Do any house suitability checks take longer than a week to book ahead for?

[gnvqsos]

You will need:

EPC - if you. haven't already got one usually able to be done quickly
EICR - electricians are pretty busy and this is a good day's work for one so may need to book ahead
Gas safety - quick to do but plumbers are busy

Nothing else requires certification but there are other documents you or the estate agent must provide - How to rent Guide; Deposit protection.

I would disagree-a modest house costs £100 per inspection ,and takes a short morning, unless remedial work is needed.

[jpkeates]

So I heard that a good investment over the long-term in shares or pretty much anything else could get you 4-5% if you are lucky. Also we are lucky if this is even a couple percent over inflation %. But house prices almost always increase with inflation, so even though things are getting tougher for landlords, even if you have every type of insurance and even if you pay a cleaner/decorator for every tenancy, over the long-term it seems that the landlord should always be making more money.

You're just starting the learning process. Which is a massive step, by the way, because 99% of people don't even start.

For a lot of people property investment is really the only viable route for investment, because it's the only asset you can invest in (as a mere mortal) that you can borrow against readily.
So you can amplify your investment.

Or you can start by acquiring a "spare" property, which is a massive life "win".

And there are huge regional variations - the returns in places like Bristol and Newcastle are different.

But it doesn't mean that property is the best investment, just that for most people usually it's the easiest to understand and, often, the only route available.
Which isn't a bad thing at all.

But there are investments that beat property - depending on your personal situation.
You want to ignore what you "hear" unless you're hearing it from somone who really knows what they're talking about - most people never get past the level of "no one ever went broke investing in property".

Your next step is to start thinking of returns after tax and what your life goals are.

My goals at 60 plus aren't what they were at 30 with a family to feed.
And an investment with a relatively low return, but that's stable and reliably delivering income at 30 might be much more appealing than a risky opportunity that pays off big, but not reliably, but gives a better return over time.

You can usually spot a good advisor, because they spend a lot of time understanding you, before they start to offer advice.
The guys with the expensive looking watch who start by explaining how well they've done for other people and giving you advice straight off are the one's to avoid (along with any mates you have who don't own a super yacht).

[AndrewDod]

Ok, so for some intensely mgically idotic reason I have only recently started learning about how money works now for the first time in my life recently. So forgive me if I seem somewhat ignorant, I'm trying to fill this in now.

So I heard that a good investment over the long-term in shares or pretty much anything else could get you 4-5% if you are lucky. Also we are lucky if this is even a couple percent over inflation %. But house prices almost always increase with inflation, so even though things are getting tougher for landlords, even if you have every type of insurance and even if you pay a cleaner/decorator for every tenancy, over the long-term it seems that the landlord should always be making more money.

Hell with the crazy inflation rates recently, even if the house had been empty for a couple of years, it still would have given a much better return than anyhting else right!

Thanks, thanks, thanks.

^^^ Almost everything here is wrong. In particular the dangerous idea that "house prices almost always increase with inflation" unless the timescale is decades with a correct starting point.

[Gordon999]

The price of property depends on location, location, location.

The price of property will not go up if located next to council waste dump or sewerage treatment plant.

The price of property can go up if located near to a famous school or golf club . The price of property can go up if location is attractive and buyers exceed the sellers .

I think the reason for price rise is due to demand , not inflation.

[Steve Macey]

^^^ Almost everything here is wrong. In particular the dangerous idea that "house prices almost always increase with inflation" unless the timescale is decades with a correct starting point.

Wtf dude, every time inflation went up house prices did.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cp...seprice-nc.png
https://www.economicshelp.org/wp-con...0x702.png.webp

Oh? the only other thing I said was to not get a long-term ROI of more than 5% longterm with th best fiancial advisor, how is that wrong?

[Steve Macey]

jpkeates,

Hey good on ya, glad you had a good few decades with it. Did you use an investor or did you manage to educate yourself well in it. (Surely it's not long-term above 5% though)

I will find out over next 2-3 years how much I can make where I'm at, will be interesting.

But sure the end of section 21 is terrifying after some reading. Why the **** should I have a reason to evict someone, it's my damn house. Coupled with not legally being allowed to deny people pets if they want to get one, is messed up. Am sure we need 21 for mny more reasons.. that I'll look forward to finding out!

