conrad_paton

Hi May I add a plan 3? Buy own home, use your skills and renovate/improve and/or extend. Then sell or refinance (subject to lenders criteria's and earnings/affordabilities etc) Just a thought? Conrad

Define wall?? You are talking about the boundary wall that is suffering water damage or the rear wall of your house. If boundary wall who has responsibility over its maintenance? If your neighbour then you cannot force him to repair it. I would go down the council mediation route, before any court. If you have tried mediation and apply to the court as a 'last resort' your situation may be looked upon more favourably by a magistrate. However council mediation is usually outsourced, and can be like hitting your head with a soft spongy mallet while expressing your fluffy feelings about your neighbour and having to listen to excuses from them about why his rainwater is in your garden. All the time your being told not to get angry or confrontational and to keep an open mind about the situation. I really wish you luck Conrad

Hi Ryan, We're happy to help out if we can Conrad

Hi, You intend to convert the living room to a bedroom? With a corridor I assume? Coupled of points ...what is the size of the flat overall? How does this compare with 2 bed room flats in the block/locally? How big will the reception space be, enough for a kitchen, dining table and sofas etc. Think about you end valuations. Think will it be big enough for a 2 bedroom flat? The plan you uploaded is that taken from the lease? Sorry to go over old ground ^^ but by definition of 'alterations' you just have a starting point of originality. If your rooms are not labeled on your lease plan then it's a lot easier on the paperwork side of things. Also have a look in the 1st schedule of your lease. There will have a definition of your flat 'the property'. That is what is yours under the term (length) of the lease subject to the rights and easements given in the lease (conditions). That along side your statement about walls.and timbers should make more sense. Sorry to bombard you with more questions but I would be cautious about writing to the freeholder too early. I'm happy to chat more. I'll send you a DM Conrad

Hi Again, In a nutshell ...yes. As I mentioned on this forum before my current strategy is buy BMV, rent, evict, develop, sell AMV, I do not hold onto long term investment properties (5 + years) at the moment. I have in the past. I understand the advantages of leverage, I use finance in my stragegy, but with a clear exit. I am just trying to answer your question. Your idea of continuing to extract equity out of your portfolio is fine (subject to capital increase and lending criteria) but the stragegy itself is based upon hope. Hope that the market increases in value, hope that lending is available. Which is itself fine, but it comes with risks. I'm just trying to make you understand some of those risks. In my opinion....all the time you have not sold a property for profit, nor collected rent on an unencumbered property, you have haven't made any money from your investments. Unless you hold more in rental income than you owe obvs. Some people believe that they can quit their jobs, and live off their rental investments, just paying the minimum required on interest only mortgages. Hoping all will be well when the mortgage term expires. It's a popular belief, but one that is fundamentally based upon hope. I prefer to deal in tangible figures and clear exits. I've never made a loss and some of my ROIs are in triple figures. But then I'm incredibly hands on and property is pretty much full time for me. There is nothing wrong with maximising your ROI with leverage, but with increased gains comes increased risk. Hope this helps a bit Conrad

Wow that is shocking! I would complian to your local planning department and show them these photographs. You have boundary issues here and tempory structures without proper consideration for neighbours. None of what you show here is allowed. Boundaries have to be a maximum of 2 meters high. Tempory structures still have to comply with basic building regs and allowing surface/rain water to flow onto neighbouring properties isn't one of them! Your council should act on this complaint. If not you have the right to complain to your council for their lack of action. Dont give up Conrad

I'll send you a DM. Conrad

Is this roof overhanging into the garden of your property? Who had responsibility for the boundary wall? I'm struggling to visualise this sorry? Maybe upload a photo please? If love to help more Conrad

Buy, In 25 years will you still be renting waiting for prices to drop? Or will you have paid off your mortgage and wished you purchased sooner than you did? Conrad

Pay yourself enough to live on during the refurb. Pay yourself a wage from the profits/what's left.

Hi Richard, You have answered your own question..let me explain.. So you gain when prices you up. Yipee! Ok..so your gains are going to pay for your lifestyle, not your ever increasing debt. Put simply, when the market is against you and when prices drop, you may not be able to refinance and draw out extra cash. Your new lifestyle suffers due to a reduced pension top up. When your mortgage term ends, and if the market has dropped, and you have not paid down your debt (cos it's been topping up your pension), what is your stragergy for paying back the mortgage? Even if you can sell, will you have the cash spare to pay your CGT? Will it?? You mean you hope it will. Unless you intend to repay your increasing debt with rent payments and continue to do so even when the sales market is against you. Please base your investment strategy on an actual strategy, if you intend to pass on your legacy to your children, then take the steps nessesary to make this happen. Making short term tax free gains could ruin your long term goals. Hope this helps Conrad

Hi Jayha, Start with the freeholder's registered title and plan, contact them and see if you can get a copy of the lease and lease plan. If not you may need all the title registers and plans of all the leaseholders to gauge how many parties have rights/ownership of this land. Work out exactly who has what rights over this land before stirring up the pot and writing to leaseholders in the initial stage. Depending on the wording of the lease, I would contact a specialist leasehold solicitor to give you an idea of legal costs before you do anything else. You may have to alter 4 lease plans, 4 title plans, amend or create a new register and plan for the 3sq m plot and the conveyancing charge for this. These costs will not be insignificant. Plus factor in the time for surveyors and notices to go out and this transaction will not be swift. Remember also there may be 3 mortgage companies involved aswell. I hope this little plot is going to be worth this grief? Conrad

Hi Alex, I have much experience of this. How are you intending to convert your 1 bed? Move the kitchen into the lounge and convert existing kitchen into a bedroom? Do you have a lease plan? Are the rooms labeled on the plan? Or does it just show am outlined area for guidance as to your flats location. This matters. You also need to read and understand the definition of your property as written in your lease. What is included and what it doesn't contain. Asking the freeholders permission isn't a automatic rejection. It can take time and be quite expensive with insurances, surveyors, plans etc etc. Dont forget your freeholder should be insisting on your local Building control department being involved, so I suggest doing your homework and ensuring your conversation can be compliant before you begin. (Think part P, H, M, F, and A of the regs in particular). Below are a couple of photos for inspiration of a previous property of mine. One shows a bedroom where the kitchen used to be. The other the new kitchen in the lounge. If after reading this you still want to go ahead with your conversion, please let me know/reply here and I'll see if I have a copy of the letters I have sent to freeholders in the past Best wishes Conrad

Hi Dan, ROI is the way to go. Gross yield is pretty meaningless. But when considering multiple properties to purchase with a view of renting them out, I always choose the most fitting to the needs of most residents in the area. If I loose a little ROI but gain more certain tenancies with choice of tenants and little or no void periods then to me it's worth it. Remember gross yield assumes full occupancy and some people include voids etc into their ROI calcs and some don't. As long as you use the same formula for ROI on each property you are considering then you can compare them financilly. Just be mindful that there are other factors (beside the financial) to consider aswell. Conrad

Hi Alfie I'm very happy to chat to you about this. I'll send you a DM with my contact details on if you wish to contact me. Conrad