UK Free Mortgage Advice

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People who want to own a real estate property will naturally shop around for prospect houses. As soon as he sees one that is to his liking, the next step would be to ask for the price. After knowing the real estate property’s price, the next question to ask would be, can he afford that house?
Applying for a mortgage is common nowadays. When people decide to get a house, it would be no surprise if they apply for a mortgage loan. However, in applying for a mortgage, one should always consider if he can afford to pay the mortgage loan that he is applying for, otherwise he might end up to his neck in debt.

According to statistics, most of those who mortgage a real estate property can afford the cost, even if it is twice their total income. For instance, a person who earns a hundred thousand every year can afford to mortgage a property that is worth two hundred thousand dollars. While this might apply to the majority of mortgage owners, there are still those who cannot afford to pay twice as much as their yearly income in mortgage.

In order to help you decide how much mortgage you can afford, you can ask assistance from your lender. These companies have formulas that they use in order to determine how much they are willing to loan a prospective homeowner. Also, you need to evaluate yourself, create your criteria in evaluating not only your finances, but also your preferences as well, particularly in choosing a real estate property.

Photo courtesy of www.rightmove.co.uk

The second time buyer is one who has previously owned a property, but does not have one presently and wants to buy one. The second time buyer is different from that of a second mortgage because the latter refers to a person getting his second property while keeping his first one.

A second time buyer may have some benefits and disadvantages. If he sold the property he previously owned, he can use the profit that he made as a deposit to the property that he is planning to buy. A bigger deposit is definitely better because the payments will be significantly less. Also, mortgage companies look favorably on borrowers who borrow a small portion of the property’s value. Also, most second time buyers were able to keep up repayments on their previous mortgage, which will be reflected on their credit records. This will then make them a good bet for those mortgage lenders.

However, unlike a first time buyer who has never had any experience of owning a property, a second time buyer has fewer money saving opportunities than first-time buyer. Offers like “shared-ownership schemes” or FTB mortgages are designed by mortgage companies in order to help people purchase their first property.

This should not discourage second time buyer,s however. It is because there are some mortgage companies that regard mortgage applicants who have not owned a property for three years as first time buyers. Thus, it is still worth the effort to shop around for properties and prospect mortgage companies.

Photo credits to thelittlehousecompany.co.uk

In the United Kingdom, the numbers of mortgage loan applications that have been approved have been increasing in number for the past two years. This increasing trend started in 2009, when mortgage conditions in the country started to become looser.

According to statistics, the number of purchase approvals in November 2011 was 52,743, significantly higher than that of purchase approvals in October 2011, which had 54, 658. Compared with last year’s approval (November 2010), the percent increase in mortgage loans rose by 15%. Still, according to statistics, borrowers who have a deposit of fifteen percent or less accounted for thirteen percent of all lending in November. This number increased by ten percent in October. For first-time buyers, the average deposit on loans was thirty-one percent, yet this percentage went down to thirty-three in October.

This increase in mortgage loan approvals is believed to be caused primarily by the loosest lending conditions in the country, one that started in October of 2007. This increase in purchase approvals was complemented by investors who “buy-to-let.” These investors take advantage of an increased lender appetite in order to support the “buy-to-let” landlord specifically.

Homeowners who got purchase approvals for homes that are less than or equal to $125,000 pounds increased to 12,791 in the month of November, a significant increase to October’s 11,904. According to Richard Sexton of e.surv (a chartered surveyor), the banks have been focusing their lending activities on specific groups (the buy-to-let groups). Sexton also said that this is the banks’ first time to increase its lending to first-time buyers, and the first time that an increase this notable has happened.

Given how stressful the process of searching for a house and purchasing can be, it is perhaps no great surprise that British homebuyers are enthusiastically embracing those sites, which offer to make the process easier and simpler. In some cases property websites are now amongst the internet’s highest traffic generators of all, indicative of the very real need that they are fulfilling. These are three of the best online resource sites for those looking to buy a home.

Right Move

This site, located at www.rightmove.co.uk is the biggest of the online property resources, offering property details from around 20,000 accredited estate agents. The site is a portal for estate agencies to display details of their properties and prices – both for renting and buying. The quality and range of the properties available through Right Move has seen this site score a higher number of visitors than Yahoo.

Find a Property

This can be found at the web address findaproperty.com and is another of the most successful property sites on the internet. Like Right Move, Find a Property is an online portal offering a vast range of properties to buy or rent from thousands of accredited estate agencies. The site also has a host of useful features, including its house prices and affordability section, which sources and provides trends in housing supply and purchasing nationally and regionally, to provide up to date information on affordable properties across the UK.

First Rung Now

This site is aimed exclusively at first time house buyers and was set up in 2003.The site provides information concerning the available options for those looking to get on the property ladder for the first time, as well as access to specialist legal and financial advice, from experts in these fields, directly through the company website.

These three sites offer some of the best online resources for people looking to buy a home, with the best one for you depending on whether you need advice or actual property information, and whether you are a first time buyer or not.