If You Could Do Something Else ? (1 Viewer)

bringbackrattles said:

I've found later in life I'm a decent writer and am currently writing for two football magazines. But I wish I'd have had the oomph or confidence to be a writer or journalist years ago. But when I left school it was straight on to building sites like my dad, and if I'd have said I want to be a writer I'd have been laughed at ! Still better later than never I guess. So what profession or career would you choose now if given the chance ?

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now 50 and still don't know, think that's part of the problem!!

robbieray said:

We could be a double act , obviously me being the funny one and u the straight guy

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Which is what I said in my previous post.

I would be the creative writer and straight man and you could be the clown.

Otis said:

Which is what I said in my previous post.

I would be the creative writer and straight man and you could be the clown.

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don't think it would work, a double act requires at least one of you to be funny :emoji_laughing:

clint van damme said:

don't think it would work, a double act requires at least one of you to be funny :emoji_laughing:

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That's why I am passing the mantle.

I've always loved the fact that weather is so hard to predict and it's an area I would have loved to get into. I think it stems from being caught up in a tornado in Wales of all places when I was younger but I would love to chase them over the states with the added benefit of maybe saving a few lives and making a difference.

A Farmer I reckon.
Loved spending my weekends and holidays working with the animals and getting crops in as a teenager.
Even if it did mean I was a little cruel to the baby piggies! :-o

wingy said:

A Farmer I reckon.
Loved spending my weekends and holidays working with the animals and getting crops in as a teenager.
Even if it did mean I was a little cruel to the baby piggies! :-o

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Just watch your tyres on those farm tracks Wingy :angelic:

I'm amazed. I was expecting to open this thread and see 20 comments saying 'Brexit negotiator'!

tom88 said:

I would just like to point out its leisure. Considering you are first to jump down someone's throat at any minor mistake

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Cheers pal. Everyday is a school day.

And just to be clear, I'm glad you pointed it out as I genuinely didn't know.

Drug dealer

Liquid Gold said:

Drug dealer

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Get the Audi S3 on order!

I will hopefully be running a low key animal sanctuary by next year or at the latest the year after full time.

I wanted to do architecture from school. Love the design and details of buildings. Didn't get the grades, best thing that's happened to me, did a mechanical engineering apprenticeship instead, this was during New Labours drive to get everyone to uni. I was told I was stupid and going to be stuck in a dead end job if I did it. Since my skills are now quite scares and required all over the world, I can literally walk out of a job and be working the next somewhere else, Amazing position to be in.

Most of those who said I was stupid still live at their parents stuck in dead end jobs, earning less then half of what I do. :happy:

Marty said:

I wanted to do architecture from school. Love the design and details of buildings. Didn't get the grades, best thing that's happened to me, did a mechanical engineering apprenticeship instead, this was during New Labours drive to get everyone to uni. I was told I was stupid and going to be stuck in a dead end job if I did it. Since my skills are now quite scares and required all over the world, I can literally walk out of a job and be working the next somewhere else, Amazing position to be in.

Most of those who said I was stupid still live at their parents stuck in dead end jobs, earning less then half of what I do. :happy:

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That's what I'd have put If not for the farming option.
Did you say your background was as an Electrician?
You could still get there with further study, I had a crack at it back in the 80's but personal circumstances messed my head up.

wingy said:

That's what I'd have put If not for the farming option.
Did you say your background was as an Electrician?
You could still get there with further study, I had a crack at it back in the 80's but personal circumstances messed my head up.

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I'll be honest, I'm happy with my life situation and have no desire to change that currently, maybe in years to come but not yet.

During the Careers sessions towards the end of school years, I seriously thought about becoming a chef. At the time, Henley College did a 4 year Hotel and Management course which covered all the basics in the kitchen and office side, plus 2 x 6 month attachments at hotels in the UK and Europe. It appealed to me very much and was probably 80/20 in favour of doing it, but was talked out of it by family and friends who could only see the negative side......you're working whilst everyone else is enjoying themselves, slaving away in a hot kitchen, being at the beck and call of everyone, low pay, etc. So I took the 'safer' option of a Business Studies course at Cov Tech.

Back then (mid to late seventies), the only profile chefs I can recall were the Galloping Gourmet and Fanny Craddock, certainly very different from today. There's no guarantee that fame and fortune would have followed, but many's the time I think 'what if?'.

When you watch master chef, the pressure on proper chefs is unreal.

