The joy of being a landlord

Caporegime
Joined
17 Feb 2006
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Cornwall
Sacrifice is required to get what you want in life.


I commuted ~200miles a day for a few years until I bought a house a mile from my office.
That by itself suggests you had a great job. Not only worth travelling 200 miles for, but paying enough to allow you to spend vast sums on commuting.

That's not going to be the case for many.

I think this is part of the problem. People assume that everybody can be highly paid. But more than that, they see no problem with only the highly paid having security of housing. Everyone else is a cash cow (and deserves to be a cash cow until they too join the ranks of the highly paid!)
 
Soldato
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26 Dec 2011
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City of London
@FoxEye sorry for the slight hijack, but I notice you're from Cornwall. The holiday let idea rather than a BTL appeals to me a bit, plus me and the family like coming from London to Cornwall in the summer so could also use it/save holiday money. Where would you consider a decent place for a holiday let in Cornwall?
 
Caporegime
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Cornwall
@FoxEye sorry for the slight hijack, but I notice you're from Cornwall. The holiday let idea rather than a BTL appeals to me a bit, plus me and the family like coming from London to Cornwall in the summer so could also use it/save holiday money. Where would you consider a decent place for a holiday let in Cornwall?
They tend to be on or near the coast, but since nowhere in Cornwall is very far from the coast, you could be successful just about anywhere.

As I can see you're aware, it's a source of great angst for the locals. Nowhere is safe from holiday homes/Air BnBs/holiday lets. There are places in Cornwall where 85% of the houses are holiday or 2nd homes. Those places obviously lost any sense of community they might have had, and local business owners have to be capable of breaking even in just the tourist season. A lot find it impossible and close down. In turn, the holiday makers complain there are no local shops when they visit (lol).
 
Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
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58,934
You think BTL landlords are cashing out on their equity "the following month"? :S

I think it's rather difficult to cash in on any equity if you've actually lost it and have the situation re: mortgage tax relief highlighted in the other tweet... that's someone taking an ongoing loss just running the rental + currently losing money on the value of the property too.

All in the hope that they'll gain in the long run? How long will they need to keep paying for those ongoing costs before this apparent equity materialises and eclipses both the previous price falls and those mortgage expenses they've had to supplement above the rental income?
 

NVP

NVP

Soldato
Joined
6 Sep 2007
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12,649
That by itself suggests you had a great job. Not only worth travelling 200 miles for, but paying enough to allow you to spend vast sums on commuting.

That's not going to be the case for many.

I think this is part of the problem. People assume that everybody can be highly paid. But more than that, they see no problem with only the highly paid having security of housing. Everyone else is a cash cow (and deserves to be a cash cow until they too join the ranks of the highly paid!)
Lol always a hole, hey? No assumptions about others were made, but you keep finding things to moan about and excuse your lack of will.

My reply was to your comment about people 'needing to take a paycut if they move to an affordable area', just an example of that not being the case.

Obviously others may not be able to afford my example of 200miles of petrol a day, but proportionality is a thing.
 
Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
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58,934
As I can see you're aware, it's a source of great angst for the locals. Nowhere is safe from holiday homes/Air BnBs/holiday lets. There are places in Cornwall where 85% of the houses are holiday or 2nd homes. Those places obviously lost any sense of community they might have had, and local business owners have to be capable of breaking even in just the tourist season. A lot find it impossible and close down. In turn, the holiday makers complain there are no local shops when they visit (lol).

So presumably anyone standing for election in Cornwall does so on a YIMBY platform and that wins overwhelming support from the residents leading to loads of new housing development taking place all across the county right?

Oh... wait:

"The second type is worse: the oblivious Nimby. A coalition of them has brushed off an attempt to build 29 affordable homes at the top of Chywoone Hill in Newlyn, the fishing village where I live. It was to be a mix of flats, bungalows, and houses: 70 per cent at affordable rent, and the rest shared ownership with priority to those with a connection to local villages.

"Those opposing said they couldn’t handle the extra traffic on the hill.

