Professional landlord -AMA

[Iwishicouldflyhigh]

Mumsnet gives LL's such a hard time, so i'm going to start this thread and then hide. I started investing in my early twenties (myself and DP bought our first home, then we let it out and bought another cheap one to live in, remortgaged our first and bought another let, did it up, remortgaged it and bought another etc etc). These were in the days of self certs, you wouldn't be able to do it now - it was so lax, and property so much cheaper (our first one was a 3 bed in East London for about 127k). We took money out on credit cards for deposits! Anyway, we now have about 40 odd. We are genuinely decent landlords - we rent out at market rent, but go above and beyond making our properties lovely - we refurb a few each year and put in dishwashers, wine fridges - i make them how i would want them. It helps that i love interior design and i care about the local environment - i would hate one of our properties to be known as one that brings down the street.
Our tenants are mainly students and they are mainly student flats - ie a family wouldn't want them.
We both come from lower working class and neither had any financial leg ups, although my parents couldn't have been more supportive in the early days - helping us paint, clean, put in kitchens etc.

It's been bloody hard graft over the years - many lovely summers in our twenties stripping wallpaper, but its paid off and we are now comfortably off with lots of hilarious memories. We are still shit at DIY.

So AMA!

I want to rent out my mums house to help pay care fees. I've never been a landlord before so I'm a bit anxious. What's the best way to get a good, reliable tenant, do you think?

Use a letting agent - and don't just go for the cheapest either. Rent insurance might make you feel a bit more reassured (we don't take it out, but we have enough of a cushion to carry a non paying tenant). We haven't ever had any major issues - either with arrears or damage (i'm touching wood as i type this!).

The big chains aren't necessarily the best - but don't go for a tiny one either as they need to have the turnover to pay for the advertising, staff training etc. I'd avoid one man bands.

Is there a reason why you need 40 properties, surely you would be ok on a lot less and still be comfortably off, with a nice nest egg at the end.
I know you’ve said you have done them up nicely, but you have still taken the opportunity for others to own their own home, by buying up what are probably starter homes for most. Do you have any feelings of remorse over that.

Hmm, it's a tricky and complicated one to answer. As i said, most are student flats in student cities and wouldn't really be starter homes. We have some that are 1 or 2 beds that couple are in as their first home (and they probably wouldn't want to buy anyway).

The closest that we have to a family home is actually the first home that we bought and now let and that is a family home (with a lovely family living in it). I don't think that they would be able to buy it, even through they are professionals as the prices are so high in that area now. And if i sold it, they'd have to be evicted it and they love it there. But i feel genuinely sad that people like that won't be able buy probably, unless they get an inheritance etc. However, i do my best to do more than they expect if you know what i mean - ie we go over and above to make the house lovely for them and the house is below market value rent wise.

Ok. Thanks for answering my question.

Thanks op. I guess most people are decent and pay their rent. I'm just trying to mimise the chance of things going wrong. I'll have a look at letting agents.

Do you inspect student flats regularly? My DS is a student and has a very nice flat but is not aware that there is ever an inspectionunless he sleeps through it?

We pay to have our smoke alarms checked monthly on our student flats. Otherwise every 6 months or so -it all went out of synch in lockdown.

I can't seem to find my violin anywhere, it's so tiny it might be hiding in my eyebrows.

Landlords are getting a bashing recently which is a bit crap I think because it’s a business like any other and also provides a home for many many people. More landlords leaving the business due to punitive taxes since section 24 (what other business is unable to claim expenses??). We are hearing of rents being put up to unaffordable rates and much of this can be attributed to the government making it much harder for landlords.

My questions are: Has this - the above - affected you? And also do you have other jobs or is being a landlord you main work.

i ask as someone who is both as landlord and a renter.

Most of our properties are in Scotland and there is a rent increase ban (for existing tenants) at the moment. Which means that when tenants hand in their notice, LL's are pushing the rents really, really high. That then means that tenants are reluctant to move (even though their current flat might be unsuitable. I don't know what the answer is - but it's not this. A lot of LL's are selling and the rental market last year in Scotland was......scary. There was so much demand, people were crying on the phone, begging for help, it was genuinely really sad and no one (that i knew) was inclined to take advantage.
We also own a letting agency (which grew organically on the back of us renting our flats out - friends of friends etc).

