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Hi All, I'm in a unique situation. My wife has been in her residence for sometime through a housing association and has the right to buy. I have lived in the property for 2 years now. We intend to purchase the property which we would get below market value (BMV) but I was thinking of ways to unlock the equity quicker than just waiting for the standard 2 years on a standard mortgage deal. So my question is can I use a Bridging Loan to purchase the property then on completion get a normal mortgage to unlock the equity on the property? Here are some indicative figures just to give you an rough idea of what i'm thinking Property Value £250k Right to Buy Discount: £104k Right to Buy Purchase price: £146k Bridging Loan 75% LTV: £120k (To Refrub flat) Remortgage property to true value: £250k Repay Bridging Loan and have liquid cash to reinvest I don't know all the figures but could use some help in this area. All answers on a postcard please

Hello all, I am new to the forum and don't know much at all about property so please excuse the basic questions. I am in the fortunate position that I earn more money than I need so was thinking of getting into property. I have a flat that I used to live in but now rent out. The fixed term on this mortgage is going to run out soon and I will have to swap it onto a 'buy-to-let' mortgage. Hence, my mortgages question... My thought was to go for an 'interest only' buy-to-let. This fixes my costs and means that I have any excess capital available to me for use as I see fit. What do people think? Is my logic sound or what type of mortgage is most widely used with buy-to-let? Thanks in advance, Andrew

In the process or reasearching and planning my first project. So far I have found a plot of land that has planning permission for 2 3 bedroom semi-detached houses. I'd like to build these properties sell one and rent the other. I'm doing this with my dad who lives overseas and will only be involved in a financial form. He will fund the protect I will run the project. This is my first project and is my dad giving me the opportunity to prove to him I can follow in his foot steps in property development. He is too busy in Kuwait with his own projects to mentor me. So anyone with a lot of experience of building to sell and building to rent would be much appreciated. regards Michael

Hi all, I am a complete newbie and would be grateful for as many people's thoughts and suggestions as possible. I have £250k to invest and would like to take advantage of leverage and get Buy to Let mortgages. However, I am struggling to do so as I do not meet many of the lenders' criteria (I'm not a homeowner, I earn under £25k base and I'm under 25). I'm considering buying somewhere for cash renting it out immediately. This would take my salary over £25k, and I would then be able to apply for a Buy to Let mortgage on another property. Alternatively, I could buy a property for cash and refinance and get a Buy to Let mortgage on the same property. Would I be able to get a Buy to Let Mortgage this way? Would these strategies be advisable and would they enable me to get a Buy to Let mortgage? And if there are other ways of making myself eligible for Buy to Let lenders, please let me know. Thanks Adam Carling

Hi Everyone, This is my first post on any forum - ever! Seizing the day and all that... I live / work in Abu Dhabi and my family are in the UK. Having held a 16+ year ambition to get involved in property developing...and now aware of a term called 'leverage'...I am doing as much research as possible to start the ball rolling and to buy my first (of many, hopefully) BTL property; PropertyGeek and The PropertyHub have been excellent so far in providing so much information and motivation - so a big thank you to both Rob and Rob! My main concerns about getting started relate to being away from home and the UK for much of the year - with only around a maximum window of 2 weeks at a time in the UK every 2-3 months to get things done. So, if anyone has experience of the following issues and could provide a bit of advice, guidance or just encouragement on the following points, I'd be really grateful: 1. Can any of the process (Legal, Mortgage, Contracts, etc) be completed digitally whilst overseas, without the need to actually be there to sign in person? 2. If digital completion not possible, is it advisable / possible to arrange Power of Attorney for my Wife to act on my behalf, with my guidance? 3. I believe I can arrange a BTL mortgage through HSBC (yet to speak to them) and my family home is mortgaged with them too - would a broker be able to find a better deal considering my expat needs? 4. Is there anything relating to BTL as an expat that I haven't considered??? Thanks in anticipation for any advice offered. Cheers, Anton

HI, Just wanted to know if anyone could recommend a mortgage advisor in Manchester/Preston area. Thanks, Danny.

