KidKruger

SJ - does it REALLY matter if there's the odd drop of pork fat in home-style cabbage or aubergine ? I mean, you probably couldn't taste it and it's not a main ingredient. I, also, don't know if there IS prok in these vegetable dishes. I also am unsure of the correct terminology. Just like Confucius, I like to get this right. 'veggie' smarts of veggetarian food for 'veggies' but NOT for meat eaters. 'vegetarian' sounds like it's food that has no meat in it. Which anyone is intended to eat. Is there a subtle difference between the two ? The usage makes me think so. 'Veggie' seems to have some kind of 'ownership (it's OUR food) attached to. Don't get me wrong, I'll eat what I like regardless, but I think the ownership thing is stoopid.

or the 1837 home to ED ...

If you like cabbage, try the 'home-style cabbage' at Silk Road, Camberwell. Also the 'home style aubergine'. However, there will be other diners eating the non-veggie kind of food.

In a nutshell Jeremy.

8.45 am ? Most self-respecting pros are well into their working day by then. You're lucky you're not lamenting the 0609 train's times. Clearly you're om the afternoon shift. Or just working part-time.

I made the same point myself, but not about landlords as opposed to tenants. I said PEOPLE will generally take the p!ss if they can. Not exclusively a landlord's trait.

Dave R - who said that commercial motivation is for the bad guys only ? Someone else maybe, but not myself or SJ, so no need to try convince us otherwise !! I have a commercial motivation regardless, I'm just not (in THIS property) wringing every last cent out of the tenant. There are plenty circumstances, especially recently, where there is no option to make a (decent) return or get your capital out. I actually question these days why people even bother to buy to let when there's not even an indication of property price rises.

ED is, bizarrely, also (evidentially) populated by many folks who are insecure enough to let a confident looking Mum/Dad combo ruin their day. Jeez, even the whingeing pomms have whingeing pomms !

"If you ask for the tenant just to cover the mortgage you're one of the good guys" DAVE R: No - you're either an idiot or someone with enough money not to need to make a return on your capital If the landlord's aim is solely to make a viable yield per month or year then maybe you have a case, but even then calling someone who's plan is not working an idiot is a bit strong. All plans are just that, plans, and often need a re-think. I have never made a penny profit on a particular property in terms of rent v mortgage, but as of next month that'll change, with a modest rent increase giving me the first profit in 6 years. I've been holding the rent low to help the tenant who's a single Mum, but her circumstances have changed positively and we both agree rent increase is long overdue. The increase will not mean a significant 'yield', certainly not significant enough to get me out of the 'idiot' zone which Dave R mentions - However it'll be paid off in 10 years and I certainly will be happy to be called an idiot for that..

ha ha !!!

Got any examples Dog Duck ? You sure it just wasn't a bad day for you, wrong side of bed / hangover, that kind of thing ? Happens to us all you know.

Any ratings are likely to be subjective (just like the comments on this forum about meals eaten at restaurants or service from a particular business) and therefore not entirely reliable and in some cases unfair. The rules around the rights of the tenant and the tenancy agreement implicitly set the obligations of the landlord, surely ? These are objective measurable things which therefore can be raised/enforced via the 'proper' channels presumably ? In my experience building-up a relationship with the tenant, if possible, is best way forward as a landlord. It's easy for both parties to think badly of the other when things (seem to) start to go wrong. Also I think that generally people, if given the chance, take the p!ss a bit. So from either side it's easy to believe the other is starting to fail their duties. It's all people at the end of the day, not different species.

Yeah I was back on last night, a bit slow but I'll de4al with that seperately. acm - I'll PM You..

Zeban - how can you say the landlords rent their properties for more than they pay on the mortgage ? Where did you learn this ? This is a gross generalisation and there will be very many exceptions, myself being just one !! It's too easy to say landlords are all wealthy - it's a bit like saying city workers/banking pros are all rich. Not true !

acm - yeah that might be good, I'd appreciate it, I'll take notes for 'next' time. when I get service re-established (ie. I can access via cable) I'll let you know. Going by binary_star's post it'll be sorted today (time will tell). I'll let you know when I've seen the service up and we can set up a day/time. binary_star - cheers for heads-up. Seems to match what Virgin told me yesterday AM.

