julia urquhart

The basic issue is can you earn more on the money than the rate of your mortgage - if you can go for interest only, if you can't or don't want to or prefer a lower level of risk go repayment. I have never had a repayment mortgage on a BTL

You can't insist on a paid service - so your cleaning clause is illegal. Probably tricky to evict on smoking or drugs.Don't think children is enforceable either. In general tenants will mostly ignore these.

It looks like privet, so if you cut it back hard it will regrow again. I would suggest cutting back as much as you can on your side that won't really show on the other side which should encourage new growth. Given the tree is no longer there, it should begin to grow straighter. It may take a bit on time but I think you can probably keep trimming your side back & encourage the neighbour's side to grow again. Good luck

An estate agent should be able to ask the vendor for details about what is in the lease. You would need to keep to the terms of the lease so it is an important point.

Would suggest that you value the property as: You will are putting in 125k (deposit) + 9k (costs) + 60k (improvements) and then paying 2/3 of 625k mortgage =£610k Your partner is putting in 1/3 of 625 = £208k Total amount invested in property will be £818k Your £610k is equivalent to 74.57%. Your partner's 25.42% So I would suggest 75 / 25 split.

I would ask your gas guy - if he's going to put hem in and look after them, go with his choice.

Do they need the income? If not they could gift the property to you and your sister and if they survive 7 years it would be outside their estate. If you did manage to remortgage in your parents name have you considered what would happen when they die - are you planning to sell the property to pay the IHT? If you have invested the cash released in other BTLs you may not have enough cash to pay off the mortgage. I think you probably need some professional advice about IHT planning

I believe any costs in the purchase of the property are capital expenses.

I would start by writing to the owners at the address. There could be lots of reasons why it is empty which may or mayn't mean a willingness to sell.

The mortgage holder and the owner of the property need to be the same person. If your parents are going to hold the mortgage you need to transfer the Title deed to them too i.e. effectively sell the property to them. I assume you have a mortgage on the property - so I would suggest you need a conveyancer to do all the legal work for you.

You need both tenants to surrender the tenancy and then start a new tenancy with the tenant who wants to stay. You should do an inventory check out / in again and charge any damage equally. Normally this would also mean doing credit checks etc again, but if you are happy they can afford it that's your choice. Incidentally, if the existing tenant refuses to surrender the old tenancy & sign a new one the tenant who is leaving remains responsible for the rent. However, if they haven't fallen out there is no reason to think the remaining tenant will be difficult.

Couple of points: 1. If buyers want an upstairs bathroom they shouldn't be viewing your house. The details make it clear presumably that it is downstairs so there's no excuse for them thinking anything else. 2. It sounds like you have been unlucky - it is a different market now so try again - perhaps with a different agent. 3. Much less coming onto the market in many areas now, so less competition from 3 beds with upstairs bathrooms. 4. Presumably you have bigger bedroom(s) because of the downstairs bathroom - see it as a positive. 5. Present your house as well as you

It may make your house a better balance but the cost may outweigh the gain. Not only do you have the cost of moving the bathroom & repurposing the original space but there is an inevitable drop in price from a 2 bed to a 3 bed. I wouldn't do it, but I would make my asking price attractive compared to other 3 beds - someone will want 3 beds for a good price. Your mistake was perhaps missing the booming market last summer, but it is still booming in many places so petit on and hopefully your will get a sale. Good luck

Mortgage shouldn't be a problem - although I will defer to specialists here - unless the valuation comes up with a very different figure to the buying price. The Home Buyers report is for you - the mortgage company just want a valuation. I would recommend getting a quote for the works before you buy. You can then possibly use this as a negotiating tool in the purchase price. If you need to replace timbers your costs will be a lot higher than if you just need some repairing. The report is too sketchy to put a price on but a new roof will cost £6-10k maybe? I would suggest that th

Assuming no major disasters - £20-25k (Just done one!)

What a great idea - my son is buying and the progress is non-existent and we don't know why. Can't see it happening tho IMO conveyancers are too reactive - they just respond when something comes in and don't chase anything up until asked to by clients. That's why everything takes so long!

If you are not living there the lodgers become tenants so they would be on a deemed AST whatever paperwork you gave them. The new tenant would also have to have a minimum term of 6 mnths & may not leave when you want them too! You could leave your lodger in place and not rent your room - keeping it and visiting occasionally should be enough to keep your lodger as a lodger.

Not at all - a good way to upgrade a kitchen cheaply. You need to see what size they are - you can pick up doors from B&Q or use google to search for a company that specialises in replacement doors.

It's ambitious but might work. I don't buy anything leasehold - ground rents and service charges are out of my control and come straight off my bottom line. Your figures and timelines need to be flexible as market forces are a major playing but this will become apparent once you start - just don't beat yourself up if you don't hit your targets and be prepared to change the plan if the situation changes. Good luck

I believe it is technically legal but morally against the 'stay local' guidelines and some agents are not doing viewings for second properties. I would suggest it is ill advised and putting people at risk.

Oh - if you are planning to you the Army's scheme to get a lump sum for the deposit just check the details. It used to prevent you from getting MQs if it was within 50 miles of your work place - awkward if you've got tenants in!

Hi Max, Sounds like you have a plan! I don't know anything about Forces Mutual - they may be fine - I just know there have been problems in the past with 'Forces Specialists' so check exactly what fees you will pay and ask searching questions! Sometimes they claim 'specialist knowledge' which may or may not be required and people have a tendency to take the easy option. If they have access to camps &/or the mess people may take that as an endorsement of their services - which it is not! Mortgage brokers often offer you a 2 or 3 year fix that looks really good. If you take

HI Max, We started or property journey when my husband was in the army. Living in MQs left us worried that we wouldn't have anywhere to live when he left and with rent being less than market rates we were able to buy our first 1 bed rental. He is now retired and we have a small portfolio We spent a lot of time abroad so we used an agent and we had family close by to keep an eye on things for us. My advice - beware the 'specialist military' schemes for housing - not usually as good as they seem and just go the usual route - save hard for a deposit and then jump in! Its a

Sorry - I think this is your responsibility. The amount of your bill suggests to me that something more is going on here that one storage heater being on for 2 months at night - that seems a really big bill. Is it on during 'non-economy 7' hours and producing heat on your day rate? I think you need to look at all you heating and hot water appliances to work out what is going on. Check whether your bills are estimated or actual usage; check you are on an economy 7 tariff; check what time the how water tank (not boiler) is coming on, when the storage heaters are drawing power.

I think it is much easier to buy local if you can afford it. Visit letting agents and ask them what is in demand and where - they will know the local area - then drive around and use your common sense. Decide who you want to rent to - young professionals / families / singles and think what they might want in terms of parking / garden / public transport / schools. You should be able to narrow it down quite a bit like that. Look on Rightmove and see what is renting and what has rented and where and for how much. As a generally easy-to-rent-property I would look for somethin