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!

How is the OP Greedy? She worked hard for what she has. She charges below market value on the rents and keeps the homes in a lovely state for her tenants.

Your anger should be directed at the rogue landlords who let out awful homes with no legal paperwork and charge extortionate rents.

Thank you so much. Our oldest is lovely at the moment and still wants to sit on my lap for a cuddle, i really hope that doesn't change too much, it will break my heart!

If you are planning on buying a number of properties, then you should consider setting up a Ltd company and buying them way (speak to a tax advisor). Then you can offset the interest portion of the mortgage.

We do have interest only mortgages, but we pay off chunks of the capital when we can.

We do have life insurance, but more for to support the ramaining parent rather than our DC when we both die of old age.....i think you need to get a bit more info on that.

For us, we were probably never going to make significant amounts of money in any other way....neither of us went to Uni nor were particularly skilled at anything.

I'd definitely do it all again and would (and do) encourage friends to invest as i genuinely think that it's a sound investment, but certainly not easy money. You just need to do your research.

Which deposit scheme do you use? Do you do your own inventories? Do you think it's worth going through the resolution process for more "complicated" areas. Like it seems easy to prove they owe rent, but damaged paint etc doesn't seem worth the hassle. What do you think?

Are your properties all in the same area? And if so do you live in that area too?

Have you had to deal with the First Tier Tribunal and if so how did you get on?

Thank you

How much rent do you pull in on a monthly basis?

We use MydepositScotland. We own a letting agency so they do all the inventories etc for us.

Total case by case basis - arrears, we'll pursue (although they are relatively rare) and damage - it would depend. It would have to be really, really bad to pursue through the courts, but we do claim on the inventory for cleaning/repairs if we have to.

They are around the UK.

First Tier - we have gone for other LL's, not for any of mine i don't think. Mainly for arrears and we have always won. We also try and reach a repayment agreement with the tenant first. First Tier is very much a last resort.

Please show me a university that has halls available for all its students for the whole three years of their degree. I was a student 30yrs ago and it wasn't the case at all then, and I'm pretty sure its the same now (unless you're at Oxbridge). Plus halls are now shockingly expensive. You clearly despise the OP for being a landlord but unless you have a plan for all students to be housed in affordable uni accommodation, which would be impossible for many reasons, then you must accept that what she does is necessary.

40 properties at market rent. Canny wedge like.

So called market rents are an utter disgrace personally.

Don't forget that 'uni accommodation' is not owned by the university but by corporate investors.
The uni may have access to the halls for allocation of rooms but doesn't have control over rents etc.
Generally private landlords are cheaper. They offer small scale living in 3 to 7 tenant houses not in 3 to 4 hundred room blocks.

When you bought these 40 properties, there were undoubtedly first time buyers also going for the properties who didn't have a hope in hell because they needed a mortgage and you were cash buyers.

This was us when we were trying to buy our first house and it was utterly soul destroying losing out to landlords over and over again.

How do you feel about that?

You perhaps haven't read my updates, but other than the house that we bought to live in, they are all student flats and not really the sort of properties that first time buyers would buy.

However, i wouldn't be critical of other landlords who do have houses that may be attractive to first time buyers, as there are many, many people who choose to rent and regardless of whether or not you agree with it - it is a free market.

Rogue landlords - i have no sympathy for.

The Govt needs to get a grip on affordable housing and helping first time buyers.

A flat's just a flat, surely. It only becomes a student flat once you out students in it. Why on earth do you think that first time buyers wouldn't be interested in buying a flat?

In scotland they aren't really - they are in typical studenty areas, often cut up, very large.........just not what your typical first time buyer would want. But if a first time buyer wanted to buy one, then of course they could?

Could they? As I said, we couldn't for ages as we kept getting passed over for people like you. We just wanted to get on the property ladder in a modest property and give our child a secure home. But we couldn't for ages because landlords were expanding their multi million pound portfolios.

Why were you getting passed over though? If you were chain free and had lending in place and were offering the same price as the next person, then that doesn’t make any sense to me.

Because each time they were going for the cash buyer.
In some cases we actually offered more than the cash buyer.
Cash buyers are more attractive.

Those of you saying what the OP is doing is wrong, how do you suggest the students she is renting to would be housed if there weren't any houses / flats to rent?

Why do you call yourself 'professional' when any landlord is technically running a lettings business, and should treat it as such?

(This is more a dig at those who state they are 'accidental' landlords, or think they might 'get a BTL' as if it's a hobby or passive income or some shite.

I suppose my real question is - does it frustrate you that LLs have such a bad name due to the actions of some incompetants?

I've never paid cash for a property in my life.

@Greenfairydust

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

OP is a student LL in Scotland, where "student hall accommodation" has always been in very short supply in university cities. This is because we have very ancient universities. Many Scottish students traditionally attended the closest university so they could live very cheaply at home with parents (or with a relative or in digs). Most student accommodation today is in shared flats/student houses (which are cheaper than halls).

In Scotland, the whole letting industry is far more tightly controlled than in England and Wales; every LL has to be registered.

You have 40 mortgages?

Of course it does - but i suppose it's the same in any industry, you get the good and the bad ones.

What frustrates me more is when landlords get a bad name for owning property that is genuinely needed - not everyone wants to own. Lots of people want and need to rent.

Rather than being angry and resentful towards landlords, we should be looking at Govt (every Govt not just the current one) and demanding more support for first time buyers, and more supply - but supply that people actually want. Not 2 bed/2 bath luxury flats - family houses, starter homes etc etc.

And there are is a lot of legislation for landlords now, but enforcing it is something else.

Corporate loans - so lots of properties grouped under one loan.

One loan. So when you buy a property, you don't need to apply for a mortgage. To the seller, you are effectively a cash buyer who is less risk than a first time buyer.

Ever wondered how you managed to be the successful buyer of FORTY properties when people like us struggled to buy ONE?