Another inheritance query

AimHigh

I think I'd also be inclined to pay off all (or a large chunk of) the mortgage given the circumstances.

However, as Alex (iirc) said - it's probably worth asking on the Housing board as well to get a fair range of opinions.

RedMonty

Ask your landlord family member - if you were to buy a BTL property, would she look after it for you? (with a fair fee structure of course). If she says no! then thats your answer. If she says maybe, then time for a good sitdown with her and discuss all the options and pitfalls of being a BTL landlord.

If you don't feel comfortable discussing these things with her, then don't be a BTL landlord. It's a minefield for the inexperienced. My dad is in a care home and I stumbled unwillingly into being a landlord of his old flat to cover his care fees. I have an expensive agency helping me (Winkworths) and there's still been the odd expensive !!!!up.

As a dad & carer of two kids, I really don't have time for a full time job or for rushing over to sort out urgent tenant issues (e.g. their floor rotted away & collapsed over last Xmas due to leakage from shower - Winkworths sorted out emergency repairs for me while I was out of the country attending a wedding with my kids & family)

Regarding working from home, there's a fair few thing you can do e.g Amazon delivery driver, or working through Fiverr / Taskrabbit etc. As a lab tech, you have a logical mind. Have you thought about taking up coding for a hobby? I'm working through an online iOS programming course at the moment as I have a few app ideas for the particular niche I used to work in, and it's been easy to fit in around my childcare commitments.

Moneycat

Hi,
Thought I comment as well. As others have suggested, paying off your mortgage (depending on the rate, if any penalties for early payment etc) would be a good one. No risk and your ‘monthly income’ would be the money you save in the monthly mortgage payments. It would be a safe bet.
With BTL you would be taking on quite a lot more risk – possibility of bad tenants, changing legislation, etc but it’s not necessarily a no-no. You seem to yearn not only to invest but also to have something to occupy your time that can be fitted around family commitments.
Are you good at DIY? Could you get a property in need of work for £50k and then use the rest to do it up? You would be adding value, and it’d give you something to do. In the best case scenario, you would have an asset that will produce an income as well as provide capital appreciation. There are many downsides being a landlord and it is certainly not a licence to print money and it’s not for everyone. I was in a similar dilemma 8 years ago, when we had more or less cleared out residential mortgage. We bought a 1 bed flat that required some work. It turned out to be a 3 month project but it has been let ever since with minimal void periods. We have been lucky in that we have had good tenants but we have had issues where we have had to become involved in mediating residents conflicting life style issues (noise, babies, smoking). It has provided a steady income and appreciated around 60% in value during this time. Would I do it again? Not so sure. If it wasn’t for the extra stamp duty, it’d probably look to buy, refurbish and sell rather than let.

The advice I’d give for you is to:
1) take your time and do your research. Read ALL about B2L – you need to know the pitfalls, your target tenants, tenancy law, taxation, maintenance. The list is endless. I would also look to join some landlord forums just to see the types of issues that they come across day to day and see how you feel about tackling them if it were you in their shoes.
2) Buy a freehold house rather than a flat if you can afford it. You will have a full responsibility for the maintenance but also full control
3) Have your exit strategy – property is an illiquid asset.
4) Do your sums; buying/maintenance/selling/taxation. If you net gain is around 3%, you have to ask yourself if it is really worth it for the potential hassle and risks.

Property aside, you mention your niche hobby – chillies. If I were you, I would give this a bit more thought. Is there a way that you could turn your hobby/passion into a business? There could well be a small market for this that would be enough to give you a some income without you taking too much risk but more importantly, to occupy your time. Could you grow and sell chilli plants at local farmers markets? Any local plant fairs/school events/etc? Or run after school Chilli club with kids growing their own? Or grow chillies for local restaurants? Do you have an extensive collection of varieties and sell the seeds via web-site/eBay? If you were to clear your mortgage and have some money left over, this could be a fun run to try and turn it into something profitable without too much at risk.

Wishing you best of luck whatever you decide.

lytton

RedMonty wrote: »

Regarding working from home, there's a fair few thing you can do e.g Amazon delivery driver, or working through Fiverr / Taskrabbit etc. As a lab tech, you have a logical mind. Have you thought about taking up coding for a hobby? I'm working through an online iOS programming course at the moment as I have a few app ideas for the particular niche I used to work in, and it's been easy to fit in around my childcare commitments.