[AndrewDod]

Wtf dude, every time inflation went up house prices did.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cp...seprice-nc.png
https://www.economicshelp.org/wp-con...0x702.png.webp

Oh? the only other thing I said was to not get a long-term ROI of more than 5% longterm with th best fiancial advisor, how is that wrong?

Rubbish. That is for the period starting 2006 (your graph), in the UK, perhaps.

Avoid the bad language, especially when you are talking bull.

Maybe you should read a bit about the history of property prices in the world. Maybe you should take a look at current inflation versus a price of a flat in London right now.

[Steve Macey]

The London inflation is relating to a short period.
I can't find data over much longer periods and will not assume you are correct just because you think you are.

House prices have historically always increased in the UK and that's all the data I need for now.

[AndrewDod]

The London inflation is relating to a short period.
I can't find data over much longer periods and will not assume you are correct just because you think you are.

House prices have historically always increased in the UK and that's all the data I need for now.

Good luck with that

[leasee123]

As Andrew says, good luck with that....

What data are you seeing to suggest that "house prices always go up"? The past 50 years? 80 years?
Do you honestly think these historical returns, spanning just a few generations in a period mostly of falling interest rates and economic liberation, are set to repeat for the next 5, 10, 20, 30 years? Let alone in real terms (how all investments should be measured).

As Andrew says, good luck with that!

[AndrewDod]

Yup, you don't even have to look that far back. Between January 1989 to January 1997 house prices in the UK decreased in absolute terms, and by nearly 40% (!) in comparison with a basket of other non-housing goods. It only got back to its previous level in 2002. So that is almost a decade and a half..... For all of that time you would have been best out of the market.

Which is what is about to happen again.

But some people never learn

[AndrewDod]

uk-house-prices.gif

[jpkeates]

Your view of the market is always going to be driven by what period you look at.
There was a massive recession in the late 80s and early 90s that hugely affected house prices.
It's not unreasonable to believe that the upcoming recession might do the same.

There was a recession after the 2008/9 financial crash, which reversed a number of years of growth and took about six years to recover to the level they were at pre-crash.
It wouldn't be unreasonable to predict the same, a relatively small blip that recovered quite quickly.

But if you look at 2000 to today, the growth is attractive, and, because, unusually, inflation has been relatively low (along with interest rates) you'd have an extremely positive view of the strength of growth in property prices overall.
Which is, again, a credible view to hold.

A massive amount depends on your time frame.
I'm expecting to be selling in the next decade or so, so my view is pretty negative - over that time frame, I'm expecting prices to fall, either steadily (80's/90's model) or with a couple of short steps down (2008/9 model). And, which I think it'll then recover, unless something dramatic happens to the number of properties being built or the size of the population, that'll probably happen too late for me.

[AndrewDod]

But if you look at 2000 to today, the growth is attractive, and, because, unusually, inflation has been relatively low (along with interest rates) you'd have an extremely positive view of the strength of growth in property prices overall.
Which is, again, a credible view to hold.

That's the crux of the misleading thing.

a) Inflation has been massive for a long time now.
b) They have effectively printed barrow-loads of money and that deflated money has to go somewhere.
c) In the period up to now that money has gone into housing, but not into pots of butter. It has largely gone to support people in London, while most others have had their savings extracted (into London, and to pay a variety of fraudsters). But because the inflation indices don't reflect that (even though housing assets are about 50% of what people spend their money on), it appears to be low.
d) Now inflation remains as high as ever, but it is inflating a different part of the balloon, while another part deflates somewhat.

[jpkeates]

I think b) is less of an issue for inflation, but a huge risk for accelerating the crash when/if it comes.
The government simply invented money to circulate to the banks so it could "borrow" it back - which made no real difference to the GBP, because everyone was doing the same (or similar).

The problem is that everyone in the world banking system is heavily leveraged (even more than "normal") and when things start to unravel, they'll move everywhere all at once.
We're already seeing some early tremors, China's reported growth can't be real, Sri Lanka's about to default on everything (and the world can't watch the people there simply starve to death), and when Africa and Asia can't buy food because Ukraine and Russia aren't selling (or, in the case of Ukraine, producing either) there's enough stress in the market to cause real trouble.

Time to make sure that no bank has more than £80k in it again.

But christ knows what that will do to house prices!