Buy to let dream

Teacher2b

Anyone have any experience of buy to let investment?

I am in the fortunate position of outright owning my own flat however my income is fairly low at the moment as I am beginning my career/ not very good at making my cash go far!

I'd love to save enough to get a deposit down on a small house and let out my flat to pay the mortgage. I have no idea if this dream is feasible or am I living in cuckoo land?

I am determined to do some good saving in order to make this happen and get a good deposit.

Any experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Werdnal

Its not just saving enough to get a deposit; you must halso ave sufficient funds to cover all the costs, both planned and unplanned, otherwise a let property can quickly drown you.

If your income is fairly low, you cannot rely on the BTL as a prop for this, as it is by no means guaranteed income. I suspect there is far more legislation and red tape that you are currently aware of aswell.

Read this:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=41160642&postcount=12

and all the links it contains for a better idea of what BTL is all about. It may be a dream now, but could be an ongoing nightmare if anything goes wrong ... and there are plenty of opportunities for that to happen!

If you think saving up for the deposit is the difficult bit, you have a lot to learn, as your problems only really start when you become a landlord ... sorry if I have dis-illusioned you!

G_M

Do you have a mortgage on your flat? If so, would the lender give you Consent To Let? Could you switch to a Buy To Let mortgage (25% deposit)?

Have you read;

New Landlords (information for new or prospective landlords)

jeffrey_williams

Hey there,

Although BTL is a dream with low salary it seems a bit far fetched. You might need a considerable amount of money for the deposit but you need to understand that after the property is transferred to your name letting the property and maintaining is not going to easy and after all that again comes the deposit for your dream property. You will need to save a lot of money before you can jump on that bandwagon.

grifferz

At least OP is far enough along that they are mortgage free on their current residence (I'm assuming that is what "own my home outright" means), so is closer than many who have BTL dreams.

Probably best to first focus on your next step up the ladder (buying a house) in isolation, then if you can do that without selling your flat it would be time to compare selling prices of similar properties vs. a pessimistic rental yield.

i.e. don't try to rely on fantasy rental income to fund your future living expenses, as the risk of ending up an accidental landlord with no options seems too high.

Teacher2b

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction with some of those threads. I'll be sure to take a good look later on. Yes I am currently mortgage free on my flat, I guess really I am just looking for ways to maximise this fortunate position.
I am aware that it will be a while before I can finance this but in the meantime I can get myself clued up on the ins and outs of letting so I can make an informed decision when the time is right. Exactly why I posted this just to 'put the feelers out'.

Thanks for the advice, any other advice welcomed

armour

Buy to let dream
Anyone have any experience of buy to let investment?

I am in the fortunate position of outright owning my own flat however my income is fairly low at the moment as I am beginning my career/ not very good at making my cash go far!

I'd love to save enough to get a deposit down on a small house and let out my flat to pay the mortgage. I have no idea if this dream is feasible or am I living in cuckoo land?

I am determined to do some good saving in order to make this happen and get a good deposit.

Any experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Teacher to be,
At the moment my brother is doing what you are considering. Due to a bereavement, the house he lives in is now mortgage free. It is too big and he wants to move on.
He has raised a (let to buy) mortgage of just under 50% on it to fund the outright purchase of another house in which he intends to live.
He used the principality B S as it considers people with a min income of £20K (not £25K).
Good luck in your career.

Yorkie1

OP, have you checked that the lease on your flat allows you to let it out?