jedisco:


Hope you know you've not said anything enlightening in this exchange?

The certainty with which you type despite making basic mistakes is worrying. e.g house prices doubling every 10yrs
There's only so much YouTube/Tiktok 'property experts' with little practical experience can teach. I'd be careful investing my hard earned money on the advise of such 'experts' whose main income source is tiktok views

I wish you the best in your investing endeavours. I no get energy for back and forth.

jedisco:


Actually it used to be 14 yrs in the UK but that has not held thru since the global crises of 2008 and are not even close to doubling.
Usually, I wouldn't indulge but you make some very troubling statements

I'm worried about how you speak in absolutes. In investing, nothing is certain. I just detailed how UK real property prices are where they were in 2004 yet the stock market on average returns 5-7% pa after inflation.

Secondly, I worry about your 2yr timeframe moreso with property. Have you considered costs of conveyancing both for both buying and selling, void periods before sell and risk of defaults? With investing in either of the two, I would not even go close if I'm not looking at a 5-10yr frame. When I was looking to buy my place which was within a 2yr timeframe, I remained in a cash isa following advise by an FA

Lastly, I like limiting my talk to things I have some knowledge on. I've been in the market for a BTL for over 6m now. As I was not in a hurry and still weighing options, I put the money in an index fund. I've been to view a number of properties many of which are from landlords selling as they did not find it profitable. Discussing with some others gave more insight. When I considered fees, tied down funds and the fact that a spoilt boiler or an entitled tenant in rent arrears (trust me there are loads) can wipe out your annual profit, not considering accounting fees if looking to incorporate, the remaining advantage of BTL becomes leverage which is only appreciable longterm. My capital in index funds are currently at 15% (was almost 20% at a point). Granted, this has been a particularly good yr. However that gain is tax free (if in an ISA), can be withdrawn at the touch of a button with no lawyer or estate fee e.t.c

Overall, I appreciate the pros and cons of both and see room for property investing in a diversified portfolio but it should be done out of knowledge and not building butterflies.

I see that you are stating your experience as a greenhorn who is new to properties. I state my own from my own experience as well.

That is fine. You can focus on your index funds. I'll focus on what I know best. Wishing you best of luck.

Lexusgs430:


Zero issues..... You might just meet an over zealous immigration official at the desk in Nigeria, that might refer you to her Oga at the top (just tell him/her you would renew before you depart)......

My experience last month........

Thank you. What airline did you fly? I'm not even worried about immigration at Lagos. I can talk my way through that. My only concern is just the airline (in this case BA) agreing to me flying out. I've checked and I am getting conflicting information

080bjaked:


I did, quite recently. Travelled with British Airline. It was quite straightforward
The lady at the counter checked and said there's a memo on their system that it's permitted.
No issues whatsoever.

Thank you so much. Did you mean that you travelled with British Airways? If so, that would make my life easier as I would be flying out via BA, and my only worry would be that they'd accept flying me out on an expired Nigerian passport. The passport expired 2021.

Has anyone travelled to Nigeria recently with an expired Nigerian passport?

If yes, please do kindly let me know if you had any issues with the airline leaving the UK. I have an upcoming trip and NG passport has expired and there won't be renewal before the trip.

Any help please?

jedisco:


Hmm... 100% is a bold thing to say especially in investment. Looking back, property just about tracks inflation. Adjusted for inflation, property prices are in the UK today similar to what they were 2 decades ago. A global index or the S&P is at an close to an all time high. Property only begins to shine when you factor in leverage i.e using the banks money to achieve profit. But then, one needs to know how to utilise leverage i.e taking a mortgageat for a sum and allowing inflation devalue the sum borrowed. The downside of property us the direct tax exposure. As we've seen over recent years, when the government is set on a group e.g landlords, they can turn a fledged business into a struggling one.

I repeat, property investment will give you way more return than the S&P 500. Property prices if purchased properly doubles every 10 years. If I lie, go and check property price history on land registry.

If you and I were given £100,000 for investment each and you invest yours into S&p 500 and I invest mine into properties, i will make more money than you within 2 years - 10 years.

No property investment that does not use leverage. If not, why do we have mortgage companies in the UK? Even the direct tax exposure you are highlighting is not a big deal.

