Building Solutions (Midlands) Blog » Mortgages

How to buy houses below market value

Richard — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 15:38:45 +0000

There are several ways to obtain houses below market value, but most methods require a high amount of time and commitment. They range from courting your local estate agent through to attending all the local property auctions. There are some companies that can provide portfolio building and source below market value properties. Some of these companies have suffered in recent times as their operations have become hampered by the recent drought in the buy to let mortgage lending’s markets. If you do chose to invest in below market property in the Midlands, Derby, Stoke-on-Trent, Belper, Ripley, Heanor, of Alfreton and the surrounding areas. There is one company with over 12years trading history and an enviable network of contacts within this area. ambervalleyhomes

Buy below market property

Richard — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:45:18 +0000

If you are looking for great property investments one of your main concerns will be getting your new investment property below market value. This way you have a head start compared with many other landlords and property investors in your area. There are several companies that can assist you in building property portfolios and help you find property below market value. It is always a sensible idea to go for a company with a well proven track record and a good trading history. If you are looking for a company to help you with your property investment strategies in the Midlands, we recommend Amber Valley Homes, with 12years of property trading experience they are always please to help new investors with sound advice. ambervalleyhomes

House prices stumble as fundamentals look tougher

Richard — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:39:36 +0000

With the recent abolition of the Home information pack the speculative house seller has returned to the UK property market. This coupled with a prolonged shortage of mortgage lending has been some of the cause of recent stumbles in the UK house price.
Many think that the UK property market is almost a failure of its own success with prices in many areas returning to 2007 levels. Those who have been stuck in the property trap have been taking advantage of recent gains in house prices and off loading their problem properties.

First phase of the house price rally ends

Richard — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:50:06 +0000

The first signs of the end of the first rally in UK house prices have arrived, data shows house prices have dropped by 1% last month ending a nine month long rally in home values. This data ties in with news from the British Banking Association that mortgage approvals have also dropped to an eight month low.
One of the biggest issues for the UK housing market is not just the availability of mortgages but more importantly the lending criteria. Since the 70’s home buyers have enjoyed lending of 90% and over LTV (loan to value). It is very difficult for first time buyers to raise deposits of 25% that have been required in recent times. The good news is that in the last few months the mortgage market is producing more workable deals with Loan to values hitting 85%. On a £200,000 pound house that would mean buyers would have £20,000 less to rise and that is what really makes a difference to the housing market.

Making higher profits from buy to let?

Richard — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:47:25 +0000

Landlords and property investors are set to make higher profit margins as rents are rising and a shortage of suitable rental properties are coming to market.
The current increases in rents achieved are in complete contrast to the final quarter of last year as rents showed no increase back in 2009. Results from the Royal Institute of Charted Surveyors show their surveyors as optimistic about the future for rents. They reported the highest level of optimism for rising rents since the start of the survey in 1998. The increase in rents is driven by a direct decline in the number of properties available to let. With sound economic principles behind the increases in rental costs there appears little doubt that rents are and will continue to rise for the foreseeable future.
These statistics come at a time when many accidental landlords are choosing to leave the market as they have seen a recent rally in capital values. The demand for rental property also appears to be on the increase which coupled with less rental housing stock is a sure sign that rents will continue their upward course.
With the first signs of a freeze in the buy to let lending market starting to turn to a thaw and rents raising this is the best time for landlords for years! The banking and property finance market always follows a similar course. When things go bad the banks panic and stop lending, then they start to gradually lend to the “safest bets”, top earning domestic mortgages and low loan to value mortgages. With a marked increase in the number and type of buy to let mortgage products available, it bodes well for other sectors in the property sector. The next area that should receive positive news after the buy to let lending has recovered is the commercial property market. With time, better deals will make the commercial property market again a better proposition for property investors. Then that most interesting of all property sectors the world of speculative property development. This area of the property market has been brought to its knee’s by the worst lending drought for decades. This sector has been out of vogue with lenders and partly blamed for the financial crisis. It is true that speculative property development did play its part in the financial crisis. You only need to look at the volume of available property for sale in Spain. The whole country is crippled by a huge over supply of new build properties, with many experts in the European property market expecting fire sales and some real bargains as lending and reality bite.

