What should i do with my money?

[m3jappa]

I need some advice guys please, i,ll give a little background first.

28yrs old still living with parents, we get on well, my girlfriend lives here pretty much and they are quite happy with it all.(no abuse please, it works ok for us all )
Obviously i want to move out but.... i am self employed, work is getting harder to find and generally its not looking too promising.
I have saved up just under 30k which is/was for a house deposit. Now i really dont think it would be a good idea to buy a place right now, my work is too irregular and its definately not the good times any more.

So anyway i have this money in the bank and i was thinking that with that cash i could put a deposit on 2 flats which i could rent out. i wouldnt buy right now, maybe give it 6 months or so and then buy two places for around 100k each.

I would be wiping out my savings but in the mean time i can save some and my girlfriend is also saving a good amount each month. When things pick up again i can very quickly get together the deposit for a nice 2 or 3 bed for us and still keep the other two propertys.

So is that a good plan? or stick the money in premium bonds ad just use it for a deposit as and when.

[justin220]

Sounds like a good plan to me! I'd be tempted to blow it as I have no self control ha!

[skyline501]

I wouldn't bother with premium bonds just now.
I've got the max 30,000 and won the princely sum of £25 this month.
Cheers Gordon!

[172ff]

28 and still living at home

[john_p]

172ff said:

28 and still living at home

And saved up £30k in the process, don't knock him

[plasticpig]

You should spend it on alcohol, drugs, cars and prostitutes. The economy needs all the help it can get. To carry on saving it is unpatriotic. Think what fun you can have with 30K and help boost the economy at the same time!

[touge]

Put it all on red.

[Somewhatfoolish]

Don't do this!

Your question boils down to... should I become a buy to let landlord with no experience and while in full time employment?

At least go over to www.housepricecrash.co.uk and ask them what they think. Listen to them

[m3jappa]

Somewhatfoolish said:

Don't do this!

Your question boils down to... should I become a buy to let landlord with no experience and while in full time employment?

At least go over to www.housepricecrash.co.uk and ask them what they think. Listen to them

Without even clicking the link i think i know what they are going to say by the tone of your post


So what should i do with this money? many years ago when i was a teenager and in the early twenties i spent all my money on the drugs etc hence why i never bought a house when would have been most sensible (2001)

I can't make that mistake again.

Another idea i have had and its probably crap is to do a few k on numberplates, i have been looking at dvla auctions and i have been hearing that many are not selling, i think it may be a good idea to buy a few for future investment. I dont think it would hurt to try.

I could leave my girlfriend, sell everything i have and move to the states with the ambition of being a pornstar but somehow i dont think my girlfriend would be waiting when i come back after i fail dramatically

[m3jappa]

Somewhatfoolish said:

Don't do this!

Your question boils down to... should I become a buy to let landlord with no experience and while in full time employment?

At least go over to www.housepricecrash.co.uk and ask them what they think. Listen to them

Without even clicking the link i think i know what they are going to say by the tone of your post


So what should i do with this money? many years ago when i was a teenager and in the early twenties i spent all my money on the drugs etc hence why i never bought a house when would have been most sensible (2001)

I can't make that mistake again.

Another idea i have had and its probably crap is to do a few k on numberplates, i have been looking at dvla auctions and i have been hearing that many are not selling, i think it may be a good idea to buy a few for future investment. I dont think it would hurt to try.

I could leave my girlfriend, sell everything i have and move to the states with the ambition of being a pornstar but somehow i dont think my girlfriend would be waiting when i come back after i fail dramatically

[Somewhatfoolish]

m3jappa said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

Don't do this!

Your question boils down to... should I become a buy to let landlord with no experience and while in full time employment?

At least go over to www.housepricecrash.co.uk and ask them what they think. Listen to them

Without even clicking the link i think i know what they are going to say by the tone of your post


So what should i do with this money? many years ago when i was a teenager and in the early twenties i spent all my money on the drugs etc hence why i never bought a house when would have been most sensible (2001)

I can't make that mistake again.

Another idea i have had and its probably crap is to do a few k on numberplates, i have been looking at dvla auctions and i have been hearing that many are not selling, i think it may be a good idea to buy a few for future investment. I dont think it would hurt to try.

I could leave my girlfriend, sell everything i have and move to the states with the ambition of being a pornstar but somehow i dont think my girlfriend would be waiting when i come back after i fail dramatically

I would have thought numberplates requires very specialist knowledge and I would have also thought the market for them is in freefall.

Basically you're asking what to do to make money with £30k... the only real answer without much more detail is 'it depends'. You could talk to an IFA or something but they don't think outside of the box and it would be crazy to talk to one now... they didn't live through the great depression and failed their History O'Levels... how about starting your own business? Ultimately that's the most lucrative way to make money!

[m3jappa]

thanks for the reply

I already have my own buisness, which currently is not very busy, much like everyone else who does driveways and patios, im scraping the barrel with work, but i just need to ride it out as no doubt eventually (within the next 2 years i believe) things will pick up again.

I would love to start another buisness but exactly what i dont know, nowadays everyone does everything and i dont think there are many things which are easy money if you like.

