where to put 80k?

[drainbrain]

Femur said:

Thanks!

I'm keen to add a commercial property to the portfolio so it's of interest.

Just got another one. Cost £20k but needing £5k to renovate and upgrade to easy-to-let standard. Then £250/275 pcm on FRI lease and 5%+vat management. Again, single unit shop and reasonable area in line of similar shops with none vacant below fully occupied residential flatted dwellings.

ETA: LA's just been on the phone saying £300pcm when upgrade's finished.

Edited by drainbrain on Wednesday 29th June 15:52

[Femur]

drainbrain said:

Femur said:

Thanks!

I'm keen to add a commercial property to the portfolio so it's of interest.

Just got another one. Cost £20k but needing £5k to renovate and upgrade to easy-to-let standard. Then £250/275 pcm on FRI lease and 5%+vat management. Again, single unit shop and reasonable area in line of similar shops with none vacant below fully occupied residential flatted dwellings.

ETA: LA's just been on the phone saying £300pcm when upgrade's finished.

Edited by drainbrain on Wednesday 29th June 15:52

Interesting! Nice figures there.

Are you buying these at auction?

[drainbrain]

Femur said:

Interesting! Nice figures there.

Are you buying these at auction?

The first one was via auction. Typical UK conmen. Pre-auction I bid £30k. Seller turned it down and insisted it went to the room. At auction I got it at £29k. Then the conmen turn round and say that that's below the reserve so we'll ask the seller if he'll accept it. Also, regardless of your winning bid if anyone comes to us prior to the owner accepting your bid and offers above it, we'll take their higher offer instead. So I upped it to the £32k reserve which closed it out. Nice, eh? But no choice. I could almost feel the auctioneer's friend waiting to take it for £30k. Scum.

UK property business is scum-packed. From the lenders to the auctioneers FAs EAs LAs and insurers. Even the regulators. Third world trading standards

The cheaper one was just grapevine. A guy I know phoned to say he was retiring, he'd heard I buy property, and did I want the premises he'd been trading from for the last 20 years. I get quite a few like that.

[audidoody]

Joey Deacon said:

Storing large amounts of cash in a bank is pointless now that we have such low interest rates. This is why property and classic car prices have gone up so much, there is nowhere else worth putting your money.

The best instant access accounts I found were to put £20K in a Santander 123 account paying 3% and the rest of my money is in a Virgin Money account paying 1.31%. You can get 1.45% from the RCI bank but this is owned by Renault and backed by the French Government. All UK accounts are guaranteed for £75K by the government if the bank goes under. If RCI bank goes under you will be going cap in hand to the French Government for your money, so good luck with that one.

My advice would be to buy property with it.

Property is only for long-term investment (e.g. minimum five years - ideally 10 years). It's not liquid and there are substantial acquisition and ongoing costs (e.g. agents fees, legal and stamp duty, maintenance,) plus disposal costs when selling (estate agent fees legal fees, capital gains tax etc). If you buy a flat there is the annual service charge to pay. Not least the hassle of dealing with tenants. Plus the tax benefits are being phased out. And the rules n B2L lending have been substantially tightened up - deposit, rent cover, and stress testing for higher interest rates.

After a B2L sale I've parked a load of cash into RCI. If they go tits up you won't have to go cap in hand to anyone. You'll automatically get reimbursed within a month up to the limit of €75000 per customer (i.e. €150,000 for joint a/c).

Aldermore Bank is offering 1.29pc on a 30 day account.

Out of the main P2P lenders (e.g. Zopa, LendingWorks) I've found that Fundingcircle offers the best return. With £80,000 I'd stick £40k into P2P with £10k per P2P lender. The other £40k into two 123 accounts (personal and joint)

Was going to stick the maximum into Premium Bonds but with only 2 millionaire prizes a month, it seems pointless.

Edited by audidoody on Friday 1st July 11:56