If you purchase 2 properties with £100,000 investment and you sell the property in 5 years, (a) you can recoup your £100,000 out of that sale first without paying tax on it (as it's classed as investor loan and is not taxable).

And yes, you can own multiple properties without paying lots of taxes on it. You just need a good tax advisor.

Your stock markets can also go on a downward spiral. It is not a sure investment. My point is that you can't denigrate property investment when all the wealthy people and politicians in the Uk use this to their advantage in favour of the stock market when that is not guaranteed.

What matters is diversification.

jedisco:


It's worth being careful with such. There are tons of tiktok and YouTube videos of 'property millionaires' discussing how to flip properties. Many of these 'millionaires' might make more money from YouTube than any property (if at all). I considered it but on looking in, got more details.

First, if a property only needed paint to achieve an extra 40k, valuation, the vendors would paint it. Most of the doer uppers I see are already priced in a way that cost of renovations are taken into account and unless you're doing heavy renovations like fitting new kitchens or bathrooms yourself, you might come short. I recently had to cost the price of a new kitchen, bathroom and other bits on a property I was looking at and saw it'd only work at 40k below asking which vendors were unwilling to consider

Looking at your examples, take a few costs into consideration. That of conveyancing (solicitors e.t.c) is in the thousands. Also, once you get a BTL mortgage, you start paying monthly for an empty while you're doing renovations. Putting a property back on the market withing a short period can raise suspicions with some lenders declining to mortgage it without a good reason. Overall, you're looking at 6 months at least of mortgage payments on an empty house. When you sell, there's capital gains tax to pay on profits. If one is not seeing a good uptick in value which simple repainting would hardly achieve then it's worth threading with caution. Reason why for such endeavours people use cash or bridging loans which are more expensive than mortgages.

If you decide to rent, it's worth taking into consideration the recent tax changes if the property is owned in your name. If one decides to incorporate, it's worth being clear-headed on the numbers it takes to make things work. Overall, property can be a good invested but it's for many a longterm game and important to consider changing rules.

It's okay to be careful, but that does not negate the viability of what I have said. If you read my post properly, there is no where i suggested that a lick of paint is the only indicator of value add to a property.

I simply said, yu reduce the cost of refurbishing by doing the easy bit yourself.

You use your yardstick of getting a quote for a kitchen which is very high to negate the fact that property investment is viable. It shows you are a greenhorn and you don't know what you are doing.

If you know what you are doing, you will know that there are (a) ex-display kitchens you can buy for cheap (b) kitchen displays you can buy off facebook market place and other private warehouses that you can only know from having spent many years in the Uk (c) There are many handy men that will install these kitchen for affordable costs).

The fact that you called up a kitchen install company who charge you overinflated figures does not mean that investment in property is not viable.

If you purchase a £120k house, your solicitor costs and stamp duty are minimal. If you refurbish into a BTL, you will still make money from rent + capital appreciation.

Whilst there are many flashy youtube property millionaires who make money from youtube, there are thousands of property landlords with 1 - 3 properties who are making a decent income from it too.

I know this for sure. I don't need to start proving it on a public forum.

It's okay to think this is very hard. Life is hard, working in the UK is hard, not investing is hard too. So choose your hard.

Umeleeds:
Good day all

Please does anyone know of a great childminder within a short distance from North Greenwich station , London
Basically a distance from the O2 that isn’t more than 20 minutes , like Lewisham and the other surrounding areas
Someone who is patience , and diligent and can take care of a baby during working hours 8-6 or 8:30 to 6, 3 days in a week starting end of October

Kindly email customerclouduk@gmail.com

Thank you

Put feelers our in your local church/mosque (if you go to one). There would be people who need this type of roles (currently unemployed) who can do this.

elengine:


Yes I need to create time to do it. After listening to the podcast by Morgan Housel on whether to buy a house for investment or invest in a SnP 500 companies. So I feel people need to do their math very well before going into real estate. A real life analysis shows that it is a not a good investment options

I can 100% tell you that investing in properties in the UK will give you more returns than S&P 500. What determines which one you do is based on (a) Do you want to own properties and manage it (b) Do you prefer hands free investment etc.