Should I be worried about the cracks in my brickwork?

Richard — Mon, 31 May 2010 12:08:05 +0000

It is always advisable to have cracks in masonry (brickwork) check out by a professional and that professional is not a builder. The first port of call should be a structural engineer or for a more general condition report a competent surveyor a member of the “Royal Institute of chartered Surveyors”. If you have cracking or signs of movement in the brick work you need to contact a structural engineer. These helpful chaps will give you the benefit of their years of experience and specialist training. Some cracks can be simply repaired with products like “Heli tie fixings”, using specialist resins. Some cracks do show evidence of much more serious problems, like poor foundations or sub-soil erosion often caused by damaged drainage. One of the other issues effecting foundations is heave sometimes caused when large trees are removed and the area of the roots dry and the ground moves or heaves.
Some repairs are made simple with products like stitch cracking bars or wall straps that are used to tie gables to timber roof structures or the use of timber ties or noggins to tackle issues like roof spread. So rather than lay awake at night worrying about them call in a structural engineer and they will often put your mind at rest or suggest some minor works to stop further movement or cracking. This could save you thousands of pounds in the long run.

Better rental yields for landlords as demand for rental property increases

Richard — Thu, 27 May 2010 19:21:05 +0000

The first quarter of this year has showed very positive improvements in residential tenant demand which has in turn given landlords the opportunity to marginally increase their rents. The increase in rents has a dramatic effect on the rental yield that a property returns for its owner. In April 2009 nearly 60% of surveyors were reporting falls in both rents achieved and asking rents. This was in part due to a large number of venders with unsold houses looking to cover mortgage payments with rental income. Many of these reluctant landlords have grasped the recent opportunities in the sales market and have off loaded their unwanted housing stock.
News like this will again encourage buy to let lending specialists to dip their toes back in the buy to let mortgage market. There will be no sudden torrent of cash hitting the property sector and inflating any buy to let asset bubbles in the near future. With that said there are more buy to let mortgage products available and once the lenders money supply does become more fluid with rents rising could we see buy to let back in vogue?

Buy to let mortgages

Richard — Wed, 26 May 2010 19:43:01 +0000

It is a pretty liberating day when there is good news in the mortgage market and an even better day when buy to let brokers have some good news. The good news being that there is now a new provider of residential buy to let mortgages in the UK. The mortgage lender Kensington is providing a new buy to let mortgage product which interestingly is purely focused on existing experienced buy to let landlords. The lenders are obviously looking to lend to buy to let landlords who have experience of dealing with the various challenges that experienced landlords tackle with ease, issues like rental arrears and property repairs.

As Safe as Houses?

Amanda — Sat, 15 May 2010 09:54:27 +0000

Some positive news from the Council of Mortgage Lenders suggests that this year so far, repossessions and mortgage arrears have both reduced. This time last year, repossessions stood at 13,200, compared to the 9,800 for the first quarter of 2010.

Although we are warned not to become complacent as we cannot be certain what lies ahead with our economy. People have lost their jobs but somehow managed to meet mortgage payments due to the continually low interest rates, while some have had help and support from the Mortgage Rescue Scheme. Let’s hope our newly formed Government recognise the importance of helping homeowners to keep a roof over their head.

Rising market delivers blow to First Time Buyers

Amanda — Fri, 14 May 2010 18:35:28 +0000

House prices have risen for the fifth consecutive month, bringing the annual UK rise to 9.7 per cent and the average house price to £205,598.

As the prices increase, it becomes virtually impossible for young people who haven’t had the opportunity to save a large deposit, unless they have had some help from relatives, to even get within sniffing distance of the property ladder. With wages not increasing either, potential first-timers are destined to remain in rental properties.

Perhaps the new Government will make a difference? Capital Gains Tax is due to be increased; meaning investors and the like may want to offload their properties to avoid the higher rate from next April. Also, the scrapping of Home Information Packs may encourage more properties onto the market, but these things take time.