Perhaps I'm missing something or being obtuse but I don't understand why someone who owns a buy to let is pricing first time buyers out of the market.
I owned my first house aged 22 (yonks ago)
At the timeI was working full time including Saturdays as well as working 4 nights a week in a restaurant until gone midnight so that I could pay my mortgage and run a car. I went without quite a lot to have that tiny terraced house.
Fast forward to when I met my husband, I had by then been working for BA who paid me fairly well and my other half had a well paid job.
He got that well paid job by working hard at school and uni and grafting.
We found that by a combination of selling our properties and moving in together that we had savings/spare income.
We bought two properties, one locally and one abroad.
We rent out both.
What I would like to ask is this....
1) if we hadn't bought those properties, would it have meant that someone else else would have been able to get on the housing ladder?
2) for those of us that chose to work hard and have savings....if we don't buy into property...what exactly should we do with our money to invest for our future?
To answer
@andy w and the original question about buy to let.
We have always used an agent to look after our property.
We bought ours as an investment for the future but because of changes in the way it's all taxed it's not as financially lucrative as it used to be.
We like to keep our properties in tip top condition....I personally wouldn't take money from someone for rent unless I'd be prepared to stay there myself.
Be prepared for maintenance, expenses and inconvenient timing when things don't go to plan.
A week before our wedding (2 months ago) the shower leaked at our house in Wildwood, going through the ceiling into the kitchen. The agents dealt with it all but it still involved time and cost.
Then on my honeymoon in Barbados I was dealing with a boiler problem in Spain.
It's not all plain sailing but it's not something that we regret doing.