Goodenoch:


Please do @elengine, so I can ask this question that’s confusing me. I’ve exhausted all my math skills (admittedly not very much) trying to work out whether an SIPP is better than a LISA for investment savings.

LISA and SIPP are different products that is meant to meet a different need. LISA is an ISA to save for your first house or for later in life savings. SIPP on the other hand is a pension that you invest for yourself.

I suspect you are saving for "later in life". If yes, then it depends on you really on what the fund is for.

I will tend towards SIPP. I can then use it to invest in the stock market and watch it grow. But that is a personal preference.

For example, I have a SIPP at the moment with HL and I have invested into a few stocks on the NYSE that have done well over the past one year.

You can also consider a stocks/shares ISA instead.

Efftyy:



Thank you once again . Will look into the hands on investment. Can I save up to 40k in my savings account and not attract government tax on it ?

You don't get taxed on what you save. If your savings earns money e.g. interest, you get £2,000 (i think) without getting taxed. I won't worry about tax on your savings until you get £100,000 saved in your account.

Efftyy:


What investment will you prioritise if you have a savings of 14k pounds ?

To be honest, it depends on your current situation i.e. I don't know much about your financial and family situation so it's difficult to say.

But for an individual who has a moderate family of wife and two kids (and you have your residence already), I'll try and keep saving until i have about £40,000.

Then I'd find a 2 - 3 bedroom in an area where you can get £120k property that needs refurbishing (e.g. Hull, Stockton on tees, stoke on trent) and get a Buy To let Mortgage on the house and refurb it with £10,000 (I'll do the painting myself, do some of the cleaning and only pay professionals for the bit I can't do) and resell it or refinance it.

If I sell for £140 - 150,000 - I'll cash out my profit and rinse and repeat the process.

I'd usually just (a) Use Youtube to watch how others are doing this type of renovation (b) search rightmove and zoopla for potential properties selling and go from there.

But if you want a totally hands free investment, Vanguardinvestor is still a good place to keep your cash (Please note - investment like this is usually for the long term and investment can go up or down - so please speak to a financial advisor as my content above is just my own experience).

Efftyy:
Hello seniors in the house. I am a skilled worker working in the NHS. I have spent less than 24months in UK and I have tried all means to get information on investment that will help me and my small family in future . A lot has been said about the SP500, Lisa and ISA but what can individual engage in legally in this country to keep poverty mouth shut for life😔.
Ppls don’t air me

Hello Efftyy, welcome to the UK. I hope you are enjoying your job.

Here are the few investments you can consider:

1. If you are below 40 years old, you should open a LISA. With LISA, you can save £4,000 and govt add 25% ontop of it for free. More info is available at this link: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/lifetime-isas/#:~:text=If%20you're%20pushing%2040,to%20pay%20in%20any%20more).

2. Consider maxing out on your pension on the NHS. Check with your HR to ensure you are contributing the maximum that NHS will match.

3. Open a Shares & Stocks ISA account (use Vanguard Investor) and then select one of their funds to invest in. A good fund on their website you can invest in is the S&P500 ETF. Just set up direct debit monthly of how much you want to invest and they invest it automatically for you.

4. Ensure you open a Junior ISA for your kids (if you have any) and just save in them monthly.

There are others such as SIPP etc.

In terms of what you can engage in legally, you have two options:

1. Do multiple jobs (You get double income, but you will have no life)

2. You can do business. The business aspect is split into two (a) The general work for yourself business like Amazon delivery using your car, food delivery, e-hailing cabs etc. (b) You can start a proper business selling a product. But this one depends on what you have flair for but you can sell anything really. You just need to learn to market it online.

lovelysofa:


Hello. Please quote me as soon you are able to sort out this dilemma. I'm also having the same problem.

Out of curiosity, is your NIN in the incorrect or correct name? Thanks

My NIN was in the "incorrect" data. I visited an NIN registration office near me to update it to the correct information. This is your first step.

