How good/bad is this plan?

bluefukurou

gingercordial wrote: »

If/when you return to the UK and want to buy your own property bear in mind you will have to get rid of this BTL one if you don't want to pay the extra 3% SDLT on the property you buy for yourself, which will presumably be more expensive than this one so a bigger hit. CGT will then be payable on the sale of the BTL.

Funnily enough, one reason I thought I might buy a house in the £200k range is that as a first time buyer, using my one and only FTB card on a larger property seems to make more sense, as opposed to buying a small 2 bed terrace. I also may only need a 2 bed apartment/house for myself when the time comes, so would be downsizing in a sense if I got rid of the first house.

Larac

Have you had a look at the number of 'student pod' type accommodation in the area? They are very attractive to students as they have the extras in such as fast fibre BB, Sky TV bill included etc. All in competition with B2L land lord housing, in often very dubious areas. My daughter is off to Demontford in September and there was a lot of choice, so looking at shared housing did not appeal. Agree with previous comments that the younger generation have high expectations on their room requirments.

bluefukurou

westernpromise wrote: »

Why not just put your cash into dollar denominated shares? That way you'd be speculating on the dollar-pound rate, which is no different to speculating in the price of student accommodation in Sheffield but a lot less work.

So you'd be advising to go down the shares rather than property road? I know very little about shares, but I've read that a tracker fund seems to be considered a popular long term and fairly safe route. As I said, a property, plus a load in shares is something I'm interested in. At the moment I've saved £80k and that will continue to grow each month, so I'd prefer to do something rather than let inflation erode it.

foxy-stoat

Try sticking £50K in premium bonds while you wait - you may get a few nice wins !

bluefukurou

Larac wrote: »

Have you had a look at the number of 'student pod' type accommodation in the area? They are very attractive to students as they have the extras in such as fast fibre BB, Sky TV bill included etc. All in competition with B2L land lord housing, in often very dubious areas. My daughter is off to Demontford in September and there was a lot of choice, so looking at shared housing did not appeal. Agree with previous comments that the younger generation have high expectations on their room requirments.

Good point, there are lots of student accommodation buildings going up, so it's something to consider. I guess if the market is saturated, things could go wrong, but I do know that Sheffield is as about as good enough as it gets when it comes to student numbers and the future. I was a student myself at Sheffield University five years ago and know the areas are still busy and full of a variety of people.

robatwork

bluefukurou wrote: »

So you'd be advising to go down the shares rather than property road?

You haven't really mentioned your pension - at your age you should be thinking about retirement as it's about 25 or fewer years away.

Part of your pension strategy could be BTL or equally could be some higher risk investments if you want to gamble, which a student let would be. If you are buying a house for yourself anyway, do you want to risk your entire "pension" on house prices? Surely better to spread risk by having property, shares and cash.

You'll get better guidance about this on the pensions forum.

sheepy21

bluefukurou wrote: »

Funnily enough, one reason I thought I might buy a house in the £200k range is that as a first time buyer, using my one and only FTB card on a larger property seems to make more sense, as opposed to buying a small 2 bed terrace. I also may only need a 2 bed apartment/house for myself when the time comes, so would be downsizing in a sense if I got rid of the first house.

FTB buyer card? The FTB perks are for if the house is your main residence, which for you it wouldn't be!

martindow

westernpromise wrote: »

Why not just put your cash into dollar denominated shares? That way you'd be speculating on the dollar-pound rate, which is no different to speculating in the price of student accommodation in Sheffield but a lot less work.

I'm not sure if investing all your savings and being subject to the whims and vagaries of Trump is a good idea.

westernpromise

bluefukurou wrote: »

So you'd be advising to go down the shares rather than property road? I know very little about shares, but I've read that a tracker fund seems to be considered a popular long term and fairly safe route. As I said, a property, plus a load in shares is something I'm interested in. At the moment I've saved £80k and that will continue to grow each month, so I'd prefer to do something rather than let inflation erode it.

Pretty much, although you're probably paid in a dollar-linked currency and the dollar is, I think, always going to be a more reliable place to put money than pounds or euros or whatever.

There are broadly two aspects to any investment, the income and the capital growth. With low-end residential letting the income is uncertain because you will get voids and defaulters, and the income and capital growth alike are at risk from all parties' increasing hostility towards property owners. It's not just landlords, either - look at the obscene levels of stamp duty that are now charged. To buy my London flat in 1999 cost £2,500 in stamp duty; for someone to buy today at its current value it would be north of £40,000. The net effect is that property prices are now on the slide in many regions.

You don't really need income because you're earning well, but you do need capital growth and realising this from property is only going to get harder.

westernpromise

martindow wrote: »

I'm not sure if investing all your savings and being subject to the whims and vagaries of Trump is a good idea.

What's better, the £? I made £50k overnight the day after the Brexit vote. My dollar shares went up that much against the £.