Owning your own home

I have stripped and rebuilt bikes just by the light of my Lezyne Macro Drive pointed at the white ceiling of my shed, I would much prefer a 240v light but will see how this LED strip works out. It will mostly be for locking the bike up in the evening. I too run an extension lead out to my shed if I need power but I find it a faff. Doubt I could run permanent mains as it would need to cross a technically shared path.

Those strips look pretty bright on the picture. I might get something like that in addition to proper lights for soldering / small detail stuff.

I'd like to have proper power in mine too. I may do it at some point, but it's a really small shed (6x6) and I've not put the bikes back in yet. I want to see if I can fit them in there and still move about before I get too over the top about turning it into a garden workshop - I caught myself researching dust-collection last night, which might be a little ambitious...

Mine is 8x6, when there was one bike in there I could still set up the work stand. Haven't tried that now I have 3. I built a deck around the shed to do dusty work outside. If you had power and a reasonable compact shop vac, you could use the hoover hose type attachments for power tools. Just don't use it to collect metal shavings if it is already full of wood dust. Hot metal and super-kindling is not a good idea.

there's a fair bit of condensation appearing

Open the windows

[Edit] just noticed your latest. It's 200+ years old. Normal rules probably don't apply. And you probably have a stream running through one of the walls.

I'm thinking of something like this for dust, along with an elaborate set of vacuum pipes:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/DUST-COMMANDER-Cyclone-element-collector/dp/B00HXDYL70/ref=pd_cp_201_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=5Y3JRJH6RAFC6QDZHHA5

with a vacuum on the inside and a drum on the outside of the shed to collect the dust. It's only 6x6, so definitely no room for the drum on the inside. Ideally I'd like a dust tube on the floor to hoover up sweepings into, one on the bench for tools to connect to and one linked to a sanding station set into the bench. No idea if I'll get around to this...

I think I'll have to cut down to just one bike, which is a shame as I'll miss the ones I'm going to have to sell :(

are you sure it's not blood?

Yes that's all good just pop a 3 amp fuse into the plug instead of the13 amp that is likely to be in . Also if using power out side make sure your sockets in the house are rcd protected or just get a rcd plug

Perfect - thanks very much

anyone know if there is any way to use a pension pot to help buy [another] house? E.g. through a SIPP?

Edit: Probably not right for this thread but can't find the capitalist scum / property owning c****s thread.

Draw the money down and pay the tax on it I'd imagine. Letting you do it all tax free would be a bit of a large loophole

We are having to choose between a 5 year fix and a 3 year (which is £60 cheaper p/m).

Everyone seems to be looking to fix for 5 years - but we will probably move in around 3 years time.

Is it worth the extra £2000 over 3 years to get the 5 year fixed? Is it fears over Brexit? I know there’s a potential GE around that tile too but I can’t imagine May will be around then, so can see one being triggered before that.

AFAIK you can do commercial property and land through a SIPP but not residential. You can get resi exposure through a fund but you can't own the asset directly.

If you can port the 5 year to a new property, i'd probably go with the 5 given Brexit, GE, global thermonuclear annihilation etc

Guys halp.

I have two properties (YOU MONSTER)

Let-flat, balance £210,000, 4% variable because I tried to sell it but it went tits up
Resi-flat, balance £110,000 2.5% fixed until 2019

Plan:

• Borrow additional £210,000 against resi-flat and pay off Let flat mortgage at 1.9 fixed 5yr
  
• Sell let flat at a suitable time i.e. 6 mo without incurring ERCs
  
• invest remaining equity in something (BITCOIN)
  
• Port mortgage to new property around 2019/20
  
  

Lender will let me do this.

Is there something I'm missing? It seems like a good way of:

• getting certainty on finance costs for five years through brexit
  
• borrowing a sizable amount at a great rate
  
• stop hemorrhaging cash by being on variable rate on Let-Flat
  
  

What am I missing?

Thanks; that makes sense.

I have a small pot in a stakeholder pension that I no longer pay into as I now have a workplace pension. I was wondering if I could use the transfer value to help buy my "retirement" home in the countryside but looks like that won't be a possible option.

Draw the money down and pay the tax on it I'd imagine.

But not until I'm 55...

Some things to think about, going for the 5 year fix, if you're move after 3 doesn't go smoothly, i.e. will you sell, then rent for a bit, then buy, you may be liable for ERC of 1 - 2% of the loan, this would be on top of the £2000 extra you have paid for the privilege of a 5 year fix. However, if you can Port your mortgage it may be possible to bring that rate with you. (make sure this is part of the deal with this rate).

With a 3 year fix, you would have a bit more flexibility when it came to moving, you wouldn't need to worry about an ERC and the money you have saved may offset any increase in interest for the next Mortgage you get, however, you would need to calculate what kind of an increase in the base rate would be required to push you over that threshold.

Unfortunately Brexit, so who knows.

We are looking at a 2yr fixed, because it will be 90% mortgage, spend all our money on the refurb, remortgage and it should be a 75% mortgage.
Unless house prices tank.

My thinking is - and I suspect @dammit might think the same - is that it's worth paying a small in the grand scheme of things charge for extra certainty through what will probably be the lumpiest ride this nation will experience in peace time

or something

Do you feel lucky, punk?

You will probably pay more tax as you have less interest to deduct on your BTL. However, this exemption is being phased out anyway so you might not care.

Other point is that now all of your debt is recourse to your home, meaning if things go tits up you are properly shafted.

Also, what will you do with proceeds of BTL sale? You will likely have ERCs on your new resi mortgage if it's a 5y fix.

Thanks. We could easily overpay the extra £60 (or up to £150) on the 3 year fixed which wouldn’t hurt.

But, Brexit.

Where’s that damn crystal ball?

Also, we’ll be paying an early exit fee to fix a deal now.
We ‘could’ wait until next September and move to the best deal with Nationwide. But how much are mortgage rates going to rise in the next 10 months?

Do you have to pay the exit fee if you remortgage with the same bank?

Yes...usually

But you can have two mortgages instead of paying one off and exiting

You will probably pay more tax as you have less interest to deduct on your BTL. However, this exemption is being phased out anyway so you might not care.

This is correct. I don't care and I don't see myself getting years more income from it. Basically I'm very keen to shift it. I just can't do that until Feb 2018 when the current AST expires.

Other point is that now all of your debt is recourse to your home, meaning if things go tits up you are properly shafted.

This is correct. If all goes to plan we will have the funds to repay the mortgage should someone put a gun to our heads.

Also, what will you do with proceeds of BTL sale? You will likely have ERCs on your new resi mortgage if it's a 5y fix.

The proceeds we'll save / invest as we see fit, but will keep a sizable amount liquid enough that should we want to move we can access it. The new mortgage will be portable so we in theory at least could move it to a new property.