Downsizing

seven-day-weekend

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

The purchase of our BTL property completes on January 15th .
........

The sale completed and the tenants are due to move in as soon as all the references and checks have been verified. They were the first ones to view the flat and they took it.

We have bought a new washer drier for the flat, this just needs to be connected, which we will do in the next few days.

It is a novelty to us to own a property which needed nothing doing to it other than a light bulb changing and is still under guarantee.

lessonlearned

SDW. I have been following your adventures with great interest, the bungalow, the flat and the holiday home.

You have inspired me.......

I have just put in an offer on an apartment. Not sure whether I will live there or let it out.....it fulfills both criteria. I could happily live there and it is also a very good investment in that it would rent out very easily. Not a brand new build, it's 10 years old, but as you say, other than a lick of paint it doesn't actually need anything doing to make it rental ready.

Still not sure whether to buy a project to do up so I'm adopting a wait and see approach.

And yes I'm thinking about a nice chalet or caravan by the sea.

I miss our old apartment in Spain but now that my husband is sadly deceased I wouldn't want to live abroad by myself. Plus I want to be close to my family. So I think something here in the U.K. Just a couple of hours drive away would be ideal. It could be a little bolt hole for me and also a nice holiday home for family get togethers.

I'm glad everything has worked out so well for you. I have enjoyed following your journey.

Here's to the future.......:beer:

Make that champers.......

seven-day-weekend

Go for it lesson learned, although I'm sorry your husband is not there to share it with you.

We would not have been able to do this had not my birth aunt,( God bless her), left me a sizeable inheritance, which meant that virtually all the money from the sale of our house was available . If I had not had the inheritance , we would have had to pay for the bungalow from the sale of our house, like most people do, and then spend some more money doing it up, leaving us with much depleted savings. We could not have bought the BTL nor the Holiday Home. I have named the bungalow after her, in her honour, so that I will never forget or make light of what she did for me.

But as for yourself, yes as I said, go for it, make your investment work and have a holiday home to relax in. Keep us posted as to your progress!!

Champers at the ready, I have some (well Cava) in my fridge.

Auntie V, dance in heaven xxx

seven-day-weekend

Regarding our investment property, the first pair of prospective tenants failed the financial checks (well one of them did), so they will not be moving in after all.

However, another person will be, next week.

So, two weeks empty, can't grumble

seven-day-weekend

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Regarding our investment property, the first pair of prospective tenants failed the financial checks (well one of them did), so they will not be moving in after all.

However, another person will be, next week.

So, two weeks empty, can't grumble

Tenant moving in on Thursday

And because our apartment has been vacant for less than twenty-one days, we won't have to pay any Council Tax on it. I thought we might have to pay the first month, but we have an 'empty homes exemption' which loasts for 21 days

We are going up to the Van later this month, to finish paying for it and get the keys handed over, even though we can't use it until March 1st. Luckily there is a small hotel on the site, so we are staying there Really looking forward to that!

The previous owners have left us a bit of bedding and a few kitchen things including a kettle and a toaster, so we haven't got to start from absolutely nothing .

mumps

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Tenant moving in on Thursday

And because our apartment has been vacant for less than twenty-one days, we won't have to pay any Council Tax on it. I thought we might have to pay the first month, but we have an 'empty homes exemption' which loasts for 21 days

We are going up to the Van later this month, to finish paying for it and get the keys handed over, even though we can't use it until March 1st. Luckily there is a small hotel on the site, so we are staying there Really looking forward to that!

The previous owners have left us a bit of bedding and a few kitchen things including a kettle and a toaster, so we haven't got to start from absolutely nothing .

Sounds like everything has worked out with this set of tenants, it will be nice for you to get away and relax, selling a house and buying three properties sounds like alot of stress to me. It must be a relief to get it all sorted.

I don't mean to be nosy but I think you said you were able to do this without a mortgage? If that is the case it will be a nice little boost to the monthly income, you know my situation at the moment so my advice is enjoy it and make the most of it, it is what your auntie would have wanted.

seven-day-weekend

mumps wrote: »

Sounds like everything has worked out with this set of tenants, it will be nice for you to get away and relax, selling a house and buying three properties sounds like alot of stress to me. It must be a relief to get it all sorted.

I don't mean to be nosy but I think you said you were able to do this without a mortgage? If that is the case it will be a nice little boost to the monthly income, you know my situation at the moment so my advice is enjoy it and make the most of it, it is what your auntie would have wanted.

Thanks mumps, and I quite agree.

My husband is doing some improvements to our son's flat. I've told him to get a builder in to do it, he's 67 and he should be relaxing and doing nice things. He agrees and says this will be his last job.

We're going to the caravan at the end of the month, just for a few days initially, and then again at the end of March, when our friends are on holiday a few miles away

mumps

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Thanks mumps, and I quite agree.

My husband is doing some improvements to our son's flat. I've told him to get a builder in to do it, he's 67 and he should be relaxing and doing nice things. He agrees and says this will be his last job.

We're going to the caravan at the end of the month, just for a few days initially, and then again at the end of March, when our friends are on holiday a few miles away

I spent several weeks last summer decorating my daughters new house. I did enjoy it and she chose some really lovely colours, I love white bright houses but it was a refreshing change and did make me wonder if it was time for a change. When I finished I decorated the bedroom but bottled out and it is white with blue bedding/curtains and accessories and a wood floor. At the end of the summer I suddenly realised we hadn't done much fun stuff as I was so busy with the decorating so we are determined to do more this year but she is now moving 100 miles away as her boyfriend has got a fantastic new job and she is job hunting to join him. I have advised her to give it six months to make sure he is happy there and the job is secure but that means I might have a change this summer and do some decorating in a different city. It is nice helping them though and no doubt your husband enjoys it as much as I do.

seven-day-weekend

He's not just decorating, mumps, he's insulating the ceilings! The flat is at the top of a three-storey, flat roofed 1960s block, built when no-one cared much about insulation, and the ceiling is so cold that it gets condensation on it which then turns to black mould.

He's having to lift plasterboard onto the ceiling and then support it whilst he screws it in. My son helps when he can, but he is often at work.

A professional plasterer will finish the work once the plasterboard is up.

Then we have some guttering to do at the back mof our bungalow, I am trying to persuade him to employ a professional to do this. We shall see !

mumps

Hi
How are the new tenants going, did they move in? I have lost track of time but think it was last Thursday or maybe the one before? Think I lost a week with hospital and everything.

Your husband's DIY skills are beyond mine, decorating is about it for me but it is nice to stand back and see what you have done particularly when its for your son or daughter in my case.