With benefit of hindsight, I will advise anyone who really want to do this to:

a. Update your NIN
b. Visit Nigeria (using a British passport with visa or current passport/travel certificate) and go to Abuja to apply for correction of data in Abuja (at the source).
c. Travel back to the UK (without the renewed passport because it take a long time)
d. Get a trusted person to bring the new passport for you or visit Nigeria again on a visa/travel cert and then come back with the updated passport.

giselle237:

They are correct. The administration fee is to be paid separately as this is going to the CG’s office in Abuja. It is only when an approval comes from Abuja you can even go ahead. The stress is alot. Even for those inside Nigeria doing this your type of data correction.
Try the link above.
I know it works if you say you are applying from within Nigeria…. You would be able to generate the payment… this one u re not from within Nigeria… I don’t know.
Hopefully someone on this group page who has a contact there can help u with a contact in Nigerian High Commission who you can ask so you don’t lose the 30k

Thank you Giselle237 for your support and kind words. Yes, I did try to go through the link you gave above and it was asking me to register as if it's a fresh passport application.

So essentially, i am back to that point where I just need a link that suggest option to pay for the N30,000 only.

I really won't go through the hassle of correction of data, but I have to as this is the only official document that needs this correction. All other documents have the correct data.

giselle237:
https://passport.immigration.gov.ng/

It is there on the portal. I hope you don’t go through hassle but that is what will happen @edmasta01

I actually applied through the passport immigration gov.ng portal. I paid the required fee ($230) and then attended the Nigerian high commission appointment to submit for data capture.

It was at that point that I was told that any correction of data (e.g. name change not due to marriage, dob change etc) can only be approved from Abuja.

I was then given a small slip that stated that I have to pay N30,000 on the NIS portal for this to be processed (separate from the amount i already paid for my passport application).

I have tried calling the Nigerian high commission but phone number not picked up. I live far away from London and don't want to take another trip only to ask a simple question.

Anyone with ideas of what I can do please?

Please helppppppp anyone

I am trying to effect a correction of data (due to personal reasons & not due to marital status change) on my Nigerian passport and i have done data capture.

I was directed that this rectification has to be done from Abuja and that I need to pay an administrative fee for data correction of N31,900 on the Nigerian Immigration Service Portal.

Does anyone know exactly where on the portal I can make this payment? I have searched without any luck.

Hello All,

I am trying to effect a correction of data (due to personal reasons & not due to marital status change) on my Nigerian passport and was directed to pay an administrative fee for data correction of N31,900 on the Nigerian Immigration Service Portal.

Does anyone know exactly where on the portal I can make this payment?

I have searched without any luck.

AbokiWam:
My Salary is a little above #100, 000 naira, My friends know I am working which brings enormous pressure on me, They think it is a high paying job because of the Corporate dressing and all.

I don't Know if it is the hardship from this era, but now 4 out of every phone calls someone receives is usually them asking you to lend them money. Currently self I am skeptical of answering phone calls. Work Colleagues also do not spare you in this regard.

My problem now is I am too soft hearted, Any small story and I am already heading to my bank app to do transfer for,

Beginning of June, money I lent to a total number of 7 different people was running into almost 60,000 naira.
At the start of July, Only two people have paid me back (5000 & 4000)

Because of that I promised myself not to lend anyone money again from my salary, but Just this morning I got a call from someone I know , he was crying to me of his salary being delayed at work.
He pleaded with me to lend him #10,000 which I obliged, Knowing fully well I wont get my money back (He has borrowed 8k from me before without paying back)

I think something is wrong with me, I can even go to loan app to borrow and gift a friend if I don't Have

Same borrowing habit almost ruined my Dad, it destroyed his friendship with a close pal, he borrowed his friend #800,000 back IN 2011 when money still had value, the friend refused paying and that crumbled his business for a while.

My Mom have warned me if I continue, I might experience same.

I really need to change...
If every one should pay me money they have owed me, I would be able to buy honda baby boy
This is a bad habit I need to stop.

I was once in your shoes. I did borrow someone money running to millions (i emptied my savings from intercontinental bank then) and till date, debt was not paid.

Here's what I suggest you do....create a budget for your salary. If you don't have a plan for your income, someone else will have a plan for it.

Earmark 5 0r 10% for your giving of alms. For your income, that should be N10,000 right?

Now, if anyone come to ask you for 10k, give them only 4k. Let them go somewhere else to get the rest. Give a maximum of 10k. Once that is over, tell everyone else that they have to wait till next month!

