jonhague

Nice idea with the lodger x2. That might work. Will try it out and let the board know. Although I will try at 400 (or 395) as well as 350 and see if i can at least make some monthly profit! Thanks.

I am supposedly the proud owner of a property aimed at "young professionals" the trouble is so are hundreds of other buy-to-lettors. Students/HAs are a good idea but why rent my place when you can get a 3 bed house round the corner for similar rent and 2/3rds the price to buy. There are "young professional" tenants out there but the supply has far outstripped demand since I looked into the market in spring 2003. I can get the place valued at £180k (I paid £150k) but no-one is buying because they can get one from the developer with incentives that make the price similiar. Developers have marketing budgets that suck in potential buyers far better than estate agents. So if I drop the price to £150k (break even) I will sell but after costs and mortgage payments will make a loss. Who else is in a similar position! Re. my the second 'mistake' what are the alternatives if you dont want to complete. I am tempted to forfeit my 5% deposit on the other deal but am unsure as to the consequences. Have only started looking into this an option.

Out of interest...why do you not think I am genuine. I'm not looking for sympathy or any charitable contributions! Is my case so extraordinary or am I just unusual in being happy to admit my mistakes?

I have met other people who are in the same boat when I went up to see the flat and went round to local agents. Not many are willing to talk/admit it. Heads in sand. I hope that some of the readers of this site may be more willing to talk about it. I am probably very lucky in that I can afford to take a loss by selling or by holding on and subsidising it. But being a man who likes to win (and counts his pennies) I would rather I wasnt throwing good money after bad. Do you think rents will pick up 15-20%, thats what I need to happen and I'm not convinced they will. Problem...lack of tenants and empty property. Problem two...cant sell it for what its worth? Therefore its not worth whats its worth if you get me. But dropping the price and selling means I lose capital. Holding on means I lose income. Do you see the dilemna?

Dear HPC members, Please dont laugh, I am not alone here and I want people in the same position as I am to start admitting mistakes they have made. I have and I have learnt from it. Here is my story... I am losing money (£659 per month) because I bought an off-plan apartment in Manchester that has been vacant since completion (2 months ago). I am about to complete (June) on another apartment I bought in 2003. The rent I was told to expect was £850-900 a month. I cant get viewings, let alone tenants, at £750 a month and am going to drop the rent to £700 - although letting agents have so many two bed new build flats its going to be hard work. The apartment that I am about to have to complete on will fail its mortgage valuation as the rent is now 100% interest cover (my mortgage deal says i need 125% interest cover). That means I will have to put another 12% (£17k) equity in order to complete. I went on a few (free) workshops and decided instead of paying exorbitant fees I would go it alone. I negotiated a 10% and 14% discount on the two deals directly from the developer. Even this 'cushion' - which I thought was a built in profit on the deal for me - has not protected me from the fact that rents have fallen and tenants are few and far between. If I cant remortgage on the first one I will have to pay standard variable rate which is 6.75% - that means I will be paying £860 a month mortgage interest and receiving if i am lucky £700 a month rent. Then there are the lettings/management fees etc. What I thought was going to be a relative no-brainer is turning into a nightmare. I want to talk to people in a similar position (I know I am not alone) and see what they are doing and what the options are. Any help would be much appreciated. (jxxxxx@xxxx) Posting your email address is not a good idea, mate. You'll get flooded with spam and email from jokers. Please communicte through the PM system