Use our UK Finance guide and learn by experience. We outline pitfalls so that you don't have to learn the hard way, as many of us often do.
Latest Blog Entries
Making money from property
The UK property market has seen a very strong performance in the past years which has prompted people to buy more properties as investments. Buy to let mortgages being the mortgage of choice. The benefit of investing in property will in most cases achieve excellent capital gains when it comes time to sell the property. Budgeting is essential when it comes to property investment. Overestimating the income is a very common mistake and expenses like maintenance and ongoing costs of ownership must be taken into account when looking at investing in property.
10 UK broker tips
More than 50 per cent of borrowers use a broker to arrange their mortgage. But how do you find one, how do they work and what do you need to know?
Credit Card Tips
Although there are very good deals on offer when it comes to credit cards, they do come with fees. People are often caught out when it come to credit cards and there different charges.
Remortgage - The time is now
With all this talk of interest rates likely to fall in the coming months there are some really excellent fixed rate mortgage deals around, which will make now a good time to remortgage if you are in the position to do so that is.
Fixed-rate mortgages
A Fixed-rate mortgage is a mortgage in which the interest rate does not change during the entire term of the loan
Discount Mortgages
Mortgage lenders offer a discount on there standard variable rate (SVR), which after an agreed period of time will revert back to there (SVR). In a period of low interest rates, this can have the effect of making a large mortgage look affordable.
Hold onto Appreciating Assets
When it comes to the subject of money, the saying "a rolling stone gathers no moss" is so true. We discuss a few scenarios in investment and strategies in dealing with appreciating assets.Remortgage
A remortgage is simply the replacement of an existing mortgage with a new one.
Katrina victims may be targeted again by scammers
As if Hurricane Katrina was not bad enough, the victims of last weeks hurricane have to be on the look out for unscrupulous scammers who are attracted to the billions of dollars of relief that will be poured into New Orleans.
Self certification mortgages
A Self certification mortgage could be the answer if you are self-employed or your income fluctuates
Flexible mortgage
A Flexible mortgage will allow you to overpay or underpay on your loan, you will even be able to take payment holidays.
Current account mortgages (CAMs) & offset mortgages
Current account and offset mortgages link with your other finances to save you money
Cash back mortgages
Cashback mortgages provide you with a single lump sum of cash immediately on completion of the mortgage transaction.
Adverse credit mortgage
If you have a poor credit history and Adverse credit mortgage may be right for you..
Buy-To-Let Mortgages
Buy-to-let has grown in popularity but to let a property you need a special mortgage
Many people buy-to-let to provide them with security in the future. Buying a property and renting it out privately is against the rules of most conventional mortgages, so if you want to do this you need a buy-to-let (BTL) mortgage.
Base Rate Tracker Mortgages
A base rate tracker mortgage is linked to the Bank of England base rate via a fixed rate percentage. Your mortgage payments will drop or rise depending on related base rate changes.
Offset Mortgage – To Offset or not to Offset
With an offset mortgage the interest on your mortgage is reduced by the funds in both your savings accounts and your current accounts. The more you have in your savings account, the less interest you pay on your mortgage, which helps you to repay your mortgage faster and more cheaply in the long term. Your part of the deal is that you don't receive any interest on your savings or your current account.
Mortgage Protection
As the UK market get set for another housing boom, especially in the East of London City due to London winning the 2012 Olympic bid, there are some concerns I have that people are getting into a mortgage before they have thought it out thoroughly. Anybody who has a mortgage on their home will know that payments can sometimes be tough to meet. Making provision for when you might not be able to make your mortgage payment should be taken into consideration before you take out your initial mortgage.
Capped-rate mortgages
A capped rate mortgage 'caps' your mortgage interest rates at a certain level for a period of time