Millionaire Challenge

tinktay84

Hiya,

Well with regards to the property, we never pay full price for anything haha. We always look in the bargain bins in &Q etc.We once got some really nice beech effect kitchen cupboard doors with frosted glass for £1 a piece that were £18 originally.
It was actually fitted wardrobes that I was thinking of as our current property had fitted units to 2 bedrooms and the many times ive moved house ive always ended up with no wardrobes as they are either cheap and I throw them on moving out or they break.
I havent even mentioned this yet as I know he would flip his lid.
all I was talking about to him was spending a few pounds on a feature wall to the lounge still neutral) and he said 'not everyone likes feature walls you know' I said I knnow they dont but its better than boring old magnolia everywhere you look, to which he said 'thats what people want'
I wouldnt mind but if needed he will fit a new bathroom, kitchen & central heating (he is gas engineer/plumber) so our main costs are lower than most anyway, I will do any plastering, tiling & decorating and my uncle does fitted wardrobes so really we are in a great position. We also know a spark and a roofer so if anything on that side needs doing we are ok

With the photo paper I was considering doing a video but im shy and would want to keep re doing it etc haha. I have often said I can put a camera up in corner of a room im decorating and then speed it up and put it on my website. My website is up and running and gets quite a bit of traffic.I have never paid for any advertising and despitte several phone calls telling me otherwise, i often come up on the first page of google. Ive had a bit of a knock back in confidence this week as on 1 job alone around 4 things have gone wrong (Ive not had 4 things go wrong all year and now all in 1 job)
Ive still to decide whether I can afford to go and do the 2nd year of the course to make me qualified to industry standard. I really want to do it and think I would be daft not to but its 3 days a week so can then either work sat sun mon tues and not have time off like i did this year or only work a couple of days a week.Plus, because I was silly enough to listen in school and pass my GCSEs I will have to pay the full course fees (the only one that will on my course) which is £2500.

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

Hey tinktay!

What course is it that you're doing again? £2500 is expensive but if it qualifies you to industry standard then surely it will boost your income?

If you don't want to star in the video, just make it "first person" so your hands, actions etc are visible and then you can just record your instructions as audio over the top of it. Or get someone else to star in it!

If you're on the first page of Google with zero paid advertising then you've found a great niche!

lessonlearned

Hi Everyone

Glad the thread is up again and hello to the new posters.

I've had a bit of set back and havent really had time to put my plans into action yet. OH going into respite care in a couple of weeks so hoping to get started soon. The last attempt at respite was a disaster. The nursing home was so bad I bought him home early. I seem to be spending so much time trying to find him proper care etc that I've no time to get my plans up and running. Anyway that's enough of that.

Tinktay - interested to hear your ideas about how to present your properties. I agree with you - best finish you can get, = better tenants and fewer void periods.

Would definitely go with the fitted wardrobes if you can, they are a fixture and fitting so will also add value to your property too, as well as appealing to renters.

Ditto your feelings about magnolia walls and brown carpets, ugh. Creamy coloured neutrals by all means. How about decent laminate for floors (at least downstairs). It keeps it's looks longer. Tenants aren't always terribly careful about carpets and they can look pretty tatty very quickly.

Not sure about feature walls - would you be restricting your tenants decoration choice, would you be upset if they painted it over.

Given that many of my plans have to be on hold for a while yet, I have decided to do a couple of courses in the next few months to hone my skills and learn a few new tricks.;)

In the meantime I'm in the process of revamping my finances, best deals, new bank and savings accounts, chasing up old creditors etc and chasing up money owed to me by my tardy Spanish solicitor:mad:

I'll get there yet.

Good luck everyone.

lapis_lazuli

Alright, I'll join in the challenge! :j but first, there's something I'm not so sure about.

A few people have made their millions from buying property, but is this realistic for most of us?

I'm 27. If I was good with money, I could save approximately NZ$300 - $500 every fortnight. Let's say the cost of a deposit on a house is NZ$15,000 and assume I save $500. That's 30 fortnights, or roughly 15 months' worth of savings. Then I get a mortgage. Let's pretend it takes 25 years to pay off. At that point I will be 54 years old with no further capital to invest in a second property. Even if I had a second income stream, which would make paying off the mortgage easier, it still wouldn't leave me much time in which to make the required capital to invest in a second home. It seems to me that in order to make money off property, you either have to start extremely young (like 16) or you will require a substantial cash injection, the amount of which you would never be able to save on your own.