Nick said:

When you watch master chef, the pressure on proper chefs is unreal.

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For sure Nick, but the whole industry/culture has changed so much in a short space of time. People now demand much more than just being fed, it's a whole new art form.
Talking of pressure, my youngest recently asked me to bake him a Victoria Sponge cake. Didn't think too much about it but when it came out of the oven, the middle had sunk that much I had to call it a Victoria Sponge Doughnut. He was not at all impressed and refused to eat it.

"And may all your doughnuts turn out like Fanny's".
Johnnie Craddock

I wish I had learnt to play the guitar, I should have been a rock god

Marty said:

I'll be honest, I'm happy with my life situation and have no desire to change that currently, maybe in years to come but not yet.

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Yeah apologies Marty I responded after the first sentence without fully reading your post.
You're in a handy position.

tom88 said:

I'm only 29 years old, have a young family, decent job working for a engineering component supplier and Bought my first house at 24.

I'm so eager to start a property portfolio buy houses and rent them out. Been looking into it for ages but just need to get cash together to get a deposit

Anyone do this on here and what is your advice

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I have a couple of rental houses. I got left some money which got me started, you don't make much money to start with but i think of it as a long term investment. If you want any advice PM me.

Started replying but too personal. Got forced down a route by my parents. Hoping to do something like my ambitions during the next few years.

tom88 said:

I'm only 29 years old, have a young family, decent job working for a engineering component supplier and Bought my first house at 24.

I'm so eager to start a property portfolio buy houses and rent them out. Been looking into it for ages but just need to get cash together to get a deposit

Anyone do this on here and what is your advice

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PM me of you want some advice. I have some rental houses but I waited for years for the right moment and I wouldn't do it now... I think the moment has gone,

I would love to have trained in carpentry leading to becoming a master cabinetmaker with my own workshop. Just me on my own but having someone to help with logistics / installation.
I love working with wood , I just wished I would have trained up knowing how to do every joint to perfection.
Instead I left school and went straight onto a British Gas appprenticeship and years on the tools. Had no passion for it though.

Malaka said:

I wish I had learnt to play the guitar, I should have been a rock god

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I learnt to play the guitar and had my own band at 11.

I am not a rock god.

Policeman and if I had gone through with it would be nearly retired now rather than unloading boxes overnight for ups

Otis said:

I learnt to play the guitar and had my own band at 11.

I am not a rock god.

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Were you in Solid Action? They were really young when they first started gigging.

mrtrench said:

Were you in Solid Action? They were really young when they first started gigging.

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Close but no cigar. In fact, very close.

We were called Solid Grease (I know, goddamn awful name).

mrtrench said:

PM me of you want some advice. I have some rental houses but I waited for years for the right moment and I wouldn't do it now... I think the moment has gone,

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is that because of the new tax laws that come into full effect in 2020?
I have a friend with quite a large portfolio who's selling a fair few properties,going to have a smaller portfolio but with more equity in each property.

clint van damme said:

is that because of the new tax laws that come into full effect in 2020?
I have a friend with quite a large portfolio who's selling a fair few properties,going to have a smaller portfolio but with more equity in each property.

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The tax changes have been numerous and make it difficult to make a profit from buy to let now. For starters there is a stamp duty surcharge if you buy a house to let. Secondly, landlords are no longer permitted to net off all interest charges on mortgages (so effectively they pay tax on the money borrowed to buy the house - and as you say by 2020 they can claim none of the interest) and the wear and tear allowance has been removed (which is not a big issue as landlords can still claim tax relief when they buy to replace an item). I've done a similar thing to your friend - if you don't have a lot of equity I don't think you can make a profit any more.

There's also local councils bearing down on landlords. From this year I must pay an additional £5 per week for each house for them to empty the bins (in addition to rates).

It's not just that though. I bought when house prices were low and the income against the cost was reasonable. I wouldn't buy with house prices as they are today. Many people assume that house prices will just keep rising and they can make money at the end when they sell - that's a terrible assumption in my opinion.

