And why failing to seek professional mortgage advice doesn't make any sense.
In today’s world of comparison sites, which allow one to compare the price of almost anything, why would anyone go direct to a lender when it comes to getting a mortgage? And, with a plethora of mortgage brokers out there, many of whom offer free mortgage reviews, what reason is there not to take them up on an offer that could save you hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds? An example I often use is this; when you get your car serviced, do you do it yourself? No, unless you are a trained mechanic. Do you go to the first operator you can find? Again, no. Do you shop around and find the best deal possible? Yes, of course you do! However, when it comes to finding the best mortgage, many either believe they can do the ‘servicing’ on their own, or decide to look no further than one lender. Picking a mortgage is likely to be one of the most important financial decisions a person makes in their life, so it makes sense to ensure you don’t end up paying far more than you really have to for years to come. I once worked with a client who had already been turned down by two different lenders for differing reasons, ranging from his wife’s age to affordability issues owing the fact he already owned a residential property, which he was renting out. I spent an hour or so with him one Saturday morning discussing his situation and discovered that he served in the army. He wasn’t aware that this meant he didn’t have to pay a consent to let fee; even though he had spoken to his lender on a number of occasions they had never told him that, as a serviceman, he was exempt from this particular charge. With this one little piece of information, and because I had experience of a similar scenario, I was able to save him a significant amount of money. After gaining a full understanding of his situation, it didn’t take me long to review his circumstances and make financially beneficial decisions on the two mortgages. We freed equity from what was now going to be his buy-to-let to use towards the deposit on his new residential property, thereby reducing the level of borrowing required. This in turn meant we were able to reduce the term of the mortgage, and keep it all within the client’s retirement age and also his wife’s. Not only that, but we managed to find a solution that was entirely affordable. This particular client will be able to pay off the mortgage within 10 years, and has the guarantee that they payments will never increase because we took out a fixed 10-year mortgage. This all came with the added benefit that the new profit from the buy-to-let property – now on a much better rate – is enough to cover his mortgage payments. Experience and knowledge of the market can make a big difference when it comes to finding the right mortgage. When making a decision that will impact your finances for many years to come, it makes sense to speak to someone that can secure a deal that will be as financially beneficial in the long-term as possible. To speak to the author of this article Jason Whitehead, based in Gloucestershire, visit his VouchedFor profile here. If you are looking for advice on a mortgage, or would like additional guidance in relation to your finances, search the VouchedFor database to find a professional in your area.
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I'm sure you've noticed that after browsing online for something, similar things seem to magically appear in your inbox? You may be aware that Amazon tracks all of it's customers browsing history so that they may offer them items more closely matched to their likes? This technology is being used by many online suppliers in an attempt to ensure that they, rather than their competition get your business. Whilst this can be useful in helping you to focus on the things you want rather than the ocean of other products available on the web, it can become a nuisance. Particularly when your email in box is bombarded with spam! Without getting overly technical, all web browsers keep a history of your searches. This means that they can also keep a record of sites you've used your email address(es) to log into. Vastly increasing their ability to send you spam. By the way, when your PC starts to run slowly, this is the first thing we try to clean up! If you use Google Chrome however, they've introduced a useful little tool called 'Incognito window'. This deliberately keeps no history meaning you can browse or do online banking and be happy that no history is kept when the browser is closed. Augusta "Ada", Countess of Lovelace was Lord Byron's only legitimate daughter and went on to work with Charles Babbage on his difference engine, the first modern computer. She was a brilliant mathematician and was the first to describe the software used by modern Computers. In a century where we are constantly championing to role of Women in our society, surely we should be making this amazing lady as well known as Stephenson, Faraday and Newton? If it were not for Ada, life would be very different today and I for one would not have a business! What price loyalty or a guarantee
Skype suffers worldwide outage for a full day, users of the free app threaten to leave in droves! What price loyalty eh? Just because something is free, it should still work and nothing is more frustrating than a free and useful product suddenly becoming unavailable. People become resentful and bitter toward the products owners. Apparently, the business version was unaffected which leads one to imagine that their view is that the free product didn't matter? Cynical yes and probably incorrect but that's the world view. We recently had to compare product availability for a business continuity plan for a telephone system. The very best quoted service level agreement on the market is from a leading British Telecom provider. However, their claim of 99.9% availability is only guaranteed if you use their equipment and their broadband! Strangely, our humble Module IT VOIP is currently at 99.975% and we will use any broadband and equipment. To put this in perspective, 99.9% equals about a working day per annum. 99.975% is about 2 hours. What does this really mean to my business? Well, you should be cynical about sales claims and work out what the real impact might be but then look at the cost difference between the systems. The one guaranteeing 99.9% costs over 100 times more than the one currently performing better but of course we cannot guarantee that! ;) What are the chances?!
1) You've just bought a new house and the 70's avocado bathroom suite has to go. 2) After some bad weather, the fence between your neighbours has broken and their little doggy is leaving some presents on your lawn. 3) Your little darling has given your beautiful lounge walls a little update. What do you do? You might look in the local paper, grab a business directory out of the drawer, Google local services, jump onto social media and search for a local business, ask on social media if anyone knows anyone, or ring friends and family for suggestions. So...... now, you are that local business they need, using the options above, how can they find your number and not your competitors? Everyone works differently, some use only one of these methods, some a mixture, some all - how many can you be found by? If it's only 1 of them, you have a 1 in 6 chance they will use the option that finds you, but wait.......there's many other people who also do what you do and they also market themselves in the same place. What's the chance that you will get the call? Probably one in maybe even hundreds at times. Have a think about your business and whether you are in enough places. Brand awareness is a massive part of your business plan and must not be overlooked. If you'd like more information on brand awareness and how to expose your business, contact Jo of Forest Traders for more details. |
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