See ehn, if you don't discipline yourself, you will spend all your life working for other people to chop. At some point, your income will improve and you will make millions. If you are not careful, you will still give out that millions too.

Rich men are rich because they are disciplined with their money. Most entitled Nigerians will say they are stingy, but they are just disciplined.

If you don't learn discipline, you will end up poor. Remember, you are not elshaddai. Stop solving everyone's problems.

cococandy:
Only a man will see another man being a bad spouse and ask those he’s hurting to walk on egg shells around him so as not to displease him. Meanwhile he’s in the wrong from the beginning.

No wonder Nigerian women hate to build with you people. I always think in my head, “why would a woman want to keep her money separate from the spouse. Is it not one family and they can all be included and benefit from it equally?”

But no. Not with these types of responses. If he decides to go ahead and marry another woman to reap where the OP sowed, the best advice you guys can give her is to keep begging him.

I won’t blame any woman who doesn’t want to build with you guys. Egomaniacal double crossing is the game y’all play

You try to paint women as if they are 100% saint. We all know your MO. You think men generally like building with women in the first place?

No problem, you can attack your own man if he does not do right simply because he has different mindset from you on how wealth should be built. Attack him, and insult his family. Infact divorce him then.

JB0707:
My husband and I both live in the uk and we join all our money and investments together, all the properties my husband acquired in Nigeria doesn’t have my name on it, at first I wasn’t bothered but now i am bothered because his family is chaotic. I started asking for my name to be included and i am not ok with the response am getting. I feel i am just working and I have nothing in my name. I love him but I don’t trust his family. Should i keep insisting or start my investment separately. I am just confused

You seem to be a good woman who is supportive of your husband and you and hubby probably have a good relationship already and this is now threatening that relationship.

Can I ask, how did you approach him about adding your name to the investment document? I hope you did not make mention of the fact that his family is chaotic? No man will take lightly if you use style or subtly make snide comments about his family (even if it's true).

If you did approach this respectfully, I will advise that you reach out to your hubby again and let him know that for your peace of mind, you'd want a situation where you want Mr Joe Bloggs and Mrs Mary Bloggs are listed as owners of a property or investment that you are both committing money to.

If he then insists that he won't do that, then just let him know in that meeting that henceforth, you won't be contributing jointly as you "feel" alienated.

Then let him know you'd want to suggest that you invest separately so that you both can have that peace of mind. If he gets angry, don't flinch. At some point, he will come back to his sense (if he is a good man).

Don't try to invest behind his back (unless you are ready to see shege in your marriage).

I live in the UK, and I can tell you, it's very hard to manage a family on your own if you divorce in this UK. Don't take a harsh action because you want to prove your right.

Use communication and at least, if you don't agree on the joint name, at least you both still have a marriage with segregated investment plans.

QUESTION: I am helping a family member apply for a visa and to show proof of address i advise he submit rent reciept and PHSCN prepaid meter reciept of loading credit on his meter.

However, I discovered that the meter receipt for his house is not in the name of the landlord.

Note: He only has rent reciept for this year only.

This means that his most recent rent receipt with the name of his landlord for this year will not correlate with the name of the owner on the meter. Can someone advise what to do about this please. Thanks.

Please help.

For me I think Okeke as a substitute defender did ok. Ordega was the best Nigerian player on the pitch today, but she lacked some quality skills in my humble opinion.

If you are in the UK, you can watch the match live on this link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/47179832

nioyo121:
Hello everyone. I would really appreciate some advice.

I am currently filling out the marriage visitor visa application form as I plan to visit the UK in order for myself and my fiance, who is a British citizen to get married at the registry. I would then return to Nigeria immediately afterwards. We plan on settling in the UK later on in the future at which point I know I would then have to apply for the[b] spousal visa.[/b]

I would like any advice anyone can give to help ensure this application is successful. I would also like to know if anyone on here has personally filled/submitted the same form (UK Marriage Visitor Visa). If anyone has can you please tell me if it was successful and also share a comprehensive list of the process and most especially of the documents you had to submit.

Also I was refused a visa to the UK in 2012 when I applied to go for my master's degree. Reason given was that I applied too close to my course start date. I quickly got another admission to a different school and reapplied in about 3 weeks and I was then granted.