In the case I describe above I did not do credit checks it was someone with low income and she asked if I'd accept her Mother as guarantor. I had no issue with that, she'd 8 years in a previous place with good recommendations from previous landlord who was demolishing the property due to subsidence. No credit checks at all, went by instinct and referrals.

new mother - You look at who the tenant is in terms of risk and assess whether you feel confident enough to run without a guarantor. I have a single Mum as a tenant who needed council assistance for her deposit and first month's rent, so I asked for a guarantor, who turned out to be the tenant's Mother. This was a sensible approach seeing as the single Mum worked part-time on extremely low wages.

Alan, my understanding is the tenants pay rent on time but will not vacate, and the property possession is required so the sale of it can commence unheeded.

Like I say DJQK, I advise against that sort of action. The tenant could have taken me to court but you know what ? When you're having the p!ss taken by a high earning city worker and they're relying on your doubt and apprehension to get away with it, things have to stop. Obviously it could go to court, not rocket science. But one thing that was SURE was that the idiots wouldn't be back in my property, which was all I was interested in. I'd rather have had the place re-let, with money coming in to pay my debts, than be going to court to get them out and no cash coming in. Everyone has pressures and problems, so don't add to them by thieving off people. I'd rather be battling someone on the outside of my front door. It just creates a different, more manageable problem. Sure. You'd have got me in court sharpish, great, I'm sure that would feel most empowering. But it wasn't you was it ? So no need for posturing ! Once again, do NOT try this at home. Zeban - your comment surprised me, if most landlords were dodgy wouldn't that mean by definition that most tenants have dodgy landlords ? That can't be the case, surely ? You may have had a bad deal sometime.. I can assure you that I am actually a very kind landlord, the benevolence sometimes of which would make Mother Theresa seem like Idi Amin. Right now, I'm chasing a landlord for a deposit on a flat I rented 2 years ago, so I know both sides of the experience. Herroeeeey - good luck with your endeavours, I'm sure court is the right way to go.

I once went to the property during the day put all their possessions in a Luton van, drove it to edge of the M25, changed the locks and covered front door in steel. Then called (ex-)tenant at work and said please give me an address to deliver the possessions to, I am waiting with a van on M25. No point trying to access the property without serious powertools and you have nowehere to plug them in. They owed me a few weeks rent. They were extremely glad to get their possessions back. So much so that they offered 1/2 of the owed money immediately in advance (which I told them to deliver to someone near their work). I would NOT recommend you do this. Worked for me though.

Thanks for advice. Can't try it just now as there's zero service at all currently, not even via a cable plugged into router. Virgin say it'll be a couple of days to fix the 'local issue in your area'. I'm in ED by CPT - Anyone else near here experiencing same loss in service ?

Hi ianr, thanks: 1) There is an indicator light for each of (what I believe is) WiFi and Bluetooth. The Bluetooth one being distinguished by a 'B' next to the indicator light. Both lights are on. 2) I have a network manager program but that seems to defer to the Virgin one network manager (which tells me there's no WiFi connection). it's a pain in the @ss !!

No connection for a week so engineer came yesterday and replaced the router. He wired-up my laptop to the new router to demonstrate broadband is now available again. He said I'd need to figure out how to connect to router wirelessly myself. My phone sees the wifi signal fine but for laptop I can't figure out what to do. The router has SSID/Pass'phrase'/WPS PIN printed on it and I guess I need to somehow 'introduce' these new details to the computer. Any tips ?? Cheers KK

Yes it's a bit belligerent when you get that kind of attitude.

I wonder if it's people trying to protect 'their' parking spaces - attempting to put you off parking their by trashing your tyres.