Second home for about 10 years

Emily_Joy

_Penny_Dreadful said:

Nope, it does not.

Does it not? What makes you think so?

Ditzy_Mitzy

Emily_Joy said:

_Penny_Dreadful said:

Nope, it does not.

Does it not? What makes you think so?

Renting and letting are very different kettles of fish.  Buying something in a corner shop does not make one competent to run a corner shop.

_Penny_Dreadful

Emily_Joy said:

_Penny_Dreadful said:

Nope, it does not.

Does it not? What makes you think so?

Experience

Emily_Joy

May I please politely suggest to get back to the original question. There is no point in continuing the discussion as to whether I will be able to manage letting successfully or not.

Gycraig

You are planning to buy a second property to avoid doing a commute, just add up the cost of a 2 bed house add up the cost of a 2 bed flat including the “extras” and decide from that. 

It’s simply a house purchase for all intents and purposes. 

Anything that’s “harder to sell” later should also be cheaper to buy in the first place. 

Annisele

Emily_Joy said:

Taking this into account what would be the best type of property to consider?

I can see you don't like the answers people have tried to give you, but I don't think you're going to get an answer you like. If I was looking for a property that would be easy to rent out, I'd be using entirely different criteria than if I was looking for a property to live in myself. It looks to me as though you're wanting to prioritise an easy life (low maintenance), getting the most for your money, and flexiblity (easy to sell/rent in future). It's hard to get all of those things in one property!

Also, I think you're effectively asking how long a piece of string is - the "best type" of property is going to depend on your priorities, and they're going to be individual to you.

For example, if I was in your shoes I wouldn't buy a second property at all; I'd just rent - and save myself all the hassles associated with owning two properties. So my views on "best" are very unlikely to coincide with yours. But if I did decide to buy, I'd be looking at things that reduced hassle. So I'd probably look for a flat in a purpose built block, without a garden or anything that could get overgrown, and with a management company that got good reviews so I could rely on them to sort out things like fixing the roof. (And then I'd probably decide that I couldn't find a company with good reviews, and even if I did find one I'd be afraid they'd get replaced - so I'd go right back to not buying again.)

I'd also want to stay away from anything unsual. So, for example, no unmortgageable converted office buildings! But also nothing listed, and nothing above a takeaway, no short leases, and nothing that gave me any concerns at all about whether it would be mortgageable in future. I reckon that major lenders are unlikely to all decide en masse that the don't want to lend on bog standard houses, but in the past they've become antsy about things that used to be OK - like cladding on flats.

But then there are lots of good reasons to avoid flats if you can afford a house, and maybe you agree with all of those reasons. If you do, you should ignore flats completely and only look at houses.

Emily_Joy

@Annisele thank you for your comment, this is indeed helpful. I tend not to like answers that (1) do not address the questions asked (2) trying to convince me to change my decision. I think I got your point - a boring end of terrace little house in good condition is something to go for.

EssexHebridean

The forums are a public area of the internet, and posts responding to questions asked are not just for the  benefit of the person asking, but also for those that come after, searching for answers to similar questions. Because of this, we often feel a responsibility to make sure we present responses that address the whole issue, not least because often a single question can lead to a whole bigger picture that should also be being considered. 

Sometimes those answers to the whole bigger picture may not be the ones the person asking the original question really want to hear - but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be given. Think of it like those trying to help here having a duty of care - to make sure that not only you, but those that might come to this thread later, don’t go ahead and do something which has not only financial, but potentially in the case of the L&T question, significant legal repercussions, without having had all aspects of it addressed.

tealady

OP if you buy a second home have you weighed up the extra costs

1) insurance
2) council tax
3) repairs/ maintenance
4) whether you could get a decent rate on a mortgage

Personally I would look into how much you could borrow (if you need to), then see what you can buy. Oh and you will need to budget up front for the costs of buying.
I know what I would do but you may want to do something different, I wish you luck.

Scotbot

Emily_Joy said:

_Penny_Dreadful said:

Nope, it does not.

Does it not? What makes you think so?

Tenants do not need to be aware of a landlord'.s legal obligations.  Landlords  do and these change regularly.