Matthew Tansley

Buying a house is both exciting and stressful at the same time and whether you are a first time buyer or climbing the property ladder, you are guaranteed to receive lots of advice throughout your house buying journey. Now some of this advice will be helpful of course, however, some advice although given with best intentions intended, may not be so helpful.

With a great deal of political and economic uncertainty continuing in the UK, alongside high stamp duty and general lack of affordability; the property market in 2019 is certainly facing further challenges and turbulent times.

Whether you’re looking to buy your first house or to move up the property ladder, it is helpful to know the types of properties that lenders are more reluctant to lend for. Some properties are seen as being a bit riskier than others due to a range of reasons such as location, security issues, the requirement for repairs and the type of deal needed to enter into an agreement to buy.

For many people, a deposit for a property purchase is likely to be the largest amount of money they will ever need to spend in one go. Mortgages today require a larger deposit than in years gone by and 100% mortgages are a thing of the past.

When getting divorced or splitting up with your partner, it is important to consider what to do about your joint mortgage. It is already a stressful time with many decisions to make but to avoid unnecessary costs and complications, deciding what to do about the mortgage should be high on the list of priorities.

When buying a house, the ideal scenario is that you sell your existing property at asking price, find your dream house and move in. Unfortunately, this is not always the scenario that takes place in the complicated property world and people often find themselves unable to sell their existing property for the price they want and/or in time to buy their dream property.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 646,000 houses were sold in the U.S. in June 2019, compared to 618,000 in 2018 of the same month. This is very good news for sellers and buyers alike as it indicates future developments and more options.

Remortgaging entails changing your mortgage to a different deal. It can be with the same lender or with a new lender. People remortgage to get a better interest rate, to reduce monthly payments or to shorten the time it will take to pay back the loan. Remortgaging is also a way to borrow additional money for home improvements or to pay off other debts.

There is a common misconception that it is now very hard to get a mortgage in the UK if you are self-employed. It is true that self-certification mortgages are no longer available due to them being banned in 2011 after wide misuse by lenders and borrowers. These mortgages were previously very popular with self-employed people and quite easy to get, but in their absence, there are still other options on the market for self-employed borrowers.

Buying a property is probably the largest purchase most people ever make so it requires careful consideration and decision making. Getting the right mortgage to fund the purchase is as equally important and forms a vital element of the property buying decision-making process.