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Home Loans: Your Options for Purchasing a Property

March 30th, 2018 Posted in Money Tips, Property Investment
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The vast majority of homebuyers in the UK will require some type of home loan to fund their property purchase. Yet many aren’t aware of how many loan options are available to them. Buyers don’t have to just rely on a mortgage from a high street lender if they wish to buy a home. There are a number of different loan types and government back schemes that can augment or completely replace the need for a mortgage. This guide will explore all of the different options available to you so that you’re in the best position possible when it comes to finding finance.

Home Loans: Your Options for Purchasing a Property - sold sign image

A private mortgage

For many, a mortgage will be the only loan they use to buy a home. Individuals can rarely pay for a house in cash, so banks and high street lenders will typically loan up to 95% of the cost of the home. In return, the mortgage provider will charge interest on the loan, which the homeowner must pay every month. Failure to keep up with payments will result in losing the home. Mortgages usually last 25 years, but they can be shortened to any length of time. Mortgages are the most common form of home loan, but they aren’t suitable for everyone. Banks have become increasingly cautious since the recession and it is much harder for people with small deposits, low incomes or bad credit histories to secure a mortgage.

Help to buy equity loan

First-time buyers have been hit particularly hard by high property prices, which have made it almost impossible for many young people to get on the property ladder. In response, the Government launched the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme to help first timers get a foot on the ladder. With a 5% deposit, first-time buyers can secure a 20% loan from the Government on the cost of a newly built home meaning they will only need a mortgage of 75% to complete the purchase. This will result in much more affordable repayments. The Government’s loan is interest free for five years and then charged at 1.75%, rising annually by any increase in the Retail Price Index plus 1%. To qualify you must be a first-time buyer, use the property as your permanent residence and be buying a home that costs under £600,000.

Shared ownership

Another Government-backed initiative is the Shared Ownership scheme. Rather than buy the entire property outright, this allows buyers to buy a share of the property and then pay rent on the remainder. As a result, you pay the mortgage payments you can afford to start off with, and then buy the remainder of the property over time as your finances allow. There are strict criteria that you must meet to become eligible for this scheme, however.

  • Your household income must be less than £80,000 (or £90,000 if you live in London)
  • You can’t own any other property
  • You can’t have outstanding credit issues

Only specific properties are available to buy under this scheme, too. They will typically be new builds and will be purchased from a Housing Association.

Right to buy

A final Government-backed initiative to help people get on the property ladder is the Right to Buy scheme. If you are council tenant who has been living at your property for at least five years, you could be eligible to purchase the property at a discount. Discounts can be as large as £104,900 in London and £78,600 outside of the capital. Not everyone is eligible, however, and you will need to check the Government website to confirm your eligibility.

Bridging loans

The problem with mortgages is that they can take up to six months to get approved. For many buyers, this delay can mean missing out on the property of their dreams. In cases where time is of the essence, a bridging mortgage specialist like Top 10 Finance Bridging Loans can help you find finance that’s an excellent alternative to traditional mortgages. A bridging loan is a short-term loan that aims to “bridge the gap” until more secure funding is obtained whereupon the loan is repaid in full with interest. A common scenario where a bridging loan is useful is where a family want to purchase a new home before their current property has sold. Getting a mortgage will take too long but a bridging loan can be approved in a fraction of the time. The bridging loan is used to buy the new home and is repaid when the previous family home has been sold. Bridging loans aren’t for everyone so it will be important to speak to a bridging mortgage specialist to decide if this is the right solution for you.

So there you have it, there are all of the types of funding available to you. But don’t forget to speak to a specialist before you apply for a home loan or government scheme. http://credit-n.ru/zaymyi-next.html

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Living In A Big City – Handy Financial Tips

January 2nd, 2018 Posted in Money Tips
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Living In A Big City - Handy Financial Tips - living in the city image

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Living in a big city is not always easy. Sometimes the added pressures of gentrification, or general upmarket surroundings can take a pretty penny out of your wallet. If you’re struggling to cope with the added pressures to your wallet, we’re here to help you develop a much more competent attitude towards them, and potentially save yourself hundreds a month.

Even if you don’t find yourself in financial difficulty, these methods can help you become even more affluent. If you’ve recently failed to acquire the job or promotion you wanted, or have simply identified that you waste money recklessly, these tips can also help you offset, balance and grow your income more competently.