Hi. I am a newbie investor looking at raising finance to purchase my first BTL. I do not have a deposit as such as all my funds have been used to purchase and renovate my current home, but do have about £1800000 of equity available. My mortgage on my home is now out of its fixed period, so I am looking at re mortgaging to raise finance for a BTL. My line of thought is to take out an offset mortgage for approximately £160000. This would leave me around £120000 in cash to make a purchase with, without having to pay interest until it is used. It would also effectively make me a cash buyer for the market I am looking at. I am hoping to buy something I can add value to, rent out then set up on its own mortgage say six to twelve months down the line. Ideally I would then like to repeat this process depending on available funds. My question is this, has anybody used this type of mortgage before and is this strategy feasible? Your thoughts and feedback on this would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance Mike

For LTD co BTL mortgages, who exactly is assessed by the mortgage underwriters? For example: If a SPV limited company has 2 shareholders (one of which is a director) but each have 50% of voting shares, is the director the only person being assessed and has to meet criteria? Hope someone can provide some insight into this! Cheers, Luis

I was wondering what BTL mortgage options Limited Companies currently have, specifically in Scotland. I've spoken to a few mortgage advisors over the phone and they say the options are very limited for us up north if we're looking to invest via an SPV Limited Company. Any suggestions or pointers?

Hello everyone. I'm not a particularly professional investor, but have some sense of direction. I have learnt from mistakes (mine and others), but am not 100% sure that I am looking at my options in the right way. Some constructive advice/comments would be much appreciated. Here's my scenario: - I have a poor credit rating (another story) - I have 2 B2L Properties - Property 1 owned since 2003 - Now has good amount of equity - Good income - Decent mortgage rate of less than 2.5%. - Property 2 owned since 2007 - Higher mortgage interest rate of just under 5%. Fair amount of equity, however, ignorance and incorrect advice lead me to conclude that poor credit rating meant I could not remortgage or get finance to extend the very short lease on this property. - I decided to take out a secured repayment loan/mortgage (interest rate of jusr under 5%) against Property 1 in order to finance the lease extension of Property 2. This loan is one third the value of the current interest only mortgage on Property 1. Both the loan and the mortgage add up to less than half of the value of Property 1. - I have since been helped to gain access to re-mortgage products despite poor credit rating. - I now know what I will do concerning Property 2 Considering I really prefer not to sell Property 1 (maybe not at all), but am now considering accessing its equity in the most favourable method, to fund another BTL purchase, my question is: What would you do with Property 1? 1) Remortgage, abandonning the low interest rate of the main mortgage and consolidating it with the secured loan, releasing more equity for another purchase at the same time 2) Seek to take out a second secured loan (though this relies on the discretion of the current lender). 3) Forget it and just leave things the way they are with the aim to pay off the higher interest rate loan as soon as possible 4) Other options? Thanks in advance Kurtis

does anyone have experience of using a mortgage to finance an auction purchase? A previous BTL through an estate agent had all the mortgage offer within about 2 weeks so I was considering the mortgage option to avoid the high cost of bridging finance. Many thanks

Hello everybody on the Hub, My name is Nick and I live in Essex with my wonderful wife and our cheeky little boy. We currently only have our own home, I work as a design manager (basically a glorified title for a graphic designer!) in central London and my wife is a secondary school teacher. This is my first post and cheekily I already have a question if that is OK? I have been a member for a couple of months now and I have been absorbing lots of information from the forum and all of the great content provided by Rob B and Rob D! Very inspiring stuff! I will leave a 5* review soon, promise! With that in mind, I have come to the conclusion that property investment would be a great way for my wife and I to realise our financial freedom (I just need to convince her fully now!). I have been getting a little carried away marching ahead setting goals and planning strategies when my wife made a good point. For us to start putting together a strategy to achieve our goals we would need to release equity in our own home next May (2016) when we re-mortgage. The problem is our employment status has altered since we got our mortgage in 2014. Since the birth of our son my wife now only works part-time (two days a week) and I have changed jobs, earning more than I was but overall our joint income is less than what it was in 2014. So before we (I) get too carried away and start looking at potential strategies I wondered if anybody out there would know straight away if getting a re-mortgage on our home plus adding a buy-to-let mortgage would be viable given our change in circumstances? I am aware there are many varying factors regarding mortgages, but even a broad answer would at least give me an idea of what we might need to do? I hope that all makes sense and many thanks in advance if anybody is able to reply. Sorry about all the brackets it’s a bit of a habit I have got into! : ) Cheers, Nick

