FIRE Girls Pension Diary - Aim High & Dream Big

michaels

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82076290#Comment_82076290

Rental propertie stend to have more people per household than owner occupied so actually moving a house from rental to oo tends to worsen the housing crisis.

Many people at different stages of their life chose to rent rather than buy, perhaps they move around for their job, have just graduated and don't want to put down roots in one place yet, the property is not actually that attractive for long term occupation (busy road, on a train track). Claiming all rental properties deny a chance at ownership sounds like ideologically driven nonsense.

HUSKYPAL

I applaud your sentiment, but as others have said, BTL can become a total pain. If you want an alternative, you could continue to invest the money you would have tied up in a BTL and instead make an allowance for gains that you can give directly to a reputable charity (e.g. homeless charity). The money would be used well and you won't have the problems of managing it. Just a thought.

Firegirl

Well the ball is rolling now and I’m just gonna have to see where it takes me. As I say nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I do take on board all your comments and every single one of them are valid and I have given careful consideration. Risk analysis and mitigation complete. 😆

Funny when I told my husband, he said one line. ‘Go for it cause you’ve been thinking about it long enough and you’re well capable.’ Literally that was it😆

I’ll have a think how to adjust my figures for tracking at a later date.

Firegirl

Let’s run the numbers:

Pension 1-£310,000 (No more to be added)
Pension 2-£75,000 (No more to be added)
Pension 3-£63,000 (Current work pension)
ISA-£73,000
Money Owed - £10,000

Total ISA and Pension £531,000

(Equity in BTL Property will be £42,500)

So the ISA has taken a hit but overall if I go back to my first post I’m still well ahead of target for age 47. ( Age 49 Target- 2028 - £540,015)

I actually keep going back and forward thinking I’ve got numbers wrong because my TYE total figure for 2026 was £533,500.

Cant quite believe that! Gotta double check later when I’ve woken up properly 😆

Firegirl

I have been gathering lots of free stuff for my first buy to let. I’m very excited to embark on this adventure.

Free stuff I have gathered:

• Double Bed and Mattress
• 2 x bedside tables (mine)
• Console table
• Standing lamp
• Tv stand
• 2 sets of curtains
• Desk lamp
• 2 x lampshades

Stuff I’ve bought

• Kettle and toaster - £50
• Bar stools -£80

Stuff still to buy

• Sofa
• Fridge freezer (Chosen not ordered yet)
• Livingroom curtains
• Bedroom Drawers

Funny thing is my husband keeps calling it my moving date…..I keep reminding him that I’m not moving out😆

Watty1

I've just caught up and love it having followed your journey for years. All the cautionary posts are right but my BTL did have a very good tenant and the house still does - I had to let mine go due to the financial stupidity (I left it in joint names and therefore ex claimed it was at least 50% his and we were not married so away sailed my pension in the court but that is a whole other story)

The social point of your dream struck a note and whilst I am sure many readers will roll an eye but a work acquaintance had similar feelings. He had a few buy to lets that were going well for him so he bought a house in need of work and did it up to make a house for multiple occupancies which he then let out as his version of social housing to people just like the one you describe. He interviewed carefully. Yes there were problems, rooms damaged, vacant periods but he always had some income coming in that contributed to costs, he ran it through his limited company and maintained he was "doing good" and it was not actually costing him overall and the property he had bought at auction and done up was worth more than he paid so he was a "long term winner financially" and a "social winner". The last time I saw his wife she said he was happy, they were financially sound and her husband still felt he was giving something back to the world.

Good luck.

hugheskevi

One thing I noticed when I let out my house a few years ago when going travelling was that most prospective tenants assumed I had a large property portfolio, despite everything not pointing toward that. The house I was letting was the only property I owned.

I mention it, as no matter what you say or do, that is likely to be the perception your tenants have of you, particularly with the exit of many smaller landlords in recent years. I think that perception can influence expectations, eg, that paying rent a bit late is no problem, as you are well off with many properties, etc. I doubt their perception will be of a small, benevolent landlord.

One thing in particular I thought that tenants didn't understand at all was that even though I owned the property, I was quite limited in what I could agree to due to the agreements with my letting agent and my insurer. I didn't have a mortgage, else that would have been a further set of restraints to adhere to.

UrbanAchiever

Welcome to the increasingly difficult world of BTL. We've owned 2 flats in Central London for 15 years. We've always had amazing tenants and (touch wood) zero voids or missed rent.

However, as others have said it isn't the smart financial move it used to be with all the anti-landlord changes brought in by successive governments.

When we last had a change in tenant, I spent a few hours on my hands and knees regrouting the bathroom floor and scrubbing the toilet. As I sweated with my head over the toilet I kept saying to myself "you don't have this with an index tracker!"

I haven't read all the thread on this but hopefully you are buying it in a Limited Company, rather than as an individual, to avoid the s.24 interest tax relief issue?

And make sure your 2nd hand mattress has a fire label. Same for the sofa if you buy it second hand.

I wish you luck!

PS: why are you supplying your tenant with a kettle and toaster?

Firegirl

@Watty1 thanks so much for your words of encouragement and sharing your friends story. It’s a long way off before I can get to that but it will come eventually. Cautionary posts are all 💯 correct!! Must have been hard to see 50% sail away😔

@hugheskevi hope you had an amazing time travelling. That’s a really good tip to make sure tenants know that I’m not a big landlord with lots of properties.

@UrbanAchiever yes you are right about increasingly difficult world of BTL. Glad your flats have done well for you. Your right an index tracker would be a lot easier. Yes I have bought through LTD company and sofa and mattress have fire label. (Sofa bought in British heart foundation shop so helping charity too, win win.) Kettle toaster- yeh I wondered about that, maybe that’s my first mistake in btl business 😆

Watty1

it might not be. I rented when I left ex. I took very little with me as had somewhere furnished. The farm offered furnished or unfurnished. The day after I moved in someone came in with a kettle and toaster. I nearly cried. It was something I didn’t have to think about. (And I could easily have bought one it was just I didn’t have to)