I was talking to somebody recently who told me that the way that I invest in property doesn’t work anymore because the banks aren’t lending. I don’t think he really meant that the bank aren’t lending anything at all, but what he really meant was the banks weren’t lending in a way which would…
A New Year, and New BTL Mortgage Rates I’ve had some very good news from my (very good) mortgage broker. One of my favourite lenders have just relaunched their Buy to Let product range which is very positive. 2 year fixed rate 2.79% with 1.5% lenders completion fee up to 75% LTV. 5 year…
I have some fantastic news! Are you fed up of having to wait 6 months between buying a property and then refinancing after the refurb? What if the refurb is finished in 3 months? Wouldn’t it be great to be able to refinance and get on with the next deal? But…
Does that sound a bit harsh? Perhaps, but the reality is that for most of us, if we want to advance our property goals and build our portfolio or our property business, we will need to take on debt. And, in the scheme of things, a lot of it. Unless we have massive cash reserves…
I’ve had a great question from one of my readers. “If you were in the market to buy, buy to lets, would you look for deals now or wait until next year to see where the market is then?” Now, I have to start by saying that I can’t give financial advice, I can…
We live in very strange times. At the moment (October 2020) there is a mini property boom and average UK property prices are the highest they’ve ever been. But in my opinion the fundamentals aren’t there to support this. And when, sadly, 100,000s or even millions of people start to lose their jobs, I think…
So what is going to happen next in the property market, and how does this affect us as property investors? We’re living in strange times because, despite lock-down and the most dramatic fall in GDP (probably) ever, the housing market is going through a boom period. Nationwide have just reported (Sept 2020) house process…
I’ve had a few questions around Stress Testing (of buy to let mortgages) and how that works. And, of course, this is an important subject because Stress Testing in effect set’s the maximum amount we can borrow. If you want to do Buy to Let with BRR (Buy Refurbish Refinance), it’s the stress test which means that the upper limit of value is going to be around £200,000 (this isn’t a precise figure and don’t forget each bank uses slightly different figures and so the upper limit will be different for each bank).
When a lot of would-be investors start in buy to let, they often have dreams of buying really nice houses, in really nice areas. But are those the best properties to buy as an investment? Often the answer is no. By and large the best properties for investing are cheaper properties in cheaper areas. This…