Buy to let?

bytheseas

Well. I'm due some inheritance in the next week or two and I've been thinking hard about what I want to do with it.

1: Pay off the majority of my mortgage.
2: Bank it and just use it for an easier life/more holidays and fun for a few years.
3: Buy to let.

I do love the idea of being mortgage free myself so number one is super appealing. However, I know for a fact if I pay my mortgage off I will end up just being a little lazier with work and earning less so I wont really notice the difference.
2 in my option would be amazing to do for those years but I have no doubt I would regret it.

That leaves option 3. Buy a buy to let house outright. I could get a property with around 8% yield fairly easily in my city. I know I will still work as hard if I do this option but then I will have the asset of a another home and the addition of extra income to start paying down my own mortgage or maybe even go towards a second but to let.

However I know nothing about rentals. Will i not be making as much as I think? Anything else I should know before doing this option?

Thoughts and options really appreciated.

AlexMac

Lots of others will point you to the stickies on this forum about the skills, attitude and obligations required of being a Landlord, and the need to be able to effect repairs rapidly and cope with voids and a a bad tenant if you're unlucky..

BUT, I've never regretted slipping into being a small BTL landlord after purchasing a flat for a family member 20+ years ago then letting it out after they moved on. The Self- Assessment tax is a doddle and you just have to be ready to replace boilers and white goods the moment they bust. Choose your tenants wisely with all appropriate checks (yourself or via an agent) and treat them right and in my experience, they'll reciprocate; never a bad debt in my case.

BUT, and it's a big but, it really depends on yield, house price capital growth and the market locally. I've now had five BTL flats or second homes over the years and still rent 2 out, but the real gain from thos came in the amazing Capital uplift in values over the late 20th Century, then again, after the crash of 2007/8 in the past six years (in my area at least). That means I've probably made more in Capital Gains than rent, which is daft (and why younger people like my grand daughter on average wages will never afford a place of her own without help- quite awful for her generation X!)

That (inflation) just ain't going to happen in the next few years ... in my view at least. In fact we almost got burned when we bought a place in 2007 at the peak of the market... and just got out evens four years later; if we hadn't bought a wreck, tightly managed the refurb cost (£25k for a full internal gut-out with new everything including 2 new bathrooms) we'd have lost money as prices in that area dropped 25% in 2008.

So look at the trends locally- take others' advice on being a LL, consider property as a very "illiquid" investment, and work out if its for you.

tom9980

bytheseas wrote: »

Well. I'm due some inheritance in the next week or two and I've been thinking hard about what I want to do with it.

1: Pay off the majority of my mortgage.
2: Bank it and just use it for an easier life/more holidays and fun for a few years.
3: Buy to let.

I do love the idea of being mortgage free myself so number one is super appealing. However, I know for a fact if I pay my mortgage off I will end up just being a little lazier with work and earning less so I wont really notice the difference.
2 in my option would be amazing to do for those years but I have no doubt I would regret it.

That leaves option 3. Buy a buy to let house outright. I could get a property with around 8% yield fairly easily in my city. I know I will still work as hard if I do this option but then I will have the asset of a another home and the addition of extra income to start paying down my own mortgage or maybe even go towards a second but to let.

However I know nothing about rentals. Will i not be making as much as I think? Anything else I should know before doing this option?

Thoughts and options really appreciated.

There are lots of other options than those 3. What about your pension situation do you even have one?

There are extra taxes involved including extra stamp duty and s24 not to mention lots of talk of extra regulation being touted by politicians both red and blue. Landlords are easy targets despite the low yields most rental property deliver. Then you have the house price growth of the last 8 years or so, we are now seeing the first wobbles and signs we might be near or at the top of the cycle.

I personally would be ensuring my pension was well financed and investing the rest in stocks and shares isa's, long before the hassle of being a landlord in the current climate.

Cakeguts

You have to do a lot or business research on what lets where you live. I will give you an example of my research for an area of the country that we let houses in. For the area that we let in 2 bed terraced houses are cheap. But my research told me that there were lots and lots of these available to rent at any one time on the market which also told me that there were fewer tenants looking for this type of property than the number of properties available. What was in very short supply was 3 bed semis with drives. These were much more expensive to buy. However although the yields looked lower than a 2 bed terraced with the 3 bed semis you could get much longer tenancies. So several years of continual occupation by the same good tenant who pays the rent and looks after the property. What you don't want is lots of voids when the property is vacant because that is when you seriously lose money. The longer the tenancy the better. Our business model works. We have very few voids and if we have one we don't have one for long.



The problem is that you can easily get confused by a property being let for what intially looks like 8% yield but you don't know how long that tenancy is for. It could be 6 months followed by a void of 3 months. This is why something where the tenancy goes on for years is better but may look like a lower yield to begin with.

bytheseas

To be honest, I think it's a market I know fairly well just from living here and renting for most of my adult life/seeing friends using the rental market too.

I know my area well, places to avoid, places families would like to live and what areas generally rent for. But I have also been checking out how many of each property type are available in my surrounding estates and what these generally rent for.