Hi everyone! My name is Steve and Im a 44-year-old with £120,000 in savings, looking to invest into the property market with a view to retiring (hopefully) at 55 living off my property portfolio. My situation is that I have been advised by my mortgage advisor that I am not eligible for a residential/BTL mortgage "as yet" as I have not been living back in the UK long enough (just returned after nine years working abroad). The mortgage advisor told me to purchase for cash and then remortgage after six months as I will then be seen as an 'experienced landlord' in the mortgages companies eyes. I currently live in London (renting) and understand it will be difficult for me to generate any investments in the London area, so I am focusing on my home town of Stoke-on-Trent, focusing on properties between £50,000 - £70,000, with a view to rent out for a return of £5000 to £6000 per annum, or generating between 8% - 10% yield. I have just purchased for cash my first property for £68,000 (was advertised at £75k) which is a 3 bedroom terraced house in Stoke-on-Trent that brings a rental return of £6300 per annum, so I'm happy with my 1st purchase. My ideal situation in 10 years would be that I would have between 6/10 properties all being rented out for around £6000 each per annum. The questions I keep asking myself are: How can I achieve this within the 10 year time frame with £120,000? I understand that the properties in Stoke do not gain capital appreciation as they do in London and the south-east of England etc, so would I go for a typical capital repayment mortgage, or an interest only mortgage, or a mix of the both throughout the 10 year period? I am currently searching the Internet and auctions for cheap properties that fit my target yield and 10 year objectives, but I keep asking myself whether my objectives are achievable with the investment I have and my proposed strategy. Right now I am not looking to live off my investment as I can carry on working for the next 10 years. That said, if there was a way of living off my investment "straightaway" and also being able to live off the investment after 10 years, I would seriously consider this. I am also looking at having my mortgages paid off in ten years time, but does that mean I only opt for 10 years mortgages at the start. And cash flow, I am reading that as an investor, I should have at least two years cash flow put to one side, but that seems quite high. I'm sure my situation is very similar to other people you on this forum and I would welcome any advice on my situation Thanks everyone and I look forward to engaging with you all..

Can anyone recomend a good mortgage adviser the does buy to lets?

Hi All, Could really do we some advise here. I'd hoped that I could purchase my parents house in order that it would give a cash injection for them and that they would rent it back from me to service the mortgage. At first I thought this was a win win situation, as I would get a start on the property investment ladder with secure, trustworthy tenants and of course my parents get to stay in their home and receive a nice cash injection. at first look it would now seem that getting a BTL mortgage will be difficult due to a change in regulation. Is there any other ways to approach this or are there still mortgages available based on this situation? Thanks all and any help,guidance will be appreciated. kind regards Rob J

I am a part-time property investor who started 15-years ago and now owns seven investment properties, the most recent purchased in February 2015. I've been through a lot. I've lost money, suffered terrible letting agents, bought off plan, bought from friends, refurbished houses, been called with a boiler breakdown on a Sunday afternoon and lots more. Happily I would recommend property investment to anyone and have got my parents investing and they now own 3 properties. I have paid off my own residential mortgage thanks to owning let properties. I love property and houses, everything from viewing them through to doing them up. I also believe property is a much better pension for my old age and legacy for my children than any financial instrument the corrupt banking system can come up with. As my interest in property grew, I started my own Property Insurance business - www.thepropertyinsurer.co.uk - that offers specialist insurance for all possible property needs. I have also co-owned a motorcycle World Championship race team - PTR Honda. I consult to a number of motorcycle industry businesses and write a regular column in Motorcycle Racer magazine. I am writing a novel. I'd happily share short stories here for your feedback but not many of them are property based. But if I write a property book then you'll be the first to know. I am a published author as I wrote the biography for John Reynolds, the triple British Superbike Champion. I enjoy cycling and mountain biking as sports. The rest of the time I spend with my family because that's what I love best. Great to be on here! Jason McClean

Hi All, I have recently had an offer accepted on a 2 bed terrace house with loft room (no building regs, so couldn't be sold as 3-bed) for 375k However, after we commissioned an independent homebuyers survey, they have said that in their eyes, the property is worth 350k. They have also said that there would be damp problems (although not a great deal) that would need immediate attention. The bank has not been instructed yet, and I would like to now negotiate with the vendor for a reduction. But am a little worried about how to approach this, as we REALLY like the property, and want to live there for quite some time. If the bank agrees with the surveyor, then this property might be unreachable for us, as we'd need more cash... How would people go about this? Get quotes in and negotiate based on that? Or give out the survey and ask for a reduction based on the surveyors value? Many thanks, Charlie

Hello All, Quick bit of background: I am moving out of London (with, it seems, the rest of London) down to Brighton. We feel we have made a fair amount of money on our 2 bed flat, and would like to release equity to fund a deposit on a new property, plus, if we can, a further BTL. I have a mortgage advisor and he is setting me up on a 75% interest only BTL mortgage based on quite a high (but not ridiculous) valuation, and is sending the surveyor round asap. So, my question is as follows: How do I make sure the surveyor comes round and values the property at what I would love it to be valued at? I have no experience of this and don't know the procedure at all.... I'm guessing that it needs to be really presentable, but do you recommend I get the scented candles out? Or perhaps prepare a light avocado salad for us both to enjoy? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Charlie