I've not explored Fiverr or Taskrabbit actually, I'm guessing people post job ads on them and traders bid for the work, or something to that effect? My lab expertise is more hands on than coding/bioinformatics as such, in fact the last programming language I learnt was HTML, so I'm way out the loop, but it's something I could consider investing spare time in. I always got the feeling from fellow coders and website designers etc that the market was saturated and they struggled to get reliable jobs, but I suspect initiative always plays a role.

lytton

Moneycat wrote: »

You seem to yearn not only to invest but also to have something to occupy your time that can be fitted around family commitments.
Are you good at DIY? Could you get a property in need of work for £50k and then use the rest to do it up? You would be adding value, and it’d give you something to do. In the best case scenario, you would have an asset that will produce an income as well as provide capital appreciation.

Funnily enough it was the homes under the hammer bug that caught me. My main weakness is that my DIY ability is nothing to write home about; I'd describe it as painfully mediocre at best. I certainly have no experience in any proper trade, although I do have a couple of family connections in relevant trades which can be advantageous. The auction house was always something that attracted me, but a lot of it is just wishful thinking.

Property aside, you mention your niche hobby – chillies. If I were you, I would give this a bit more thought. Is there a way that you could turn your hobby/passion into a business? There could well be a small market for this that would be enough to give you a some income without you taking too much risk but more importantly, to occupy your time. Could you grow and sell chilli plants at local farmers markets? Any local plant fairs/school events/etc? Or run after school Chilli club with kids growing their own? Or grow chillies for local restaurants? Do you have an extensive collection of varieties and sell the seeds via web-site/eBay? If you were to clear your mortgage and have some money left over, this could be a fun run to try and turn it into something profitable without too much at risk.

Wishing you best of luck whatever you decide.

I've joked about it with former colleagues and friends quite a lot actually. The market in chilli related products has boomed in the UK over the past few years or so as more people are drawn to hot foods. I made my own sauces for a while and sold them to colleagues, even getting them to rope in staff from nearby nhs trusts. However, the chilli sauce market is saturated, I remember chatting to some producers and food markets in Birmingham last year who said it's seriously tough. They can go entire days without selling a single jar at markets, and many of the big supermarkets have deals with monster producers elsewhere and really don't give much thought to smaller producers. Their best contracts were with gastro-pubs/artisan restaurants who were more open to doing deals with local traders. I know that chilli farms exist in the UK because I've toured them, but in every instance it requires a good plot of land, and then investment in infrastructure etc. I'd have to start smaller scale I expect by finding some allotment space to get a smaller batch going. Winter months will be almost entirely unproductive as well due to our climate. However, being a member of several online chilli communities I'm aware that community seed/plant swaps are popular which can sometimes limit the ability to elbow in and convince others to spend money. I'm not opposed to any of this by any means, however as far as green fingers go I'm actually swaying towards starting up a basic garden maintenance service at the moment, although it wouldn't materialise for at least another year or so (when I become eligible for nursery hours for the kids). I have no formal training or qualifications in basic gardening, but I've got plenty of personal experience managing my own, and the internet is rife with tips for small to medium scale garden upkeep. Hardly original I know, but in my area I believe there are plenty of older residents who may find it helpful to pay someone to trim the laws and hedges etc as they might perhaps struggle a little more with it in later life. This would be a topic for another thread closer to the time however if I decide to seriously commit to it. At present I can't see myself wanting to return to the NHS, not on any of the lower pay bands anyway. Even with the recent announcement that pay caps will be lifted, the pay is still lagging way behind other professions which I consider to be less intense, but that's the nature of the NHS I suppose. I'm going off on a tangent now anyway. Thanks for the kind words, I think it's clear that clearing the mortgage will put me and my family in a more advantageous position in the long-run.

justme111

I guess where there is gardening then some more bits and bobs happen - landscaping, fences etc. One of my friends recently at the age of 5O done open uni course and then masters in environmental science on the back of selling nursery plants at fairs, doing gardening, landscaping and pest control. He now earns his and his family living with ecological surveying and other environmental works; happy to do what he likes, feeling it is useful for society and being his own boss.
Good luck , I remember how hard and forever it seemed that my child was young but indeed time goes by fast - enjoy your time with them and please do not feel that you are any less valuable than any highly paid achiever - hat off to you for doing what you are as I am sure it requires a lot of selfassurance and strength.

RedMonty

Gardening seems a good idea, especially if there are lots of gardens on your street and older people / young professional parents with no idea how / time to look after their gardens.

When I moved into my current house from a flat, I had no idea how to look after my garden & 2 very young kids so not much time or energy left over to learn how. I hired one of my neighbours from 2 houses over to hack away at my jungle on a weekly basis. He was a professional accountant in his day job - like you - but much preferred working in gardens .

I spent about a year, maybe 2 years watching him & asking annoying (!) questions about gardens, then took over managing my garden myself. It's looking lovely now, thanks to him and what I learned from him. Good way to meet neighbours too and build local community.