Consumers’ hopes were falsely raised over assistance with mortgages

According to officials from the Conservative Party, the hopes of consumers across the UK were falsely raised by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, due to the delay with the Homeowner’s Support Scheme. Read more

Tags: council of mortgage lenders, Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme, leader, family, shadow housing minister, nick clegg, officials, homeowner

Buying better than renting in some areas but not all

Over recent months first time buyers have experienced huge difficulties when it comes to getting a mortgage to purchase a property, with the global credit crunch resulting in far tighter credit conditions, and with lenders demanding higher deposits and increasing the interest rates on mortgage loans. With house prices falling, and expected to fall further, those that now commit to purchasing a home could end up facing negative equity in addition to the other problems. Read more

Tags: addition, rent, homeowner, savings thousands, loan, MP, mortgage loans, property

Homeowners are not as well off as tenants

Over the past year the benefits of owning a home as opposed to renting one have plummeted by 75% according to a recent report. This means that in many parts of the country people that are renting a home are actually better off than those that have bought their own home. According to the report tenants are actually faring better than homeowners in around 50% of the country’s regions.

This information was put together by the Abbey Bank in its latest Rent V Buy Index. The data indicates that those purchasing their property rather than renting a property saved around £24,000 last year. However, this year the figure has dropped dramatically to just £5800. Abbey official claim that this situation has been caused by rising property prices and sky high interest rates, which has resulted in rising costs for homeowners that have not necessarily affected those that rent.

As part of the study twelve regions were studies, and out of these it was found that tenants were better off than homeowner in six of the regions. The Abbey made these calculations based on a 90% LTV mortgage at an interest rate of 6.5%. Essential home maintenance costs were also taken into account in the survey. Read more

Tags: renting a property, mortgage, interest rate, Abbey Bank, homeowner, home maintenance

Web makes home selling quicker

Homeowners can sell their house quicker if they miss out an estate agent and advertise the property themselves on the internet.

New research, included in the Alliance & Leicester movingimproving index, shows that web-savvy sellers can shift a house up to one month faster than an agent.

Despite this, 85 per cent of people looking to sell their house opt to go through an estate agent, with the average sale time being around three months.

Those who choose to go it alone, erecting homemade ‘For Sale’ signs and advertising the property online, have an average sale time of just two months.

As well as saving time and getting through the required processes quicker, selling your property yourself is generally cheaper for the homeowner.

“Using an estate agent to sell your home is generally viewed as part and parcel of the moving process with many homeowners continuing to use them to sell their home,” said Stephen Leonard, director of mortgages at Alliance & Leicester.

“But the research suggests that DIY methods such as using the internet to sell a home are becoming more popular.”

The research also showed that 55 per cent of people solely use estate agents to value their property.

Tags: internet new, house, parcel, home, Leicester movingimproving index, homeowner, web-savvy sellers, Real estate broker/agent

Update Your Home Insurance

Homeowners need to realize that keeping their insurance policy up to date is their responsibility. Any item bought or given as a gift is now inside the home, it could be an expensive painting or a crystal vase can be added to the contents insurance policy. Usually your premium will increase a little but for the price it is worth it. If any of these items are damaged or stolen, now when a claim is made, the insurance company can reimburse for the items. Read more

Tags: update home insurance, single item, Many homeowners, contents insurance, homes causes aggravation, s market, homeowner, Financial economics