Applicant Mr G Davies states in planning documents that the application would “guarantee” that half the homes to be built on the site would be affordable. A previous application for the site had been refused as it would only provide open market homes.

Crowan Parish Council has objected to the application saying it would result in “urbanisation of the countryside”. It said the affordable housing would not meet local need and it should only be considered as a rural exception site if all the homes were affordable.

Cllr Taylor, whose home address is listed as Carsize Lane, has objected to the application on the grounds that the lane is unsuitable for further development.

When you have elected officials and locals blocking even affordable development for BS reasons like traffic etc.. (even two homes on a lane FFS!) then it seems like a case of shooting yourself in the foot as far as the locals are concerned.

This is the bit people can't seem to grasp - we have a supply issue, pretty much any new homes (whether affordable or not) help with that as they add to the total supply regardless. Bitterness towards landlords or holiday home owners and just hoping they all vanish and then existing properties simply go to people some locals subjectively deem to be "worthy" of ownership isn't really feasible... so if they want to solve it they need to build... but that clearly isn't happening in sufficient quantity thus the issue.
 
Caporegime
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17 Feb 2006
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Cornwall
@dowie There are lots of houses being built. Truro, a town of only 21,000 people, is having ~3,800 new houses being built on the outskirts. The new development will add up to 10,000 extra people to that figure.

There are houses being built in every town across the county. You hear about the little hamlets that block a development of 20 houses, but that's not even close the the full picture.
 
Sgarrista
Commissario
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9 Aug 2013
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Bromsgrove
@kindai has added value by improving the property and turning it into a nice place for someone to live.

Like to think im a good landlord, agent has pre-authorised funds to sort any issues that might crop up quickly and efficiently, and ive granted every reasonable request the tenants in my first flat asked for.

Afterall someone has to live there, and if I wouldnt stay there, then why would I expect someone else to? Yes it may be a bit bland being shades of grey but they are free to add decoration, pictures, furnishing to their tastes so keeping it neutral just widens the potential market and keeps my costs reasonable.

The paint for example isnt the cheapest on the shelf, its dulux easycare, so it can be wiped down and is durable and theres a tin of it left with a brush so if they do have any accidents or mishaps, they can touch it in themselves.

Ultimately this is the kind of work I want to get into as funds allow, buy a place that is uninhabitable, turn it around and make another home available for someone to live in.
 
Caporegime
Joined
17 Feb 2006
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29,263
Location
Cornwall
Ultimately this is the kind of work I want to get into as funds allow, buy a place that is uninhabitable, turn it around and make another home available for someone to live in.
It's entirely possibly to do that and then sell it, vs renting it. And entirely possible to make a nice profit in so doing.
 
Soldato
Joined
21 Jan 2010
Posts
23,277
It's entirely possibly to do that and then sell it, vs renting it. And entirely possible to make a nice profit in so doing.
Yeah but then they have to realise the gains at todays price versus tomorrows price. And you can borrow against a house to use the equity to fund another house. You can't do that with cash!
 
Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
Posts
58,934
@dowie There are lots of houses being built. Truro, a town of only 21,000 people, is having ~3,800 new houses being built on the outskirts. The new development will add up to 10,000 extra people to that figure.

There are houses being built in every town across the county. You hear about the little hamlets that block a development of 20 houses, but that's not even close the the full picture.

Well if that's the case problem solved, you won't need to complain for much longer as soon there will be plenty of housing in Cornwall and you'll be fine.
 
Caporegime
Joined
17 Feb 2006
Posts
29,263
Location
Cornwall
Well if that's the case problem solved, you won't need to complain for much longer as soon there will be plenty of housing in Cornwall and you'll be fine.
Depends on house prices, doesn't it. Maybe they'll be bought up by BTL landlords. Maybe they'll be bought up by people escaping London. Maybe they'll be bought as holiday lets.

Was only reading the other day, that it's fairly typical for property developers to sell 30% or more before they get built, into the Asian/international markets. "Off plan" sales, they call it. Gives the developer some up-front cash to play with and get the rest built, apparently. So then your landlord is possible somewhere in Hong Kong :p
 
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