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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Looking to buy investment property, any recommendations for good rental areas?

49 replies

weepootle · 02/05/2010 22:11

Due to dh's job, we live in rented accommodation and would like to buy something as an investment for the future.

We currently live in the East but could buy anywhere.

Looking for a 2/3 bedroom house preferably period/cottage in a town.

All recommendations welcome.

OP posts:

AnnaSergeyevna · 02/05/2010 23:20

Bottle of champagne (but none of that cava crap) and deal is done.

Not sure about that last house tho', think you need come up with something better than that. Size is not everything

Eurostar · 02/05/2010 23:28

Do you think it's a good time to invest in property?

BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny · 02/05/2010 23:30

this one is exactly the same size as my house

As far as I am aware, all of long eaton is nice. I have a colleague who has lived there forever so I'll ask her if she can recommend an area, I'm not in until Tuesday though.

I need a bigger kitchen, the cooker is right infront of the kitchen door so I back into the door and burn myself I really liked your last link weepootle. I'm a big fan of a georgian terrace, you'd have problems getting me to leave if you allowed me to rent one of these

AnnaSergeyevna · 02/05/2010 23:33

Yes, at the right price.
Here in london the rental market is crazy because there are so many people priced out of the purchase market. Prices are rising and so there is even less prospect for young professionals to get on the property ladder. All good for the private landlords

Original poster

weepootle · 02/05/2010 23:40

I really like it as well Belle, might phone up on Tuesday for some more info on it. Would probably have to charge around £600pm for that one though.

OP posts:

BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny · 02/05/2010 23:43

That works for me. Sounds fab! Do you want me to CAT you with some details?

Original poster

weepootle · 02/05/2010 23:46

That'd be great. Maybe you should take a viewing, how exciting!

OP posts:

Eurostar · 02/05/2010 23:47

Oh that's great Anna, I'd be really happy to deprive a young couple of being able to buy a place to live so that they had to live in rented accommodation where they wouldn't be allowed to decorate, could be evicted at two months notice, would feel worried to have children because they might have to move away from their school if evicted if the Landlord wanted to sell or got repossessed from not keeping up with the mortgage, which may well rise above rental yield.

If I take off my, people shouldn't be able to speculate on roof over others' heads hat and put on my hard investor's hat, I see flats in London getting about a 5% rental yield on current prices before voids and maintenance. That is not good, lower than long term average interest rates in the country.

I can understand that, the way the property price bubble has worked in the UK, that someone in rented would fear that saving in other asset classes would mean being priced out of owning a home for ever but I'd wait a few months and see how the land is lying post election.

BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny · 02/05/2010 23:52

Eurostar, not everyone is in the position where they are able to buy a house, no matter how much they earn. Social housing is so hard to find aswell as they are just not building any. Would you rather people were on the streets??

QS · 02/05/2010 23:52

I would not buy a house as investment property. You have to consider maintenance and upkeep to the exterior as well as the interior. And maintaining the garden between rentals.

BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny · 02/05/2010 23:59

My landlady does nothing. I've been waiting for the agency to put the cupboard door back on a cabinet in the kitchen for 5 years (I took it off as the wood had split and it was unsafe). The agency just sort out someone to check the gas (when i remind them).

Eurostar · 03/05/2010 00:02

Of course not Belle. I would like to see renting being a secure long term option as it is in many countries on the continent. I would get no joy from thinking that I might be renting to people who would buy if they weren't priced out.

I am horrified that you are not able to get a mortgage due to MS Belle. That is disability discrimination surely? I was turned down for life insurance on a mortgage due to a long term health condition in the nineties but I still obtained a mortgage because the place would revert to the building society if I was unable to pay or I died. Any lodger or family member who lived with me had to sign something to say they had no claim on the place. If it is now impossible to get a mortgage with a long term health condition, I am really shocked to hear that.

BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny · 03/05/2010 00:07

I was told when I was diagnosed that I wouldn't be able to get a mortgage. There's only one company the MS society know of that offer life insurance because patients are seen as high risk (pile of crap to be honest). It is discriminatory, it's the same as if I had cancer though, the insurance companies seem to not care.

I do get really annoyed when people buy lots of houses to rent them out so they can make mega money, it ties up the housing stock so first time buyers can't buy them. Needs must though.

I need the space. There should be more security for people who rent.

Original poster

weepootle · 03/05/2010 07:16

Hi Belle, don't know if I'm paid up on CAT - you can email me weepootle at live dot co dot uk.

OP posts:

Original poster

weepootle · 03/05/2010 07:20

But QS, you still pay all these things with a flat, except it's usually a hefty monthly maintenance charge.

OP posts:

QS · 03/05/2010 08:37

It is up to you of course. But having rented out a house (and using an agent) for the last couple of years, I would be hesitant to buy a house for another investment property.

Maybe if I were to buy a flat, and could compare the work involved in both, I would be able to give more unbiased advice.

Good luck.

BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny · 03/05/2010 13:22

I did CAT you weepootle, I'll email you in a little while aswell. I have a few people who are handy around the house so try not to worry about repairs etc, they are insured/referenced etc. I check with the agency before I ask them to do anything and let them know how much it will cost.

QS · 03/05/2010 13:42

That is the hard part of being a landlady.

When you rent, you dont expect to do anything yourself, because it isnt your house, which mean the tenant is on to the agency, the agency sorts the job out, and add commission to any job they sort.

Our tenant would call up and ask for something at least once a week. "The garden is now so overgrown it is impossible for me to mow, can you send a gardener in". Or "The cooker does not work, please send somebody to sort it out" And I end up paying nearly £100 because tenant has never cleaned the cooker so it is all clogged up. "Or, we dont need the single bed in the upstairs bedroom, I am buying a bunk bed for our kids, can I chuck it out?" Sure. Then "The property is supposed to be with beds, and the single bed is gone, can you please provide me with a new bed?" GRRRR!

sorry. I think I should sell the house rather than letting it.

BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny · 03/05/2010 13:55

I think you need to change your tenant QS Isn't it in their contract that they have to keep the garden in good condition etc? I wouldn't replace the bed either. Maybe I don't ask the agency to do enough!!

QS · 03/05/2010 13:58

Yes it is in their contract.

But they dont do it. And as it is MY property, it is in MY interest to keep it maintained.

No matter now, the tenant has vandalised the house and done a runner, so we will spend nearly 6k on refurbishments, ready for next tenants moving in late summer. Several months with a mortgage to pay on the property, thousands in expenses, and no rent. Fingers crossed the next lot are decent people. Students, this time, with their parents guaranteeing rent and condition of the house.

BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny · 03/05/2010 14:09

Original poster

weepootle · 03/05/2010 22:11

Have emailed you back Belle.

OP posts:

BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny · 03/05/2010 22:21

I have replied weepootle

azazello · 04/05/2010 14:05

Belle - just to say my DH can't get life insurance and we haven't had any problems getting a mortgage. He does have some discretionary death in service benefit but the banks haven't really asked.

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