And finally there is an ongoing risk with legislation. There are so many hoops to jump through now and if you make a mistake (even if you were not aware) then it can be very expensive. I've had one house this year where the tenants have trashed it. We found a plastic air pistol and they have shot it into all the kitchen doors, broken windows, into beds and walls/doors of bedrooms and even into the fridge. They have forced entry into four rooms and the doors have been broken (it's a student house, so all bedrooms have a lock). It has cost me more than £3k to put right the damage (so effectively it's taken all the profit from this house this year) . They are going to dispute the deposit retention claim (it's free to dispute so they have nothing to lose) and the odds are heavily in their favour: at the Deposit Protection Scheme only 19% of cases find for the landlord. I've spent 2 whole days so far writing a document to prove that the house was in good condition when they moved in and poor when they left (getting photographs, scans of receipts etc.) I reckon I need another day to complete it and even then there is no guarantee I'll even get anything from the deposits. New landlords should not believe it's easy and doesn't take time; if you are doing everything properly it will take lots of time and sometimes lots of stress.

No comments from me on whether all the changes are a good or bad thing. I can see why they have been introduced and there are some terrible landlords. However it hits the good landlords too. Landlords that are squeezed will either sell up or not maintain properties. There is no way I'm not going to maintain my properties - just from a moral standpoint if nothing else - but many would just let this trashed house in the condition that the last tenants left it, simply because they can no longer afford to do anything else. If they go one step further and introduce rent caps (as has been suggested by one political party) then it will cause more landlords to sell up and the ones that remain will become slums. I will sell.

So, all in all, not a great time to start letting houses in my opinion.

mrtrench said:

The tax changes have been numerous and make it difficult to make a profit from buy to let now. For starters there is a stamp duty surcharge if you buy a house to let. Secondly, landlords are no longer permitted to net off all interest charges on mortgages (so effectively they pay tax on the money borrowed to buy the house - and as you say by 2020 they can claim none of the interest) and the wear and tear allowance has been removed (which is not a big issue as landlords can still claim tax relief when they buy to replace an item). I've done a similar thing to your friend - if you don't have a lot of equity I don't think you can make a profit any more.

There's also local councils bearing down on landlords. From this year I must pay an additional £5 per week for each house for them to empty the bins (in addition to rates).

It's not just that though. I bought when house prices were low and the income against the cost was reasonable. I wouldn't buy with house prices as they are today. Many people assume that house prices will just keep rising and they can make money at the end when they sell - that's a terrible assumption in my opinion.

And finally there is an ongoing risk with legislation. There are so many hoops to jump through now and if you make a mistake (even if you were not aware) then it can be very expensive. I've had one house this year where the tenants have trashed it. We found a plastic air pistol and they have shot it into all the kitchen doors, broken windows, into beds and walls/doors of bedrooms and even into the fridge. They have forced entry into four rooms and the doors have been broken (it's a student house, so all bedrooms have a lock). It has cost me more than £3k to put right the damage (so effectively it's taken all the profit from this house this year) . They are going to dispute the deposit retention claim (it's free to dispute so they have nothing to lose) and the odds are heavily in their favour: at the Deposit Protection Scheme only 19% of cases find for the landlord. I've spent 2 whole days so far writing a document to prove that the house was in good condition when they moved in and poor when they left (getting photographs, scans of receipts etc.) I reckon I need another day to complete it and even then there is no guarantee I'll even get anything from the deposits. New landlords should not believe it's easy and doesn't take time; if you are doing everything properly it will take lots of time and sometimes lots of stress.

No comments from me on whether all the changes are a good or bad thing. I can see why they have been introduced and there are some terrible landlords. However it hits the good landlords too. Landlords that are squeezed will either sell up or not maintain properties. There is no way I'm not going to maintain my properties - just from a moral standpoint if nothing else - but many would just let this trashed house in the condition that the last tenants left it, simply because they can no longer afford to do anything else. If they go one step further and introduce rent caps (as has been suggested by one political party) then it will cause more landlords to sell up and the ones that remain will become slums. I will sell.

So, all in all, not a great time to start letting houses in my opinion.

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I became a landlord by accident and have just one but I wouldn't bother with another due to the reasons you've listed.

Years ago, I met a guy in Tenerife. He had sold up in the UK, bought a nice place out there and set up a jet ski business. He had a nice shaded hut on the beach, spent his day renting the jet skis out for 30 mins or an hour.

Gave lessons too. Seems the only people wanting to learn were young women, so spent lots of time sat behind bikini clad girls with his arms round them.

Seemed like a decent life to me.

Otis said:

Close but no cigar. In fact, very close.

We were called Solid Grease (I know, goddamn awful name).

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Thixotropic!
Solidified liquid,yet returns to liquid if stirred vigorously.
Not so mental really.