Consider Your Present & Future Home Living

Do you truly need to live where you do? While living in a central apartment might look beautiful and gift you a gorgeous vista, it might be surplus to your requirements. If you live alone, this might be doubly true. In big cities, pockets of property upkeep are found. Cutting your rent and living in a much more affordable place might not necessarily mean you have to cut down on a beautiful home. It might just mean convenience of travel is slightly less, adding ten minutes to your commute everyday.

For hundreds of dollars less a month, we’d say that’s worth it. Of course, you are entitled to live wherever you can legally occupy and afford. If you’re hoping to cut your city living costs down though, this can be the best place to start. Especially when consider gentrification often leads to a stronger buying hand when selling your property, specifically when using competent mortgage brokers to identify your next living space.

Transport

Do you really need a car? Many people in mid cities own cars for the status of it, even though transport solutions abound. Using Uber or Lyft for your general daily requirements can be much cheaper than a car, and give you much less of a yearly premium. City insurance can be very high, especially when considering your parking insurance.

More and more cities are asking for parking costs in built up areas, meaning that your car constantly drains your funding, even when not using its fuel. If you’re not particularly affluent, but live within a reasonable distance to your job, then selling your car could prove a decent injection of funding while lessening the monthly and yearly payment loads that trouble you.

The Best Things In Life Are Free

Of course, just because you live in a city doesn’t mean everything near you has a price tag. If you’re looking for entertainment, living in a place such as this is ripe with low-cost or free offerings. From street performers to public theatre shows to buskers, simply walking around your local environment can gift you a feeling of pure interest and entertainment. Just look around and search online, we can be sure that many classes, volunteering opportunities, promotional activities and more can be found to help you spend a weekend without having to worry about the cost. Sometimes, walking around your city and marvelling in the architectural complexity can be worthwhile in itself. http://credit-n.ru/zaymi-online-blog-single.html

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Teachable Moments: Moving House

August 31st, 2017 Posted in teaching kids about money
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As an adult, you’re probably well aware of all the hassle that moving house tends to entail. You know you’re going to spend months viewing properties, scanning over contracts, and juggling buying a new house with trying to sell your old one. It’s likely a situation you’ve been through at least once before, so you know what it’s going to involve.

Your kids, however? They probably have no idea. By the time they’re of an age to understand what’s happening, their first move is going to be an alarming time. They can only remember ever living in one particular place. What happens to move them to another house is a somewhat mystical process, most of which goes over their heads.

This isn’t necessarily the best choice. If your children are of an age to understand what’s happening, then it’s worth seeing moving as a teachable moment. Rather than the process being something your kids have to go along with, but don’t get much information on, it can be a time of learning. There’s so much you can teach them during this time, but perhaps the most useful things to extrapolate are…

#1 – The Basics Of Home Ownership

Teaching your children about the basics of home ownership is a necessary part of your job as a parent, anyway – but what better time to do it than in the midst of a move?

Explain how ownership works. If they’re of an age to understand the math involved, then you can also teach them what a mortgage is. Obviously, you don’t need to delve into hugely complicated legal and economic detail – but a basic overview should suffice.

#2 – The Process Of Moving House

There’s no need to hide what happens to facilitate a house move. The sooner your children are exposed to the way the housing market works, the more time they will have to understand it before it becomes relevant to them. Focus on the basics:

  • How to find homes for sale. While going to real estate agent’s shop windows is the established method, the truth is that your children will probably primarily search for their own properties in future via the online property market, so you’re going to need to cover this.
  • How you go about selling your house and how you choose a price for it.
  • The basics of the legal process of exchanging contracts.
  • How the escrow process works – obviously, only if this is applicable to the move you’re doing.

Most children should be able to grasp at least the basics of the above; you can add or subtract where necessary depending on your child’s age specifically.

#3 – Stress Management

It’s not just financial teachable moments during the house moving process, either. You can also teach about how to handle stress. We all know how tough moving house can be, so showing your children that you’re on top of all the stress – and managing to keep smiling – can be a great practical lesson. Making it a lesson will also force you to cope with the stress better, so both parent and kids will benefit!

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Revealed: The Financial Impact A Big Family Can Have On Your Home

August 4th, 2017 Posted in family finance
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Having a big family has a lot of pros and cons. The most obvious pro is that you’ve got a lovely large family with a lot of amazing children. It can be a lot of fun for everyone, particularly your children as they can all play with one another.

