Looking for a buy to let mortgage

teame1

OK I've got myself into a position which seems to fall between the cracks in terms of finding some money to finish refurbishing my house and getting it rented out.
I own a 4 bedroom terraced property is S.E.London. The house next door has sold twice in the past few years, first for 450k and then 600k about a year ago.
I don't have a mortgage and hold the freehold outright.
I don't have any cash to do the house up, but have been quoted 2k+ a month to rent it out. It's behind a university so will be easy to rent.
I own 12.5 acres of land in Essex, probably worth 150-250k, and have a guitar collection that is worth 60k+.
I have no desire to work, I just want to get the house finished and rented out. Actually want to leave the country for a few years to travel etc.
I have been trying to find a way to borrow 50k to do it up. It's more than I need but figured I would service the debt untill the work is completed and the house is rented. Once rented, I would use al the money to clear off the money ASAP.
It's crazy, but I can't seem to find a buy to let mortgage. No income seems to always be the sticking point, but I have assets worth way more than the money I want to borrow and relative to the value of the house it's a small amount also.
Any ideas what I can do?

Wh05apk

Is the property currently rentable as you say you need the funds to finish refurbing the property?

What are you living on, do you have any income, as you say you have no desire to work?

Mrs_Z

Well, sell your guitar collection or some of the land.

teame1

Wh05apk wrote: »

Is the property currently rentable as you say you need the funds to finish refurbing the property?

What are you living on, do you have any income, as you say you have no desire to work?

The property has had loads of work done to it.
New roof, double glazing, 2 new bathrooms put in, plastering done everywhere. I planned to put the kitchen in the first extension but now want to extend the second extension to put the kitchen in. I also want to build a storage garage at the end of my garden. To my right there are garages already and to my left the 3 houses all that have the kitchen extension.
I own a lot of stuff so most rooms are full with stuff for the house etc.
In essence apart from the extentions, it just needs decorating and the wardrobe's/beds put in. (all of which are bought.)

So I would say it needs a bit of work before I would be happy to rent it out. but wouldn't take very long.
I have a bit of cash left that I live off, take note I live very cheaply.
I have some cash abroad which can sort me out once abroad. I actually left the country in 2003 and returned in 2010 to sort the house out after I was told by the local council that I couldn't leave the house empty.

As said I am in a strange position. I could sell my guitar collection to pay for it all but it takes time to shift high end and very old guitars and the market is a bit stagnant at the moment.
I could sell my land, but again I don't want to at this point in my life.

And yes, I could get a job and then sort out my financing, but after years away from the IT industry my job prospects aren't what they are and if I can get the property rented out, I want to go travelling again.

As already said, I would have thought my assets are worth way more than I need and I would have no problem putting the land up as a guarantee against the loan..........and the house is worth 10 times what I want to borrow. I have a great credit history, or I did up till 2003.
I paid off my mortgage around 2001 when I was working for Morgan Stanley in London. After 9-11 I got made redundant as the bank downsized and I kind of changed my direction in life.
I'm not looking to borrow the money to sit on my backside and live off it.

teame1

Mrs_Z wrote: »

Well, sell your guitar collection or some of the land.

Thanks for the useful post.
If I wanted to do this, I would have done so, and wouldn't be posting here to find advice on getting the cash I need.

Rafter

Pre 2008 you probably wouldn't have had a problem, but lenders are now so risk averse that despite your assets and the security you are rather stuck.

Another thought, if you are old enough, would be some sort of equity release loan - but that might prove problematic when you come to rent the property out.

Selling some of your assets - the guitars or the land in essex, seem to be your only option at this stage unless you can find a friendly investor or specialist division of the bank who will lend you the money outside 'normal' lending criteria.

Good luck.

R.

GMS

If you want to raise finance for refurbishment then this would seem to be very easy given the figures. Commercial Finance would be one place to start. 6 months later look at a remortgage to a Buy to Let.

If the place is suitable for letting now then you could try a Buy to Let application now.

Where would you live after the property is rented?

Wh05apk

Most BTL lenders require a minimum income, TMW and Aldermore being the exceptions, however I am not sure if they would lend to someone who is effectively unemployed, and will therefore be becoming a "professional" landlord. I can't remember what questions they ask on the app, it's one of those sections, that I normally don't need to pay attention to!

I would suggest speaking to a broker as both of these lenders are only through brokers.

teame1

GMS wrote: »

If you want to raise finance for refurbishment then this would seem to be very easy given the figures. Commercial Finance would be one place to start. 6 months later look at a remortgage to a Buy to Let.

If the place is suitable for letting now then you could try a Buy to Let application now.

Where would you live after the property is rented?

As said, I plan to go back to S.E Asia where I was living between 2003 and 2010. If after a few years I decided to return to the UK I would either live in one room and rent the other 3 bedrooms out, but I don't envisage doing this at the moment.

I can make enough money playing music in S.E Asia to cover my life out there.

As said, I really want to rent it out once all the work is complete.
If I can sort out financing then I would hope to have it rented out in 6 months or less. Although I might check out Olympics rental as it may be a lucrative option

GMS

Raising 50k should be easy assuming property stacks up.

Long term refinancing is the bit that needs to be nailed down.

teame1

GMS wrote: »

Raising 50k should be easy assuming property stacks up.

Long term refinancing is the bit that needs to be nailed down.

As in?

Thanks for looking and advising by the way. T