landlords are "jaded" .... so I hear

I saw and article earlier today with the headline "landlords are jaded". Of course that sparked my interest, and I read the article. Apparently, we are "jaded" because and I quote "in the three months to the end of September, fewer than one in three investors were taking the trouble to review the mortgage market on a regular basis". 

Now, can someone explain to me why we would bother anyway, when the banks are not lending to us? Those that are lending or pretending to do so, want to take the shirts off our backs anyway. How many buy-to-let products are still out there, and of those out there how many have reasonable terms/rates? And how many landlords have any credit history worthy of presenting to a lender? how many landlords have been turned down time and again by cautious lenders even when the applicant has a good credit rating? What is the point!!

These bankers have no clue, and I mean no clue, as to what it takes to run a property portfolio, sitting in their cushy chairs in front of their computer screens, twirling numbers around to justify their existence. They pull overdrafts without so much as a by-your-leave, and say "no" even before you've finished asking the question. Between the bankers, the government's ill-thought-out housing regulations, the councils' cack-handed implementation of said regulations, and the tenants shenanigans, the average landlord/investor is pretty chewed up. Frankly, I'm surprised there's any of us left.

Anyway, back to the topic: Buy-to-let mortgages, just a few short months ago, were considered "toxic debts", by our government. Infact I'd go so far as to say the term was so toxic, that one immediately thought "barge pole" when buy-to-let was mentioned. Unfortunately, those maligning the mortgages forgot that most of the properties (houses and flats) bought with these mortgages were good solid housing stock, and not the overpriced city centre flats that no average person could afford!!

We all know that the days of cheap and easy mortgage lending is over, well for now anyway, and we may not likely see a return to the sorts of levels that was around 12-18months ago, and maybe that's a good thing. There is talk that the property market is improving, and we hope so.

I'm a firm believer in bricks-and-mortar being a good solid investment, if held for the long term. Even if one is just trading, there's value in it. For those who are able to, now is very much a good time to be buying property, as there are good deals to be had.  For those who are not able, well, they can sit on the ring side and watch the match in safety and train and tweak their portfolio to maximum potential.