenant leaves. That way the property will remain in good condition, will look good and you can get better rents.

Carpets in BTL's have a limited lifespan - 5 years at most and that kitchens and appliances will be subject to some rough treatment and will need repairing, replacing and updating on a regular basis.

Failure to keep up proper cleaning, decorating and maintenance will mean that the property will deteriorate very quickly and will soon start to look shabby. This will affect rental values.

All of this can just simply be factored into the costs.

All businesses have expenses. Wear and tear, replacements and repairs are normal BTL business expenses.

Oh and as a final guideline - most tenants "don't do gardening" so for your own sanity either employ a gardener or make it maintenance free. Gravel the lot and plant a couple of indestructible shrubs.

Always have a proper tenancy agreement and always put the deposit in the Deposit Protection Scheme. Only offer a 6 month contract, rolling thereafter. That way if you do get lumbered with the Tenant From Hell you can serve notice and get rid of them.

Far too many amateur BTL landlords don't take their responsibilites seriously. They just play at it. They seem to think they can buy a wreck, tart it up and sit back and watch the profits roll in.

Life ain't that easy......

MKeynesMoneySaver

After downloading the free e-book 3+1 Plan I have received a couple of e-mails inviting me to join their club. Have just received a phone call as well. I'm sure it's all legit but just giving everyone the heads up.

Hoody

That's generally why these e-books are free, so they can harvest your email address and spam you with their "special offers" and on occasions sell list's of these harvested emails to others so they can do the same.

nat21luv

That's good advice LL. I'm still a tenant and have a lovey big 3 bed house in an affluent area. My Landlord lives on site in a hotel that he converted into flats and I'm a new build house next to it. It may be affluent but my LL doesn't spend a penny. The carpets were put down 9 years ago, the appliances are 'Candy' and often break, the shower breaks down constantly and the kitchen was installed 9 years ago and is falling apart! He knows about all of this but doesn't seem too bothered which annoys me as I'd like a nice house. The kitchen is bargain basement, really is basic with cheap appliances. Meanwhile he rolls around in a spanking new merc....

droopsnoot

Well, you guys are lucky, I signed up for the e-book download and never heard anything - no email to download the book, nothing. I was expecting to get on a list, and have a 'burnable' email address just in case the junk becomes overwhelming. I will try again later I think.