Understand that I'm not trying to be defeatist, but with such low interest rates due to the current recession, I can't see how such a line of attack would be successful. In short, it seems you have to already be a millionaire in order to become one. Am I naive?

tinktay84

hiya all, thanks for comments on property.
The feature wall i was thinking would be a blown vinyl in a neutral colour/colours. That way its not plain but its also still neutral and can be repainted (as was mentioned by someone??)

Im a painter and decorator and the second year is industry standard, i would like to do the third year which is specialised paint effects such as marble and wood grain.There is a lot of money in that but its very specialised so you need to be good at it.

My website is viewed a lot as my van is signed up with my website bigger than my phone number as I know personally I find it easier to remember a web address or at least remember enough to google it.

Also there are very few websites that are for female decorators so if you type in female decorators its pretty easy to get on page 1.

Im not hoping to make a fortune on property just a bit of a side line to increase the revenue and build up equity. To be able to get a mortgage on a second property is our biggest hurdle and if we pull it off we are well on our way. if we were to sit down with a bank manager im confident it would be a yes straight away but as its all computers now, our current set up is a big fat NO.

lessonlearned: Sorry to hear of the problems you are having with care, it is very difficult trying to find somewhere that you are happy with but thankfully things are getting better and there is some good respite out there. Hope you manage to get sorted. What kind of courses are you looking into?

lvm

lapis_lazuli wrote: »

Alright, I'll join in the challenge! :j but first, there's something I'm not so sure about.

A few people have made their millions from buying property, but is this realistic for most of us?

I'm 27. If I was good with money, I could save approximately NZ$300 - $500 every fortnight. Let's say the cost of a deposit on a house is NZ$15,000 and assume I save $500. That's 30 fortnights, or roughly 15 months' worth of savings. Then I get a mortgage. Let's pretend it takes 25 years to pay off. At that point I will be 54 years old with no further capital to invest in a second property. Even if I had a second income stream, which would make paying off the mortgage easier, it still wouldn't leave me much time in which to make the required capital to invest in a second home. It seems to me that in order to make money off property, you either have to start extremely young (like 16) or you will require a substantial cash injection, the amount of which you would never be able to save on your own.

Understand that I'm not trying to be defeatist, but with such low interest rates due to the current recession, I can't see how such a line of attack would be successful. In short, it seems you have to already be a millionaire in order to become one. Am I naive?

Hey Lapis,

The hope with buying investment/rental property is that there will be a positive rental yield (the rent would cover the mortgage and any associated expenses) and you'd have some left over. If you saved this deposit for 15 months, bought the property, what would stop you saving another deposit for another 15 months and getting another? It should take even less than 15 months because you should be getting an extra income from your rental. If things go very well, savings for a deposit for a 3rd property should be even quicker. If you put a limit on how many you do you can work out what extra monthly income you would be bringing in and maye put this towards paying off one or more of the mortgages in half the time...

That's the method I'll be following once I've got my first deposit ready!

lessonlearned

Hi Tinktay

I've got a couple of ideas for courses. But first need to explain.

I am looking at more than one idea for generating income - as I explained I am now 60 and therefore I want to forward plan so that any business I go into will be "age proof".

I need to think about the time when I am less agile and can then "supervise" or manage the businesses.

Although I am technically due to retire (draw my state pension next year) I really cannot see me doing nothing. I have no intention of vegetating for the next 20 years or so.

I have three main areas that I am considering and I feel that they can be incorporated and run alongside each other.

I am a qualified beauty therapist with a keen interest in complementary therapies. I make most of my own potions and possets.

I am now looking at taking a professional qualification in complementary therapies - massages and treatments etc.

One of my business interests would then be to open my own home based mini treatment centre, and possibly start manufacturing some of my own natural products etc.

I have always dabbled in furniture restoration and bric-a-brac. I have done loads of car-boots etc, a bit of e-bay, and also through auction houses. I would now like to go a bit more upmarket - antique fairs etc, possibly on-line but not quite sure how to go about this. Need to have a good think about this. This would be my second income stream.

