investing faff-please help

jimjames

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

Mark Carney for a start with his talk of doom and gloom if we voted to leave the EU for a start. There were plenty of others talking the economy down if we dared to vote leave... Since 24th June shares typically jumped around 7%

What exactly do you think the BoE have been doing today? They don't exactly decide to cut interest rates to the lowest ever level on a whim because the economy is doing great.

bigadaj

jimjames wrote: »

What exactly do you think the BoE have been doing today? They don't exactly decide to cut interest rates to the lowest ever level on a whim because the economy is doing great.

Possibly grand standing to the media?

What use is a cut from 0.5% to 0.25%, I can understand the quantitate easing and funding for lending parts of the announcement, but the base rate cut just seems to be for show.

AnotherJoe

bigadaj wrote: »

Possibly grand standing to the media?

What use is a cut from 0.5% to 0.25%, I can understand the quantitate easing and funding for lending parts of the announcement, but the base rate cut just seems to be for show.

Agreed. A cut in VAT would have provided more stimulus than QE and BR cut. But that isn't in the gift of the BoE.

buglawton

I'd get a BTL mortgage and hang onto the property. There are some surprisingly low rates, eg under 3% available, with even better deals in the offing. Aim for well-referenced tenants, they're worth more than extracting the highest rent the market will bear. You may get the best mortgage deal if a paying tenant on an AST is in situ. Being a BTL investor means your investment is not being diluted by a chain of middlemen and invested in things you can't understand.

dunstonh

Being a BTL investor means your investment is not being diluted by a chain of middlemen and invested in things you can't understand.

Do you use an agent for the BTL or do it yourself?
Do you do your own refurbishments and repairs or do it yourself?
How much are you putting aside for the capital gains tax bill or will use proceeds from the sale of property to pay for that?
What do you do if a tenant doesnt pay?

You may say that conventional investing has middlemen but buy to let has costs and involves other people in most cases.

Malthusian

buglawton wrote: »

Being a BTL investor means your investment is not being diluted by a chain of middlemen and invested in things you can't understand.

If someone can't understand the extremely simple mechanics of a well-diversified stockmarket portfolio than I have grave doubts about their ability to handle the requirements of being a landlord, keeping the property occupied, balancing rent and expenditure, selecting and keeping good tenants, keeping the place maintained and compliant with regulations etc.

Frozen_up_north

.

buglawton wrote: »

I'd get a BTL mortgage and hang onto the property

Drawing £45K out of one property in the form of a buy to let mortgage, then altering the existing mortgage or possibly remortgaging the second property to take account of a second party and a change of title to dual ownership, involves a lot of messing around and quite a few quid in administration costs for no obvious financial benefit to the OP... In fact it looks like a significant cost.

By having a financial foot in the door of the property you are both currently living in might sound like a good idea for the OP, but what about their OH who won't have a share in the currently empty property?

Frozen_up_north

havingaball74 wrote: »

Frozen_up_north: would you consider BTL?

Sorry I missed your question, it helps to view the forum on a laptop rather than the tiny screen on my iPhone!

No, I wouldn't BTL. With shares, I can raise cash in a few days by selling a few, the same cannot be done with property bought to let. My share investments are primarily to grow in value with time and to be used for capital expenditure, such as replacement cars, etc. I do obtain a modest income from share dividends too, although it's not nearly as much as I could obtain from a BTL house of a similar value (assuming nearly 100% occupancy).

I'm just under 4 years from state pension age, have a company pension in payment and don't need to work anymore. Your circumstances are clearly different, and at the end of the day regardless of who you are advised by, the risk is yours.

Gareth_Alien

I'd not call myself an 'investor' (no stocks or suchlike) but I did have a small flat for a few years on a BTL mortgage which I let out to a variety or tenants.
I did mine the slightly harder way - had an agent act as introduction, contract, deposit holder and checkout for a fixed cost (approx £400 per letting IIRC) then the 'running' of the property was down to me. I could do this around a full time job.
For the most part there were no issues, but you always get that sinking feeling in your stomach if the phone rings. What's broken? What do I need to go and fix? Are they going to kick up a fuss and threaten legal action because the boilers packed up?
The alternative was to have the agent manage the property - around 15% or the rental income plus the costs of repairs and parts should anything arise.
What I'm saying (in a slightly rambling way) is does this sound like something you would be happy to take on? It can be a headache and certainly was for me a couple of times (roof leaked and flat bathroom upstairs leaked at the same time - confusing and stressful) but ultimately rewarding. Or you can take the headache out of it but would (I assume) cost more than putting your cash in stocks and funds.

bigfreddiel

dunstonh wrote: »

That is getting more expensive than an IFA. All you are doing is transferring the cost to Fidelity. You are also about double what most DIY investors would be looking to pay.



Which?

George Osborne for starters.

The list is far too long!

Now answer this one, RBS announced another massive loss today, seventh year in a row.

Is that not run by highly skilled and highly paid people? Don't they all get a nice bonus at the end of each year? For what exactly?

I would imagine anyone with a slight modicum of knowledge, say for example being able to add up one and one to come to two. Maybe being able to do percentages. I would not be surprised if they could do a better job. It's not hard!

fj