Unfortunately, a big family can be hard for your finances. Especially when we’re talking about the home you live in. The more people living in a home, the more negative the financial impact can be.

Below, we’ve got a few points that show you how a big family can impact your finances:

Revealed: The Financial Impact A Big Family Can Have On Your Home - family home image

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You Need A Big Home

If you’ve got four or more kids, it really narrows down your property search. You can no longer look at small family homes or apartments, you need something big and spacious. As a result, you’re probably looking at properties with multiple bedrooms at the higher end of the market. In turn, these cost loads of money, and you’ll probably have to get a large mortgage from a company like Enness Mortgages. You could potentially be paying double what someone with two kids pays for their home. If you want to live comfortably, you need a big home for your big family, so your hands are pretty much tied.

The alternative is to stay in your current home and try to increase its size through renovations. However, this still means you’ll be paying a lot of money. So, either way, your family is forced to spend a lot on your home when you have a big family.

Revealed: The Financial Impact A Big Family Can Have On Your Home - money rolls image

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You Have Higher Monthly Costs

When you have a house, you get the benefit of not paying rent. But, this doesn’t mean there are no monthly costs to pay. You’ve still go to pay all of your utility bills, and the size of your family greatly affects this.

When you’ve got a big family, you have more people using energy, more people using water, and more people using the internet/TV/phone. As a result, your bills can go through the roof. Imagine having four kids all in their rooms with their lights on watching TV? Or, think about the morning routine where your entire family uses loads of hot water as you wash. Every month, you will be paying a fortune for various utilities because of your large family.

At this point, it looks like it’s all doom and gloom for your big family. Naturally, some of you may be put off having lots of kids after this! But, don’t worry, there are steps you can take to contain things and ensure your finances don’t take that much of a hit. If you search for houses that are maybe in slightly cheaper neighborhoods, you can still get a big house without overpaying for it. A lot of the time, the further away from a major city you look, the cheaper the houses are. Also, teach your kids about saving energy and make sure they turn things off when they’re not using them. Also, get energy saving appliances to help as well.

There’s no denying a big family will have a huge financial impact on your home, but it’s just one of those things you have to be conscious of and learn how to deal with so it doesn’t damage you too much.

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Ways to Save for a Mortgage Deposit

May 10th, 2017 Posted in learning about money
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Ways to Save for a Mortgage Deposit - window box image

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Buying your first home is a big step, and if you want to avoid falling into the trap of forever renting, there are several things you can do which will speed up the saving process. Here is a quick guide to get out of rented accommodation and to saving for a house deposit.

Whether you are looking to buy a luxury Meriton apartment or a simple two-storey home, it is likely that you won’t be able to save much money if you are renting. If you feel that you can sacrifice your personal space so that you can save, there are a few options for you.

One option is to move back in with your parents for a little while. However, only do this if you get on well with your parents and live close to them. If moving in with them will add another hour or so to your work commute, it’s hardly worth it more the extra travel expenses. Talk to them about how much you will stay, what you will contribute towards rent and how you will help out around the house.

It is also possible to sub-let your spare room and get a lodger. This will help subsidize the cost of your home and allow you to gain control of your finances and save for a deposit. Before you start searching for a new flatmate to move in, you will need to talk to your current landlord and see if they are happy with what you are planning. They may agree to either of the following options:

  • Advertise commercially for a new housemate and reduce your rent
  • Allow you to advertise and sub-let the spare room in your rented accommodation

Either way, you will be saving money on your rent and able to put more away. Be strong, and remember that this extra cash isn’t supposed to be for extra fun and set up a direct debit to go straight into your savings.

Ways to Save for a Mortgage Deposit - lounge room image

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If neither of the above are options for you, it’s probably time for you to look for a cheaper place to live. Ask around and see if any of your friends have a spare room that they are willing to rent out for a few months – remember to talk to them about rent, bills and what you will do around the house before agreeing to anything. If you have no friends with a spare room, then there are loads of websites available which advertise rooms in shared houses, such as:

A house share will be much cheaper than renting a house or apartment all by yourself, as you will be splitting the cost of the house between several people. This should enable you the wiggle room to save more money and, eventually, put a deposit down for your own home!

It can be difficult moving into someone else’s space and living with them, especially if they are family or close friends and you are used to living alone. Remember that they are probably feeling the tension too, so do your best to help around the house and not make a mess!

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