General Chat

Thanks for all replies , having trouble with PC tonight so taking time to get back on ( raising eyes to heaven lol)

xx

I used to think buy to let was a good idea but after being a Student house manager for 15 years, finishing two years ago, I realised the stresses and hassle were huge and was sort of glad I never did get involved with it. My friend/boss said she wouldn't have carried on as long as she did with the houses, had she not had me to carry a lot of the load, and she sold them as soon as I retired. She made a good price and sold them to her son in law and daughter. I saw some of the neighbours from one of them recently and they said things have gone badly downhill since then, with one set of neighbours trying to sell up because of the awful behaviour of tenants there and they said the Police had had to go round often because of drug taking problems and noise. My friend's s.i.l. wouldn't keep me on as manager - I would have got someone I know to take over the cleaning - and he has not had regular cleaners or anyone checking the property since then. My friend and I kept the house in good repair by seeing what was necessary each visit, if anything needed doing, and doing a full clean and repair etc every summer at change over time. I feel sad the house is so neglected now.

I hope you have lots more luck with your tenants Rose and that the venture is a good one. You have certainly bought at the right time and at least the house can only go up in value.
Good luck, keep us posted.

Lizxxx

Thanks Liz :)

Not particularly a student area here , so it is more likely to be a family home than individuals sharing .

I am going to keep to as tight a budget as possible and go with the same carpet and paint ( magnolia /cream throughout ) so it can be easily re-done.
As I have here there will be a clause in the agreement that the garden must be kept in reasonable order and I have insurance to cover me for missed rent if the property can't be let due to damage . The good thing is that I don't live far so can always take a quick look round the outside at least .

Rose xx

Letting agent Rose and they were B useless,Had to go to Court myself and get them Evicted,during which time they wrecked the place.Then the agent went Bankrupt. Cost a lot to sort it out ,Luckily I can turn my hand to most things So the labour costs were minimal. Suggest you make the Acquaintance of a Couple of Heavies just in case. **M**.

It was my Deletion, it put it in twice, the boards are playing silly Bees today.**M**.

lol Merlin, reckon it may be a good idea if I go to son's kick boxing place and pick out some likely candidates for strong arm stuff ? ;)

but will stick with the legal method if at all possible of course! :))

xx

deletion , as posted twice...this is happening all the time lately on here

xx

Word of advice Rose. Re, carpets, keep it neutral but go for a darker colour than cream, if at all possible. I got cream for the stairs, big mistake lol

Hi Cat, I am looking at light to make it look bigger , but mottled lol, that won't show the dirt too much :)

xx

I have the keys! It has all gone through and I picked keys up late this afternoon...so tomorrow going over to have a really good look at what I've bought and start work!

Wooohoooo!

Well done Rose, hope you have many years of happy letting, lol.

Thankyou Mummo :)) I am in for many weeks of stripping first methinks .... will go in tomorrow and take the 'before' photos :)

xx

Hello Rose .........sounds like you have some hard graft ahead of you..........lol

I hope all your plans work out well . Good luck with your venture : ))

Good Luck with it Rose.

We have a few houses which we let and on the whole have been very lucky and only had one really bad tenant....half the problem was that we also had a bad Agent at the time, who did nothing except take their cut from the money, no checks done etc.
I dumped the Agent and got rid of the tenant (having gone to a solicitor for advice on what to do about both). Spent a lot of money doing the house up again (it had previously been my home, and my very first house purchase, so I was particularly upset) but it all came right in the end.

However, as Letting Agents go, both good and bad have tended to ignore the clause in the contract which states that the garden must be kept in a reasonable state. I would advise you to put the garden into as simple a style as possible - bearing in mind that unless they are keen gardeners, your tenant is unlikely to touch it, clause or no clause.

Another bit of advice, magnolia walls are fine, but try to go darker with the carpet. I know you want it to look nice, but remember, it's not you who will be living there, it could be someone with children, muddy shoes, etc etc - go with as dark a carpet as poss!!

Good luck.

K.

oh good luck rose id defo go for neutral colours but not to light on the carpets, laminate flooring may be a better idea lol xxx

Thanks all ( was watching Dr Who ...again lol )

I do know what you mean about the carpet ...but it has brown in at the moment in hall and lounge and it drains the light horribly... the one I have here is not cheap but it does clean remarkably well and came from the carpet shop just near new place so might be worth it , especially if I can get a good deal for having it throughout....except bathroom and kitchen, going for lino there.


I think it mainly depends on how much the gas and electric might cost to update...the budget is what you might call tight lol
xx

'Day one in the buy to let house'.....

10 -3 ish...spent pulling up carpets that were not fresh to say the least!

Spoke to neighbour and found out that the house has actually been empty for two years! One good thing is that despite that , there are no signs of damp :)

bad news is that the stopcock was turned off so long ago it is immoveable...so can't do much without running water. have left it soaking in WD40 in the hope that it will unlock...if not it is down to getting a plumber to cut pipe and replace...so glad to get home and get washed!

Son is not well.... so no use at all bless him and he's so fed up because he was raring to go at it...fingers crossed its just a cold and will go off soon! ( and that he doesn't pass it to me!)

xx

Good luck with this venture! Hope D soon feeling better.

Will pm you shortly. J*

Day two in the buy to let house....

Today was 'interesting' lol, the plumber / gas fitter could not get the water on as the stop cock has set rigid after two years... needs the stop cock replacing which entails turning off at the mains outside...which can't be done because of rubbish build up...so the water co need to clear it out before anything else can happen...

The gas boiler is ancient and needs replacing ( don't ask how much...faints... ) but the good news is that moving its location will be easy and more convenient from all aspects... ( extra good news is that there are no gas leaks in house) .

I stripped out more carpet and found that under it in the kitchen , the tiles were so old that they came up perfectly with a flick of a scraper :)) very satisfying that .

Now phoning round electricians...lights work , sockets don't and the fuse board needs updating...please cross your fingers that the whole place does not need rewiring ( faints again) .

There is woodchip on the ceiling, gloss on the walls (over textured paper) , I have never seen so many nails driven into walls as picture 'hooks' ( pulled out at least 30 , more to go) and holes with rawl plugs in that must have supported something....speakers? every room.... but..............

The hydrangea outside the front door is beautiful and the nice neighbours made me a cuppa :) lol so Nil Desperandum !

Keep up the good work Rose, lol.