Ned and other half have just inherited a share in a modest 3 bedroom semi and are considering buying out the other party in order to use it as a rental property and UK toe hold. Being new to the rental game, before we commit, we would love to benefit from fellow arrsers’ experience. Particularly interested in any recommendations relating to Buy to Let Mortgages and Landlord Insurance. Thanks all.

Difficult to get a mortgage, for starters. Higher interest rate, especially if you are non-dom londlord.
Also issues with HMRC re rental income tax. I only got one bank to agree to mortgage my property 2 years ago, at a lousy interest rate (BOE base rate +3%). i had to put up 35% of my own money for them to even consider it and this was after the crises.

Do your homework, perhaps use mortgage broker if you are not living in the UK. Good luck & patience you'll need it with the mongs manning banks telephones these days!

TY viceroy. Already learning that patience is a much needed virtue.

Originally Posted by Ned_Seagoon

Buy to Let Mortgages

Buy to Let Mortgages. Twinned with brain cancer. Do a Google of Freddy Mac and Fannie May and Northern Rock and RBS and...

Yeah. Fuckers. My advice would be to ask what you need to buy out your poor old piss stinking Auntie (or whoever). Raise that money as a home improvement loan and use the bit to buy out your ginger Auntie Janet. Then you can do what you want. But in my limited experience, if you walk into a bank and say "buy to let" they will fuck off and have a Pot Noodle with the cute bird from telesales. Then turn round and ask you if you fancy a unit linked investment plan. Cunts.

The FT at the weekend showed half a dozen lenders which offer BTL mortgages but all of them were marked "Not FTB" which is probably not what you wanted to read!!

Use a broker or your bank, if you have a good relationship with them.

Landlord insurance is not something with which I am familiar. I gather Direct Line is trying to corner the market.

I would take a long and slow rain check; the current climate is not good unless you have a large deposit and an impeccable credit rating!

If you are serving, then buy the house to live in... and then be posted once it is habitable!

Litotes

Just been told by an investment banker that he is smashing into property, it's lowish, and medium to long will pay off.

As a gimp investor with capital to buy outright I'm scratching my chin as to whether a relatively small property is a better option than having a bit of a mortgage on a bigger property

And where the fuck do you buy, instincts and experience of a few auctions say buying of through estate worms means retail not wholesale.......

Mrs A and I are shtuck cannot get a mortgage, even a basic simple one. Been told the next nine years are not the best to buy in anyway. So will have to rent, the first start schemes look set to make money out of you. So will have to rent. We were using my pension as mortgage part payment as part of plan, now we will have to rent, i would prefer it going into my own bricks and mortar. It is officially worrying the pair of us. four to push, no decent credit due to moving every three years, its disgusting.

Beeb are still playing escape to the country and homes under the hammer, so those that have the means benefit, those that have not rot.

Chatsworth estate here we come.

Ned - ask around and see if there is a dedicated residential letting agent in your neighbourhood. I use one and they sort out my insurance, tenants etc for me as I am 5500 miles away. The quotes they get for me are for less than a few hundred quid per year.

Originally Posted by thegimp

Just been told by an investment banker that he is smashing into property, it's lowish, and medium to long will pay off.

As a gimp investor with capital to buy outright I'm scratching my chin as to whether a relatively small property is a better option than having a bit of a mortgage on a bigger property

And where the fuck do you buy, instincts and experience of a few auctions say buying of through estate worms means retail not wholesale.......

Touch wood my UK property should be paid off next December after 10 years of renting it out when I moved to the US. I am probably going to jump into the BTL market then as I should have a decent deposit saved up by then, and should be able to use the rental income from my existing property to help pay down the mortgage quicker.

I am probably going to go for a 2 bedroom in a commuter town as I think I will get the young family looking to save up for somewhere to buy type tenant (its what I appear to have had so far). I will probably find my next property through my letting agent as they are always suggesting that they have homes they let that the owner wants to sell. As they only do lettings I think they would be interested in keeping something lettable on their books, though I would need to find out why the owner is looking to sell as it may be a money pit of an investment.

If you are serving then you can rent your place out on a residential mortgage with Halifax. I'm currently doing just that. They are quite understanding and as long as you tell them that it is your main residence and that you plan to live there at some point then they will accept that forces members get moved around alot against their will and so will let you let the property on your residential mortgage. If you are living around the corner though then they might have something to say about that. I'm living a fair distance from my place.

If you need any mortgage help feel free to Pm me and I will see what I can find. I am a mortgage advisor by trade, living overseas at the moment,
but still keeping my finger on the (slow) pulse.