Sunday, Mar 25, 2007
Musings on landlord type 'stuff'....
Firstrung: Tales of an accidental landlord
Finally it's done, after eight weeks of trying it's finally let. Firstly let's get one thing 'arrow straight', the editor of Firstrung has not done a volte face and finally succumbed to the 'dark side' and become a buy to let landlord...
Posted by converted lurker @ 03:09 PM (177 views) Add Comment
13 Comments
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1. sirgoogle said...
Nice account.
What he also did not mention was that a property standing empty attracts a different (higher) buildings and contents insurance. When we rented out place out in the mid 90s I remember that the stipulation from the insurer was that the property must not be uninhabited for more than 60 days.
Pity the BTLers with 10 properties, 6 of which are un-let.
2. royston said...
BTL has been holed below the waterline and is sinking fast. Yeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cracks are appearing in the Dam. How long more can it hold?
3. Davros said...
Where's Glorious Sunshine telling us he's going to make his fortune?
4. converted lurker said...
Guys, was the writing style (or lack of it) OK?
5. monty said...
Yeah, right. It's a really touching story, especially the part helping out that stuggling FTBer. I'd be a little more convinced of First Rung's altruism if the only advertiser was someone other than Pink Home Loans, specialist mortgage broker for "First Time Buyers, Self Certification, Buy To Let, Remortgages and Credit Problems." Can you say subprime?
6. converted lurker said...
'ang on Monty what has offering mortgages got to do with it? The site is not a charity is it? You're not one of those 'neo nutter death to any form of capitalism including evil mortgage providers' are you? As I've stated on the main forum before "we'll check each other out in the soup kitchens as we tell everyone we were right all along as the world economy collapses" eh?
7. glorious sunshine said...
Davros,
You loser! I am still here living it up on easy street. :-)
Well East coast girls are hip
I really dig those styles they wear
And the Southern girls with the way they talk
They knock me out when I'm down there
The Mid-West farmer's daughters really make you feel alright
And the Northern girls with the way they kiss
They keep their boyfriends warm at night
I wish they all could be California
I wish they all could be California
I wish they all could be California girls
The West coast has the sunshine
And the girls all get so tanned
I dig a french bikini on Hawaii island
Dolls by a palm tree in the sand
I been all around this great big world
And I seen all kinds of girls
Yeah, but I couldn't wait to get back in the states
Back to the cutest girls in the world
I wish they all could be California
I wish they all could be California
I wish they all could be California girls
I wish they all could be California
(Girls, girls, girls yeah I dig the)
I wish they all could be California
(Girls, girls, girls yeah I dig the)
I wish they all could be California
(Girls, girls, girls yeah I dig the)
I wish they all could be California
(Girls, girls, girls yeah I dig the)
8. Davros said...
Er, you don't know the first thing about me. How do you deduce I'm a loser?
Just checked the prices on easy street. Down 10% year on year.
9. monty said...
converted lurker
On the contrary, I like to think of myself as an old fashioned capitalist. I respect anyone's ability to make a buck, be they BTLers or insurance salesmen. Perhaps I'm just a little surprised to find that First Rung's choice of advertising partner seems to be a little incongruous with their positioning as champion of the FTBer underclass. Of the "£3.4 billion worth of mortgages" Pink provided last year, how many do you think were to FTBers?
10. inbreda said...
Yey!!!
GS is back - have you been on holiday GS? Was it warm?
11. inflation is eating my savings said...
The penny has dropped. Even if you are only covering 75% of your mortgage (assuming it's not interest only) with any rental income, it is still a nice little earner (unless we see a HPC of 75% or more). If you have the cash, why not try BTL. As long as you are repqying the mortgage, a 75% contribution is rather useful. I pay one for the house, somebody else pays 3. This doesn't seem bad- or am I missing something?
12. converted lurker said...
Monty, about the industry standard, I guess it's approx 10%. "Champion of the FTB" not sure on that one TBH , company started off as a niche market mortgage supplier for FTBs then evolved/got dragged into so much more. You could level your criticism whether Firstrung was partnered with: Abbey, NRock, etc..Personally it guts me that FTBs didn't buy/couldn't buy as prolifically as BTL over the past 5 years. Are you suggesting that Pink are wrong/different in any way?
13. Dugmug said...
Converted lurker...
I agree with Monty, although I also agree with you that it doesn't matter which mortgage company they are sponsored by, just that they are sponsored by any mortgage companies at all.
The enemy of prospective first time buyers is the current property boom and the un-affordable prices it has brought. Yet, as everybody on this site recognises, there are those with vested interests in the boom, becuase they're making more cash out of it, who have a tendency to talk up and plusses and hide and minuses in an attempt to keep sentiment going in the right direction for them (which is of course the wrong direction for FTBs). These vested interest organisations include Estate Agents and mortgage lenders.
In being sponosred by mortgage companies, FirstRung put themsleves in the position where they cannot ever criticise the mortgage industry EVEN IF THEY ARE DOING SOMETHING THAT IS NOT IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF FTBS, because if they offend their sponsors then they may lose revenue. So they'll criticise the BoE, BTL landlords and everyone else they can think of, but rarely will the mortgage industry come in for an attack - yet we know that the mortgage industry is indulging in some dodgy lending practices as well as helping stoke the fires of HPI every bit as much as the other VIs. When have you ever seen Firstrung say, for instance, "don't take out that 40 year mortgage - you'll just be paying stacks more interest to the greedy mortgage company - wait until you have more deposit or you'll regret it", I ask you?
A site that wishes to be truly on the side of FTBs should be free of any involvement with any VI institution and they are not - they are a biased business enterprise pretending to be an FTB lobby group, and I for one dislike this duplicity.