To refuse viewings once I’ve given notice

[WryJadeWren]

Once I’ve given notice, I’ve always felt that my time and space should be mine.

In the final weeks I’m usually packing, organising a move, working and trying to keep life ticking over. Having people come in and out for viewings feels disruptive and stressful, especially when it’s framed as an expectation rather than a request.

My view has always been that landlords or agents are free to show the property once it’s empty, on their own time but that I’m not obliged to facilitate viewings while I’m still living there.

AIBU?

A good long term investment will have minimal maintenance costs, minimal or zero debt costs and minimal exposure to tax, legislation etc. while having a large potential for return - BTL no longer ticks any of these boxes - It should be LIQUID (a stock or index fund) as opposed to ILLIQUID ( a basic flat up a back street in Blackpool) in case your due diligence is wrong and you have to bail out of the position - BTL only ticked this box while debt was cheap and people were borrowing to buy anything with a roof and walls.

" None of their properties are losing value as a long term investment "

Really?

You are assuming that any old property will eventually make good at some random point in the future, if interest rates stay high or go higher that won"t happen, the property will just hit a market clearing value and might sell or might not sell at some random point, but the value is based on prevailing debt costs, taxes, maintenance costs, demand etc. not on how many years you have held the asset for or how much you paid ( borrowed) for it, and if you are making a loss holding onto the property (there was a thread recently with someone paying out 1.5k a month to hold onto an empty flat they had a mortgage on while they rented elsewhere and they were refusing to sell it "for less than they paid"! ) there is no long term value as an investment because the asset maintenance costs are just too high. For the average person holding a property other than the one they live in for 15 or 20 or 30 years as a means to earn a return is just far too risky and time consuming compared to dropping a few hundred quid a month into a tracker fund.

For the average person holding a property other than the one they live in for 15 or 20 or 30 years as a means to earn a return is just far too risky and time consuming compared to dropping a few hundred quid a month into a tracker fund.

Well exactly, hence why I'm saying these people shouldn't be LLs. It's a great long term investment for those that can afford it, I'm just not going to be sympathetic to the average Joe who thought they could take on just because they didn't bother to actually budget for maintenance, void costs etc because they thought being a profitable LL was as simple as getting approved for a BTL mortgage and relying on tenants to pay for their investment.

It was a great long term investment in 2001 (as hindsight now tells us) IF you bailed out in time and went into other investments or cash, but I don"t think it is a great long term investment now going forward.