Oct
30
Do you want to buy a house now?
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Today wasn’t a good day for the UK property market. We hear from the prediction from Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) that there will be less mortgage products available in 2008, particularly for the sub prime sector. We also hear that the number of mortgage approvals fell by 20% in September with the CML making [...]
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26
Debt consolidation loan pitfalls
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I wrote about some of the benefits of debt consolidation loans yesterday and promised the follow up on some the reasons why you should think carefully before taking out a secured loan to resolve debt problems. Well here it is! A quick recap. A debt consolidation loan is a single loan, mostly secured against your [...]
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25
Working in the finance industry I see at first hand the reasons why people want to borrow money, particularly if it is not for arranging mortgages for property purchases. It’s striking to see that debt consolidation is the most frequent reason that people arrange secured loans – in which they use the equity in their [...]
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23
Sometimes I wonder what the UK Government have against pensions. It is not very long since Gordon Brown raided the pensions piggy bank in a move that is estimated to cost UK pensioners £100 billion. Now it seems the Government is interfering with pensions again. They are considering reducing the amount that an employer has [...]
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18
House prices may fall according to the IMF
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House prices in the UK could tumble, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They predict that the fall in property values could be as savage as those occurring in the USA. One major house building company in the USA has seen half its house sales cancelled as buyers flee the market, or are unable [...]
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16
The Conservative party will scrap the unpopular Home Improvement Packs (Hips) scheme if they are elected at the next election. In fact they are so determined to reverse this scheme that Grant Shapps MP, the Shadow Housing Minister, is already preparing the Civil Service and existing HIPs businesses for the abolition of Home information packs, [...]
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15
Home information packs are forcing people to think about energy efficiency
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Home information packs (HIP’s) are still not being seen by house sellers and buyers as adding any value to the sales process, however it does seem that they are forcing people to think about improving the energy efficiency of their home. I must admit that when I was insulating our loft, it did occur to [...]
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12
I was a bit surprised to learn today that buy to let mortgages are still one of the most buoyant sectors of the mortgage market. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), lending for house purchases and remortgages fell by 11 percent during the last year, however loans for buy to let investments actually [...]
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11
Gloomy news about house prices
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House prices actually fell in September, according to the latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. It’s interesting to see that not only did the number of people looking to buy a house drop, but that the number of people looking to sell decreased too. So the housing market is slowing down – [...]
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10
The secret that can save you thousands of pounds when buying a new car
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Buying a car is an expensive business so it really pays to take the time to find the best deals. Although it took me one and a half days of negotiations with a number of different suppliers, I have found a deal on a new car that will save me thousands of pounds over the [...]
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