I would be really really grateful if someone (or more) reaches out with some helpful information/advice as I need to submit the form very very soon.

Thank you.

I did not apply for a "marriage visa", but I have applied for settlement visa before and it was successful. From your post, it seems you want some form of re-assurance that the visa will be granted. No one can guarantee you that, but I do know that a lot of people apply for marriage visa and get it.

I will advise you read up on the content of this page: https://www.gov.uk/marriage-visa

It will help you further.

There is zero percent chance that you contracted the virus.

Most hiv test can detect hiv after 4 weeks of infection.

If it's been three months since you has u protected sex and you did the two test at least 4 weeks after sex....and it's negative...you are less likely to be carrying the virus.

To clear your doubts. You can buy an hiv self test kit and take your blood yourself and test it.

Alternatively...just do another test again to give you peace of mind.

Ignore the idiots telling you it takes six month. It's a big lie. Hiv can be detected within 4 weeks of first infection.

Also....next time you want to have unprotected sex....insist your partner takes an hiv and std test. If you are caught in a guys house....where he is insisting on unprotected sex. Just go I to the bathroom....masturbate to clear your head. It will help you make an informed decision to stick to your 'no'

If we are all truthful. Condom is not always feasible and most of the people castigating you on this thread don't even use condom during sex.

I will suggest you watch and follow the steps in these two videos:

1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDEdSW71pF0

2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrraoSk_j3A

I believe it will help.

I once watched a documentary of five stammers who stopped stammering by follow some speech therapy routines. It took them about 3 months.

They were told to speak in few syllables at a time over a two week period.

E.g. If they want to say "my name is wale", they are told to say it in one word at a go. e.g. My........name.......is.......wale. And by doing this repeatedly with a lot of spaces between it, they were able to stop suttering after a while.

adeniyy01:
Good evening boss,, please is it necessary for me state why i don't use SA visa in personal letter? I want to submit my application 2days time.. please advice me. Am submitting application for a visit visa. Please, is it necessary to indicate that US has refused before? Thinking of include that in my personal letter

You dont need to state why you havent used a South African Visa. You are applying to the Uk embassy, not the SA embassy.

If you've been refused by the USA before, please don't lie. State in there that you've been refused before. And give the reasons why you have been refused.

A past refusal by US does not mean you won't get your UK visa, as long as you satisfy the UK conditions for the visa you are applying for.

tasho105:
Very good morning to my peeps here.

Still on my tourist visa formy. ..

I applied for a visit visa in 2004 which was refused.
I have no refusal reference and passport...Can't even remember the reasons for refusal.

1. Pls how do I explain this in the form?

2.OR is it better I ignore since it's a long time ago (14yrs)

Please don't ignore. You don't need to have the reference number. Simply state that YEs, you have been refused before. If you don't remember the exact date, but you know the month and year, simply state the month and year. If you only remember year, state the year.

Explain further in the extra page for "more info" that you have been refused back in 2004, you can't remember what date/reference no it was, as it's been a long time.

Whatever you do, don't lie. Do not be economical with the truth by ignoring it either. If you do..na automatic denial be that.

stefanimay:
@ekpotek Nd other gurus ...pls I need an urgent answer..

1.I was told by a friend that sponsorship letter should be notorised,pls how true is this Nd if it is,will I notorise it in Nigeria?...thanks.

2. My pictures were printed out in the normal picture paper i.e hard copy picture Nd not printed on A4...should I re-print it as coloured on A4 paper?...

Thanks

1. Not true. You don't need to notarise a sponsorship letter.

2. Reprint on coloured A4 paper.

Zippy98:


Thank you for the time taken to explain. And yes step 3 is so unfair given that this wasn't explained properly. My concern now is that I am now on maternity leave, I hope that when I reapply after 6months, they don't complain that my pay is now reduced and I cannot support her as my pay slip will only show maternity pay. I will still however include my husband's pay slip and my savings.

They wont explain step 3 properly. Trust me, I was emotional about it, but sucked it up. Maternity does not affect the application. Ass long as you can prove that you have funds for the trip. Husband savings/payslips will count. Just make sure he writes a letter stating that he is happy to fund the trip.