You managed to hoover 40 homes?

FFS no wonder we have a housing crisis in this country. I find that disgusting.

Where would you suggest that all the students that i rent to (that want a flat for a year or so tops) live if they didn't live in student flats? Genuinely, where would they live?

Hoover? How did they stop anyone else buying the house first?

She's explained that she rents to students.
What would your plan be ensuring students have access to decent rental properties?

Amazing denial and gaslighting on this thread...

Someone taking 40 properties out of the market after benefiting from the madness or self-certified mortgages is deeply unethical to me.

Buy to let landlords helped created the house price madness and reduce the housing stock and pricing out many people who can no longer get on the housing ladder.

To suggest that this type of landlords are all well and good and are providing a public service because they might rent rooms to students (not doubt at an inflated rent...) is ludicrous.

It is better for students to be able to access student hall accommodation than to be at the mercy of private landlords.

What is the net value of your property portfolio?

Students often don’t want to stay in halls for 3 years (which is what student accommodation is like), and it’s also very expensive in comparison. Self certs were madness and people were stupid, remortgaging to go on holiday etc…. I woujd now say that the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction and there needs to be much more govt backed help for first time buyers.

im not gas lighting anyone. I’m simply pointing out what we did and who rents our flats. I’m nit justifying what we did and why as I don’t feel the need to. I do know we are in a fortunate position and we use that position in various ways for good means.

Well I did say ama!!

excluding our resi property, about 2m. But it’s all tied up and other than private health and education, I don’t feel like we live a particularly extravagant life style and our ‘circle’ are the friends we made when our dc were at the local state primary. We camp a lot and seek out holiday bargains. Travel is my main love in life and always have been. But not swanky luxury as I don’t really class that as ‘seeing’ a country.

none of my friends or family know and they wouldn’t have a clue what we have and it’s not obvious from how we present.

When yiu say ‘it’s better for students’, are you speaking for every single student in the U.K., or do you just think it’s better for them, regardless of what they may prefer?

I wish there were more genuine & nice landlords like you OP!

Do you have any plans to expand your portfolio, or are you just going to keep what you have now? Do you ever see yourself selling the properties, or will you hand them down to the children when they're older?

We have a lot of renovations in various flats going on at the moment so that is tying up a lot of capital and headspace and we are certainly not intending to buy any more, but if something presents itself, then we might.

We have 3 daughters and myself and DP discuss their inheritance a lot, it bothers me.

We have spent (and continue to spend) a fortune on their education so we are giving them their inheritance early and hopefully giving them an opportunity to make their own money.

My DP and i had a formidable work ethic in our early years - we literally shovelled shit and nothing was too hard or too grim - we just got on with it.

As i said in my OP, we come from lower MC, so have had no financial help so everything we have is genuinely from our hard work/luck/stupidity and it really worries me that our girls won't have the same ethic (how can they?) so we really try and compensate - my older one wanted an iPad so she had to do all the ironing over the summer holidays last year for example (that was blissful!).

Our properties are all in a company and when they are 18, they'll be made shareholders and paid dividends which we'll use to pay for their Uni ed (if they go to Uni) and probably deposits for their first houses.

As sure as hell, i do not expect any of them to be lazy and they certainly won't be Trust Fund Babes - i suppose how we structure things in the future will depend on how they develop. Right now, they are really focused at school and work really hard , so i don't foresee any major problems......but are just about to enter the teens, so that all could change!!

I have 4 girls, and the teenage years were horrendous so I don't envy you 🙄 They start to resemble normal humans around 19 or so though so all is not lost!

I love posts like these where people come from humble beginnings and work for what they have, and your planning with the children is absolutely how I do things too.

No other questions from me, but I wish you all the best OP 💐

Me too. Some people have too much money.
I am appalled at the amount of people can't own their own home and the lack of affordable housing in general.
Greedy landlords have a reputation for a reason.

We want to start doing student lets also. (Dont come at me MN)

I'm told to do interest only mortgages on the let's and take out life insurance to cover it so it's my childrens when I die but I'm so confused, surely life insurance only covers sudden death etc, not old age!?

Would you bother at all now, given the interest rates? We'd have to remortgage ourselves to get started.