This may sound like a stupid thing to say. But I'm not really that bothered about house capital growth. I have no plans to sell and would ideally keep it to hand to my daughter along with my own property.... when the time comes...

I guess I see it as a security blanket. Having that extra 450 - 550 per month coming in to boost wages. Even if I do go a few months without tenants. It wouldn't be the end of the world, with the mortgage already paid.

When it comes to tax returns and such. I've been self employed for the last 5 years so not an issue in regards to that. It would be very little change.

I should also say my options are indeed not the only options. They are simply the ones that excite me haha. The idea of stocks and shares or just having it in the bank bore me.

I love DIY. Gutted my own house when I bought it and turned my hand to 90% of the modernisation myself. SO I would genuinely look forward to doing that with another place too.

In regards to pensions and such. I admit I have little in place but I'm 31 and do see this as a pension in some regards. Regular months income as long as its tenanted and if worst comes to worst it could be sold to release funds if required.

But yeah current financial situation is certainly prioritised over retirement.

So be honest. Writing this. I'm 99% sure it's what I want to do. Pretty sure I was just looking for someone to scare me out of it with some unknown or horror stories. Which hasn't happened.... yet.

somethingcorporate

"Professional" tenants can easily mean you are lacking rent for 12-18 months, could trash the place costing £10ks in refurbs. No tax advantages (and getting worse), higher stamp duty on second property, time and effort to manage tenant, repairs and letting agents, tax to pay on income, CGT when time comes to sell, very illiquid if you need to sell quickly, ground rent & maintenance charges if it's a leasehold. If you ever need benefits it will be counted as an asset. The list of issues goes on and on and being a professional LL is a lot of time, effort and responsibility.



You really should look into pensions first which has lots of tax advantages over housing.


The golden era of B2L is long gone and the near-term horizon looks bleak.

Slithery

You need to read all of G_M's excellent guides, and all of the links that they contain before even thinking about becoming a landlord...

Tenancies in Eng/Wales: Guides for landlords and tenants

Cakeguts

I don't know where you are thinking of buying but that £450 - £550 per month would be right in the middle of the 2 bed terraces or just 2 bed houses in general. It is the level of rent that comes from a house that is at the bottom of the range of rented property available. If you want a quiet life without lots of hassle you have got to have properties that offer something more than usual. If you do this you get the choice of the best tenants.



The problem is not the actual letting at a certain rent the problem is screening out the tenants who are going to cause you a lot of voids and hassle like wrecking the property or not paying the rent. The examples of your friends renting and you renting are good but you are not everyone and not everyone behaves the same way. The cheaper the property and the rent the more likely you are to have a problem.

tom9980

bytheseas wrote: »

In regards to pensions and such. I admit I have little in place but I'm 31 and do see this as a pension in some regards. Regular months income as long as its tenanted and if worst comes to worst it could be sold to release funds if required.

But yeah current financial situation is certainly prioritised over retirement.

So be honest. Writing this. I'm 99% sure it's what I want to do. Pretty sure I was just looking for someone to scare me out of it with some unknown or horror stories. Which hasn't happened.... yet.

Pensions have important tax breaks even a non tax payer can get a 20% boost to pension contributions. It is utter madness to completely ignore contributing to a pension as you are doing especially when you take into account reinvesting dividends and compound interest over long periods of time especially when you are only 31.

If you want a scare story I am still owed £1k by a former tenant who i have a CCJ against and I am unlikely to see that cash anytime soon.

bytheseas

Well guys. I've gone ahead with it. Made an offer on a property pre auction for the starting price and got accepted.
1 bed cottage, about a quarter of a mile from my house. Fair bit of research done. Nothing similar to it currently to let within 3 miles. I hoping that means it will be in demand. Based on similar properties further way in the same city I should expect 375 - 425.

Property cost Exactly 40k + £2,006 solicitor fees/stamp. Probably needs 2 - 3k spending on it so round up to 45k total. So looking at 8%+ yield if occupied full time.

It's the sort of property that's ideal for an older person or maybe a disability. Very close to shops, all on one level. Small and easy to maintain but in a nice street too.

Cheaper than I was expecting to get a property for so I've also paid my max 10% over my own mortgage too so the rest doesn't just get wasted.

tom9980

bytheseas wrote: »

Well guys. I've gone ahead with it. Made an offer on a property pre auction for the starting price and got accepted.
1 bed cottage, about a quarter of a mile from my house. Fair bit of research done. Nothing similar to it currently to let within 3 miles. I hoping that means it will be in demand. Based on similar properties further way in the same city I should expect 375 - 425.

Property cost Exactly 40k + £2,006 solicitor fees/stamp. Probably needs 2 - 3k spending on it so round up to 45k total. So looking at 8%+ yield if occupied full time.

It's the sort of property that's ideal for an older person or maybe a disability. Very close to shops, all on one level. Small and easy to maintain but in a nice street too.

Cheaper than I was expecting to get a property for so I've also paid my max 10% over my own mortgage too so the rest doesn't just get wasted.

Not much research done really? you should know what the demand is and with certainty the rent.

I am also concerned you bought an auction property (means problems usually) for cheap before auction. I hope you had a good survey or walked around with someone with knowledge to spot the issues.