Buy a flat then rent it out! Implications?

No do it, people will try and tell you otherwise, horror stories, just bloody do it, you will be thankful for it, i promise.
 
maustin said:
Where I live rental stuff is never empty and prices are going up and up and up. Before I sold my house a few years back I was going to rent it and HSBC told me that I could rent it out for 12 months on a "owner" mortgage before I would have to switch it to a buy-to-let one.
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So you and the OP are neighbours?

With interest rate rises forthcoming, I would be wary of property at the moment.
 
rented my house out when i moved here, i rented it out via an agency ( petty ) and they are crap, its costing me £50 a month for them to manage it and to be honest its not worth having them do it.
Luckly my tenant wants long term and we agreed to ditch pettys after 6 months.
Direct line do a fantastic landlords insurance, and dont rent it with any white goods or furniture. If the fridge goes pop the day after they move in, you have to replace it.
 
Bes said:
What an idiotic comment, you have no idea how much he could **** himself up.

Fact is house prices are NOT rising, and he runs a reasonable risk of having empty months. If he is off travelling and not earning, does that sound like a reasonable risk to take?
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And you have no idea how much he could be up, maybe he has £30k he would get a couple of percent out of in a high street bank and he is considering a better return from property.

Who said anything about house prices rising anyway?
 
maccapacca said:
And you have no idea how much he could be up, maybe he has £30k he would get a couple of percent out of in a high street bank and he is considering a better return from property.

Who said anything about house prices rising anyway?
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He's 23 and a trainee electrician. While it is possible he has £30k in the bank for a deposit and enough cash to go traveling for 2 years, it's unlikely :p
 
Morba said:
Lol! So in your two years you almost screwed it right up. That's the same period (or twice as much) that the op has. Yep, he should go for it!
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No I stretched myself and took a risk and I hope it'll pay off eventually, it's doing OK and I'm getting a decent return now. Where did I say I nearly screwed it up?

If you want no risk stick to premium bonds and the 1 - 2 % you may get, then stick your fingers in your ears about inflation and how the value of your savings is being whittled away
 
The simple fact is no one knows without facts and figures. How do you know he will get a better return than the 1% or so in a highstreet bank? He also has to consider the equity in the proprty. For example, he could make £5,000 profit on the rent, but if the house falls 10K in value or the roof starts leaking, he won't look so clever then, will he?

Anyway I was more pointing out that the flippant and sarcastic tone with which you replied to my post was unneeded.

Why would the OP want to worry about all the crap that goes with home ownership when he is supposed to be getting away from it all and travelling for a year?
 
maccapacca said:
No I stretched myself and took a risk and I hope it'll pay off eventually, it's doing OK and I'm getting a decent return now. Where did I say I nearly screwed it up?

If you want no risk stick to premium bonds and the 1 - 2 % you may get, then stick your fingers in your ears about inflation and how the value of your savings is being whittled away
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You had to pay a significant amount on credit card. That's a huge miscalculation by you tbh and a very very risky one.
The op will traveling, not earning. Why would you be a good example for someone to follow in that situation?
 
Morba said:
He's 23 and a trainee electrician. While it is possible he has £30k in the bank for a deposit and enough cash to go traveling for 2 years, it's unlikely :p
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If he lives in Essex and he's thinking about buying then it's quite likely he has 20-25% to put down, which i'd imagine would need to be close to £30k for an affordable mortgage especially if he's considering and researched a BTL mortgage.

Don't judge people by your own standards
 
maccapacca said:
If he lives in Essex and he's thinking about buying then it's quite likely he has 20-25% to put down, which i'd imagine would need to be close to £30k for an affordable mortgage especially if he's considering and researched a BTL mortgage.

Don't judge people by your own standards
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By my own standards? Lol! Now I know it's time to ignore you :)
 
Bes said:
Exactly, so your last post is pretty useless :)
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Did he say where he was going to buy? Er no. I kind of presumed it would not be in my neck of the woods. Who is to say where he intends to buy is not a similar area?

He asked for basic advice. To which I mentioned something that had not been mentioned so far that you can under certain circumstances rent out on a owner mortgage for a period.

If you want pointless ... find something reflective.
 
Buy an older larger one bedder, sling up some studwork and a door and make a two bedder then let it out, should cost a few hundred quid to do and add a few hundred to the letting rate per month :)
 
My sister is buying a buy to let, she had been quoted 5-6% for a buy to let with 25% down on the house. In the end she sticking it on her own mortage as she was remorgaging anyway and ended up paying 2.86% with the woolidge.

Down side of letting out is that they can wreck your house or not even pay. My mum kicked someone out today as they owe a few months back rent.
 
maustin said:
Did he say where he was going to buy? Er no. I kind of presumed it would not be in my neck of the woods. Who is to say where he intends to buy is not a similar area?

He asked for basic advice. To which I mentioned something that had not been mentioned so far that you can under certain circumstances rent out on a owner mortgage for a period.

If you want pointless ... find something reflective.
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maustin said:
Where I live rental stuff is never empty and prices are going up and up and up.
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You don't even live near him. My point is that it is dangerous to assume just because you can let a property out and the market it 'going up and up' that the same is true everywhere.

Also people had mentioned the mortgage thing previously.
 
If you get a defaulted payment then start the process of booting them out straight away, if your going managed because your away the agent should sort this out for you but it's worth being on their back as well.

I go introduction only for 3 weeks rent, the agent draws up the contracts / manages the deposit and then hands it over to me, I check the bank on the day it's due and send the first letter if it's not in, and I have to get a gas cert once a year and replace the washing machine every two on average.

Last year I replaced the fencing and the front door, which is classed as maintenance for tax but will keep the value up if I ever resell
 
Bes said:
My point is that it is dangerous to assume just because you can let a property out and the market it 'going up and up' that the same is true everywhere.
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Well one would hope that he was going to research it a little more than in GD and was just after what other people have experienced to gain some perspective. If however he was going to base a decision on what people put here then falling property prices is maybe the least of his worries!
 
If your in it for the long term fluctuating sale values are of little consequence, monthly rental cost and value are more important.

House prices double every 10 years, bold statement but it's not far from the truth
 
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