Tips for Teens – How to Prepare to Become a Successful Landlord

Tips for Teens – How to Prepare to Become a Successful Landlord

10:03 AM, 11th June 2014, About 10 years ago 16

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I’m 16, and my goal is to become a successful landlord. I recently went on a fishing trip with my dad and he brought a work friend with him. His friend owns 9 properties, a majority of which are already paid off. He will retire when he is 40, and my goal is to follow in his footsteps. Tips for Teens - How to Prepare to Become a Successful Landlord

I will be speaking to him again, this time on a more professional level, to figure out how he become so successful in such a short amount of time. But for now I’d like to hear your two cents for how a teenager should start preparing to become a landlord.

Which classes would be the most beneficial?

Is saving money (keeping my minimum wage job) my number one priority right now?

Will it still be beneficial to become a land lord ~7-9 years from now?

Any tips that would help me out in the long run would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Derek


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Comments

Les Charneca

8:54 AM, 14th June 2014, About 10 years ago

I agree with AG, everyone here wishes they started earlier! Property is guaranteed get rich. It is just not quick and most people get bored waiting, so starting early is the trick.

You can't own property in the UK until you are 18. My daughter is going to start at 18.

Always buy a residential unit first, because a it is not just an investment, it is somewhere to live and everyone needs one of those so you can't go wrong. Either live in it and take a tenant or rent the whole thing out and live in a caravan etc. Your first years will be tough and you will have no money when all your friends are going out having a good time.

Your only issue is raising a deposit, but you have a couple of years to work towards that. Obviously being young usually means being skint, but do not let that put you off, youth has an advantage. You will be able to get a very long term mortgage (I am old now and can't borrow over +20 years) take the longest term you can for your first one and let someone else slowly pay the capital off. You will eventually switch to a BTL mortgage as already mentioned, but get your first residential unit bought first.

You will see from the comments that lots of people on this forum have done well and are only middle aged, as I said before it is get rich slowly.

Good luck.

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

9:54 AM, 14th June 2014, About 10 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Les Charneca" at "14/06/2014 - 08:54":

Not wishing to be picky but if a person rents a room in their own home the occupier of that room is not a tenant. He/she is a lodger and is not protected by the Landlord and Tenant Act or Deposit Protection rules in the same way. In other words, only reasonable notice has to be given to insist they move on. No formal notice period and no requirement for possession orders.
.

10:09 AM, 14th June 2014, About 10 years ago

@Les

Your comment about self-sacrifice is an important one.

One of my favourite sayings is:

"If you don't get what you want in life, you didn't want it badly enough, or you haggled about the price".

The "price" might not be a financial one - it might be a compromise or a sacrifice to help you move forwards.

We have been investing in property for 10 years now, and it has been a constant round of sacrifices to get where we want to get.

For instance, we have had lodgers in our home for ten years. Many people point blank refuse to consider this. But our lodgers bring in over £1,000 per month and pay 2/3rds of our residential mortgage. Using other people's money is one of the guiding principles of property investment!

It was a price we were willing to pay - to share our home with strangers - to live in the house of our dreams and be able to increase the cashflow across our portfolio, of which we view our own home as one of our investments.

Les Charneca

11:21 AM, 14th June 2014, About 10 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "14/06/2014 - 09:54":

Cheers Mark

You are bang on with your info. Obviously you could also use the rent a room scheme etc. \

I remember starting with a HMO but could not afford to keep a nice room for myself, I had the box room in the attic;)

Les

Neil Robb

15:18 PM, 14th June 2014, About 10 years ago

Hi Derek

Good luck for the future. You have picked a great future plan but please remember it is not easy. You will always hear of the great deals but they can go wrong be careful when dealing with certain people who will sell you a course on how to make millions.

People like Mark Alexander are great,he set the forum up to help people and share information. I have found it useful over the last few years and learnt form it.

Always remember treat everyone well, tenants, trades people build good relationships and pay your bills on time. If you do that your future will be great.

I never understood a landlord who won't maintain his property and has his tenants living in misery.

Grow your property steady at a rate that is manageable. Join associations and property meet groups where like minded people educate each other.

Enjoy your journey and go for it. remember you will always get people who will say no or pass there negative thoughts on to you. We all make mistakes so don't be afraid to ask for help.

Mike Hubert

9:56 AM, 22nd November 2016, About 8 years ago

If you want to be a successful landlord you need to maintain tenant-landlord relationships. And in order to be in good relationships with renter you need find renter who won’t cause much troubles to you. It could be managed through proper screening of all applicants. The tenants verification should include running of background check, credit reports, gathering references from previous landlords and conducting an interview.
As landlord you need to realize that you offer service to tenants.

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