One of my sons is a very good photographer and I intend to market some of his work alongside my antiques and bric-a-brac, so ideally my next property would have some sort of outbuilding I could turn into a gallery/antiques centre/workshop.

I'm looking at upholstery courses etc to help with the furniture side of things. I already have interior design and fashion design skills under my belt.

I intend to upgrade those skills to a more professional standard and I am really keen to have a go at some woodworking/carpentry. I would also very much like to learn how to design and make furniture from scratch.

I think that once I've got myself sorted out with OH's nursing etc, then I shall be able to get cracking.

My long term plan is to sell this house - using some of the capital to buy a couple of buy to lets with my sons. This would be my third income generator.

So I think there's plenty to go at.

What do you think about my plans, any tips, ideas and suggestions would be very much appreciated - especially regarding web stuff.

Although I'm a bit of a technophobe - I have two sons who would help with this side of things.

I know it seems ambitious but I know I'm quite capable of doing all this, I have my sons to help, my sister is keen to join in as well and would like to run a coffee shop at the antiques centre. BIL is an ace cook. We're all good gardeners and could also incorporate a small plant and produce section.

What do you think?

tinktay84

I dont believe in being too ambitious. I think people that use that phrase are either not very open minded or are too scared to try

That sounds like a great start and certainly some solid foundations to start with. I once worked with a lady that having turned 50 decided that she wasnt happy spending the rest of her working life doing what she was doing and also didnt want to just vegetate for 20yrs (as you said too) so she went into complementary therapy and hasnt looked back. I think you are very realistic with what youre saying about looking into the future but you are also very optimistic making sure you have a few different plans. I would say you are pretty much on the road

I was signed up for an interior design course but it got cancelled so I am waiting to hear when the next one is running as it is very much what im into. I keep saying I would love to do woodwork and/or plastering as well so you sound like my kind of person. I love making things and producing original pieces but my problem is seeing an idea through as I have a very short attention span. On the plus side ive identified that ive got short attention span so I know what kind of tasks to set myself.

With regards to the internet side of things, if I were you I would have a read up on the basics, play dumb to your sons so they help you out but you have the basic knowledge for when they arent available.
My website is one ive set up myself from templates they give you. It was just difficult deciding what design etc to choose as on these 'make it yourself' places you are limited
=

tinktay84

Well I have made a start on my first e-guide.... in that I have a topic, a title page and a picture haha.
Ive always been quite good with lists and organisation and writing guides etc so hopefully I will find it fairly easy (ish) Im hoping to get 2 or 3 set up, print them out and get them checked over as im terrible for not spotting the 1 error until its too late.

Does anyone have a clue what price to put on them? I was thinking 99p as its a very small sum so people may not mind paying it and you are able to get guides without paying (but not always exact)

lessonlearned

Hi Tinktay

Think the feature wall in the blown vinyl would be good, sorry I thought by feature wall you meant something in a contrasting colour. I think that could put potential tenants off, especially if it was wall-paper. But textured neutrals would be a good way to go.

I too love interior design etc, hence my interest in renovating furniture - in a previous life I worked in construction on the sales side - I loved titivating the show houses.:D

I've taught myself all the marbling, special finishes etc but I agree that if you want to be really good and get the top jobs a professional qualification would be the best way forward. You can charge better rates too. It's a very specialised area and well worth getting into.

Think the e-guides sound a fab idea, might just pinch it from you - don't worry it would be in different subject ideas so no competition there. (Could you pm me your website address etc when you are ready) If that is allowed of course.

99p sounds about right to me.

Did a bit more research into courses - there's a local private company that does the construction type, so will give them a ring to suss them out and get registered for the next batch. Theres some basic woodworking skills for starters, and also several for plasterers, tiling etc.

The complementary therapies is a longer course and is a very intensive one, with a lot of extra input away from lectures, so might need to put that one on hold for now.

My thinking is if I can't get properly cracking until OH's care issues are fully sorted then I can at least be making other preparations by upgrading my skills, doing my market research etc.

Anyway OH's carer here now, so off to do a quick whizz round the supermarket and then a little trawl round the charity shops to look for bric a brac etc.

Bye for now