I,m quite willing to work hard but doing what i dont know.

The easiest thing to do would be to leave that money in something like premiumn bonds, its safe and at least theres a chance albeit small of success.

But it almost feels that at times like now is the time to be doing something with the money i have.

[NDA]

Cash is king. Don't let it burn a hole in your pocket.

I am an accidental landlord with two properties let out to tenants. The first house was valued at £4,500 a month rental, I'm getting £2,300... fortunately these are not mortgaged properties. I mention this simply to illustrate how wildly off budget you can get.

My advice would be not to tie up your money in property in the hope that they'll a) be fully let (i.e. 12 months out of 12), b) that the interest rates don't go up, don't cover your mortgage and then bankrupt you c) you let to the tenants from hell who trash your property!

Leave it in the bank and keep saving. There are no 'clever' investments at the moment without massive risk.

[172ff]

john_p said:

172ff said:

28 and still living at home

And saved up £30k in the process, don't knock him

So did I, but not living at Mummy and Daddies expense.

From previous threads IIRC the OP's parents subsidise his lifestyle. i.e. rent free = cash for other things.

[Jasandjules]

MY worry with splashing out on two flats is "can you afford to pay the mortgages if you cannot get tenants"? I bet the answer is no. That gives me your answer.

Bear in mind that they may well drop in price as well over the next year or so which means you might be unable to service the mortgages and then lose both flats, which go into negative equity and you lose the lot.

Not a happy person I sound, BUT I wouldn't want to see you blow this cash. I have a friend in almost the EXACT same situation as you but she has a bit more cash saved and is looking to buy. My advice to her is to wait.

If your business is not doing too well, then is it perhaps wise to keep the cash in the bank to assist if you need it over the next year or so whilst your business is not doing well.... Perhaps split the difference and just get one flat to let out? I don't know.

Sorry, I don't think I've helped at all there....

[Jonny_]

Hang onto it and keep adding to it where you can. When the time comes for you to buy your own property, a big juicy deposit will save you tens of thousands in mortgage interest. Much more, in fact, than you're ever likely to make by "investing".

[Adam B]

sounds like you have minimal overheads (living at home) and an easy fallback if things go wrong (cannot get tenants for a period) so sounds like a reasonable move to me provided you:

do a lot of research on values, and figure out what is a very keen price
do even more research and understand what will make a desirable rental
prepare and cost out the worst - you covering both mortgages
get your mortgage sorted and solicitor at the ready

then wait and pick you moment

[Somewhatfoolish]

haworthlloyd1 said:

m3jappa said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

Don't do this!

Your question boils down to... should I become a buy to let landlord with no experience and while in full time employment?

At least go over to www.housepricecrash.co.uk and ask them what they think. Listen to them

Without even clicking the link i think i know what they are going to say by the tone of your post


So what should i do with this money? many years ago when i was a teenager and in the early twenties i spent all my money on the drugs etc hence why i never bought a house when would have been most sensible (2001)

I can't make that mistake again.

Another idea i have had and its probably crap is to do a few k on numberplates, i have been looking at dvla auctions and i have been hearing that many are not selling, i think it may be a good idea to buy a few for future investment. I dont think it would hurt to try.

I could leave my girlfriend, sell everything i have and move to the states with the ambition of being a pornstar but somehow i dont think my girlfriend would be waiting when i come back after i fail dramatically

i will declare a vested interest in private plates as I own 6E which is obviously worth a little bit - but plate values are holding up and records are being broked at the moment - S1, F1, 1O, 1D, 2O and 1RH have all sold recently for record prices S1 £400k plus, F1 £400k plus, 1 RH £250,000 and 6B sold for £132,000 recently so they do seem to be holding their value. I wouldn't advise putting all your money in though.

Good investments seem to be 'number ones' such as WDF 1 or 2 digit number ones such as MH 1 or single singles such as 3L etc. ones you could try are 3 digit number ones as you can get some for as low as £5k

An entirely pointless good with no intrinsic value, pretty much a vanity thing subject to the whim of fashion, and they remain the property of the government (and thus can be arbitrarily seized for no real reason)... they're inherently extremely speculative I think

Although if someone would sell me V14GRA...

[Somewhatfoolish]

haworthlloyd1 said:

yes, but so is a diamond - its just a stone. So is a classic rolex and many more things. You can go on forever about things like that. Look at things such as artwork - its just a painting for crying out loud.

DVLA tried seizing in 1970s but too much backlash, makes dvla too much money and too many people have paid a lot of money for them that its unlikely but not impossible to change. a lot of things are inherently speculative too - risk and reward

Totally, that's why I'd never put any money in any of those things (or gold, for the same reason) - but I'm a very paranoid person

One thing's come to mind, can give big returns but without too much risk if sensible... how about unleveraged currency trading?

[Jespin]

Also remember that you would only be able to buy 1 x £100k property with a £30k deposit, not two in the current mortgage environment. In addition, don't think that as interest rates / inflation have fallen sharply, that premium bonds become a better option - NS&I have reduced the prize fund again recently and have even killed off one of the £1m prizes.