Only freedom will do

Karmacat

Hi Ed!

BTL ... it really depends on the market and the property. My business partner bought a studio flat in a serviced building for his mum - there was a lift, live plants in the corridors, etc - and when she died, he kept it as a rental. Now, admittedly umpteen years later, its increased about seven times over in capital value, and he rents it out at just under market rates to ensure its always occupied. It's given back a huge amount to him, but he does do all the management work himself, which is a fair bit when tenants change over, for a couple of weeks, anyway.

You know the catastrophe I've made of my attempt, via my French apartment nuff said.

You're prepared to do the MB at odd hours, and dip in and out of "work" with that, but its true that if it was about a BTL, it wouldn't be on *your* schedule, you couldn't say "I don't fancy it this weekend", because there's a person on the other end of the phone. And management from a company takes a big whack out of your income. Its one for the future pension, absolutely, not a short term earner.

As to what else - you'd be good at a mrmoneymustache blog, I think, but its a slow build to an income.

What about writing, writing a kindle book? Use the blog to build up to that (not a million miles from what I'm doing ).

What about consultancy in your professional area? Or writing articles in your professional area, for newspapers etc. You do have a way with words, you know.

Or a new dad book. I bet that'd sell well. Or any of the above with a Scottish angle - like with gardening, I think the Scottish/northern angle gets badly overlooked.

Are there any practical skills you have, but you haven't used for ages?

Sorry, you probably didn't want an essay

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Just waiting for Mr T to be ready to leave for church - 15 minutes to go so we will be running in :rotfl:

I think Karmacat has a point. I think a financial type blog, leading to books would be great. You would need to invest in some training possibly, but you would appeal to young and old.

Worth a think.

Best wishes Tilly x

edinburgher

You would need to invest in some training possibly, but you would appeal to young and old.

Blog training?

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

I'm still waiting for Mr T - maybe he's disppeared down the plug hole?


I would worry that giving financial guidance, without formal training, could be dodgy. I could be completely wrong

Best wishes, Tilly x x

edinburgher

Ah right - see what you mean there.

Yes, I'd be obliged not to give financial advice, but who would give that away anyway?

Nothing wrong with financial guidance or noodling.

Karmacat

edinburgher wrote: »

Blog training?

there's lots of free courses at udemy about wordpress ...

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

I'm still waiting for Mr T - maybe he's disppeared down the plug hole?


I would worry that giving financial guidance, without formal training, could be dodgy. I could be completely wrong

Best wishes, Tilly x x

Ooh! I think nearly all of the courses that lead up to IFA status are online, so it could be done ... but a friendly eye over things from an IFA would suffice, if done professionally, surely? And a disclaimer still has to go in, of course.

ETA - just seen what you've written, Ed, totally agree.

gallygirl

edinburgher wrote: »

GG, I am sure that you can do the calculations required to accurately calculate yield, but I have a sneaking suspicion that most BTL landlords do so with rose tinted spectacles on. I see this a lot on the forums, a roughly even split between people who are honest and say 'it pretty much pays for itself' and those who seem to treat the rent payments as pure profit.

Tax relief and leverage are the real takeaways.

We operate on a 5.5% gross, 4% net. Which sounds low - but that's because it's worked out on current house values, not purchase prices. Better to have a low yield because values have risen than a higher yield because they haven't (except it doesn't really matter what value they are as we're not planning on selling). That gives a healthy income without having to touch 'the pot'.

The advantage for us it that it is largely a passive income. You could get similar returns from investing - but leverage has helped us in the past and that's not so doable with the stock market. It is the area you have a lot of knowledge in though - but it needs time to keep it up to date. However, researching the market (I know you go for low cost trackers, but how do you choose the market?) can be done at your own diktat to suit you. It's not like committing to a second job every Saturday.

The IFA route sounds good for you Ed - but that's still a 'job' and not a side hustle. And writing takes time. No obvious wins . Could Little Miss Ed be a child model ?

edinburgher

Who said I was going to be an IFA?!

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Hello,

I think the wise ones who got into BTL before the property market took off in the last couple of years will continue to do well but at current prices, certainly in the South East, property is so expensive that the yield really isn't worth it now.
Otherwise I would be very tempted.
However, I disagree about the need for a gimmick. Oh and I only really got into being mse about six or seven years ago, but changing our ways by overpaying the mortgage, cutting spending on fripperies and saving in the highest interest rate low risk accounts that we could, has transformed our financial situation. And on the journey we can honestly say that we have not felt deprived, ever. Instead we have gained a great deal of enjoyment from working towards the goal. It isn't dramatic or sexy, but it has achieved a goal. Just wish we had started earlier, but you have already done that.

Good luck!

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Evening Mr E, although I didn't mean to suggest becoming an IFA, I really could see you making an excellent one.

How is lovely Juliet doing and how was her outing to see great grandparents? They must have been DELIGHTED to see her

Have a good week.

Tilly x x x