MF cant wait!

ZARA

Hi firstly a big big thankyou to you all for posting on this forum, your all a real inspiration to myself, after getting motivated from these post ive managed to get my mortgage to 33k :j:j:j
Every penny i have goes to the mortgage i cant wait for it to finish but unfortunately i wont be MF for the rest of my life as i definitely need a bigger house.
I was wondering if you guys could give me oppinions & advice on what to do in the long run, i have no saving for a deposit on next purchase, i wouldnt want to have to have 2 mortgages to be honest the debt would scare me, i have no credits cards & have been brought up not to pay any interest, my parents never did, infact in those days houses used to cheap about 20k up north so they just borrowed from family & paid back interest free in instalments, i dont have this option now, anyway getting back to this what would i do once this property is MF?

1. Do i sell & put it towards another house as i have no savings or
2. Do i keep it & rent it out & the rent will help me pay the next mortgage which will be bigger because the property will be bigger but that would mean staying put where i am for a few years to save a deposit.

Decisions, decisions, i really dont know what to do, thankyou all for reading, Merry Xmas xx:beer:

dark^knight

Hi,

Would your current mortgage lender allow you to rent your house?

I ask this as some standard mortgages have a clause which prevents you from letting out the property...well mine did.

Lois_E

Hi ZARA and welcome to MFW.

Letting a property is not something you can just do. It's running a business, and there are various rules and responsibilities. When it all goes smoothly, it can be a nice little money earner. When it goes wrong, however, it can be a bit of a nightmare. Nobody can tell you whether to do it or not, but the important thing is to find out as much as you can about it before you decide whether to take the plunge. I would recommend you spend some time on the house buying, renting etc board. There are always hapless novice landlords on there posting their problems and getting excellent advice from some very knowledgeable and helpful experienced LLs, and you can learn a great deal by reading the threads.

Tell us a bit more about yourself. Why do you need a bigger house, and how soon do you need it? How much is the probable price gap between the house you're in and the sort of house you'd like to buy? Are you doing this on your own or with a partner, and what does your partner (if any) think about it all?

madeupname1

I am a LL (and a MFW!). Letting has worked out quite well for me and I generally think it to be a good investment. However, whilst its not rocket science, you do need to make an effort to understand your responsibilities as a landlord to your tenant, the mortgage lender and the government. Also, it is high risk if you are relying on the rental income for your day to day needs. Indeed, you might find that you need to finance the rental business from your other income for a period of time whilst you establish a substantial contingency fund.

The contingency fund will help to cushion you if you are unlucky and get 'professional' non paying tenants. Alternatively you might get tenants who are honest but simply fall on hard times and cannot pay. Whatever the reason, it could leave you with 6 months plus of no rental income plus court fees to get them out. There may also be significant damage done to a property and unfortunately you may not recover the full cost of putting it right from the tenant. Even a broken down boiler on boxing day could cost a few hundred pounds to put right. Last year I had a very expensive year repairing and replacing (including the broken boiler on boxing day and the damaged house). This year, only one problem which was fixed by replacing a tap washer!

In summary its doable if you get your figures right and don't expect it to be a trouble free endeavour. Good luck with your decision

originalmiscellany

Welcome! i would say the answer is simple...
Sell your house and use it to get a bigger one.

We were sort of similar to you; 2 houses when we got married, but we tried to sell one, no-one bought it and so we rent it, but it's really not a cash cow that some people say it is. Loads of expenses that you never think about.
Given a chance, we would sell up and worry about one house only. It's not easy.