When we decided the name Mortgagebam, we had no idea it would sound similar to another big name that was around many years ago. The name we are talking about is BAM, which was short for Barclays American Mortgage, of which by accident we found an old article dated back to 1995 when the operation was ton be sold because it was losing money.
It just shows you how old the internet really is now, when we are finding 13 year old articles related to financial and mortgage issues. It just shows that some mortgage organisation had their troubles well before this current credit crunch.
Right through recent history we have been on a rollercoaster ride, when things have been good and things not so good. It is a lesson to remember that what we take for granted today may not be around tomorrow, but also that even during the bad times, it is amazing how quickly things can turn around. The petrol price situation this year is an example. Oil prices are lower than what they were before that crisis began. We now have a situation where mortgages are now becoming very cheap also, if you accepted to have one.
Mortgagebam is putting together a mortgage lead generation system for those in the market, to try and stimulate business also. So with a bit of luck and the media not picking and choosing which sound bite to use, we may find things improving quicker than we thought. Maybe this is too optimistic, but someone has to be.
As I sit in a jet crossing the Atlantic away on business, I thought I would use my free copy of the Times to research what is going on within mortgage buyers, even though theses are normally quieter times coming up to Christmas anyway. The first thing to notice is that house buying news is no longer front page news as the siege in India and the demise of Woolworths takes care of just about all the news, but well within the Times, I get to the business section and at last something about house buying and I suppose Mortgage applications.
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According to Grainne Gilmore, house sales have picked up recently but there still is downfall in prices to different degrees across the country. Octobers saw it bad again, with homes in Wales such as Merthyr Tydfill losing as much as 5.1% in value, although with an annual downturn of 6.9%, you wonder if this is a delayed action; when you compare it say to Blackpool which last month had a 3.9% reduction and a yearly loss of 12.6%.
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The figures used were form the Land Registry which is seen more reliable from surveys done by Halifax or Nationwide as they measure real prices and not just mortgages approved. Even though there are signs of a pick up, they still are near the lowest levels recorded. There was a buck to the trend for house sellers in Anglesey where houses rose by 3.1.% last month. As a whole house prices dropped 1.5% in October.
“Help is available”, is the message as the USA administrationas it looks to offer a mortgage rescue programme to help those home owners who are at risk of losing their homes. Although this programme could save many mortgage defaulters their home, there is no gaurantee it will help everyone.
The mortgage support could be in the form of reducing interest or extending the period of the mortgage to make it more affordable. It will be likely that mortgage brokers back here in the UK, will be waiting to see if this settles the USA market and then stimulates the home buying market back here in the UK.
Unless you have been living in Mars recently you can’t have missed the finacial crisis that has sweeped the world that originated from the USA. Just it was annoced that a Loan Modification Programme may be introduced to help mortgage owners within the USA.
As we all know, what happens across the pond will then influence what occurs back here in teh UK and across the world, so it is worth keeping an eye on USA news and events. Here is a taster from the Associtaed Press.
Thee link is here http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gvViLx2qDGg
The dawn of Mortgagebam is nearly here with only a few additions and alterations to be made before we are live for real. There is still some text issues of which we need some more mortgage advisers to commit to their opinions and of course then comes the hard job of convincing the thousands of mortgage brokers to join Mortgagebam’s system.
There are lead generating sites already out there, but we believe we are different as in that we are set up more for the consumer who is looking for that mortgage, rather than very detailed forms to fill in that will keep the mortgage broker happy, but put any consumer off who does not like disclosing a lot of private information into a web form.
This may be the challenge when we go public and have to convince mortgage brokers why in the 21st century we need to out the consumer first and it is the mortgage brokers responsibility to give their customers what they want.
We still also have to trial the ratings system to ensure it works correctly, not to mention a few issues with the automated email system. But we are sure that in a short period of time, we will be bring consumers together with mortgage brokers throughout the UK.
In order to sell any mortgage product in the UK, you must not only be qualified to do so, but also be registered with the financial services authority to do so. Â So when the question of how do I know the mortgage adviser I want to have a face to face meeting with, is qualified is asked then the Financial Services Authority or FSA is the place to start.
In fact they have made it very simple for consumers to check on the validity of any mortgage broker, company or adviser advertising or selling services. All you need to ask for is their FSA reference number, which many mortgage brokers will clearly show on all stationary or website, then use the handy online tool provided by the FSA.
The tool is the FSA register which is locate here http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/home.do and just by entering their reference number will show if they are registered with the FSA or not. You can type in the individuals name or business name, but it needs to be exact to what is stored in their database to show up, so it easier with the correct FSA reference number.
Al mortgage brokers who subscribe to Mortgagebam are asked to provide their FSA registration number, which we in turn will check against this register.
As we waited to see if the Bank Of England would action another base rate cut to stimulate the mortgage market, with rumours of up to 1% being suggested by the press, not many predicted that a 1.5% reduction would be presented to UK borrowers.
The base rate is now set at 3% (at time of writing)which will make a big difference for many home owners especially in the build up to Christmas, where credit card spending may take over from real earnings in order to keep children and family happy.
The interest rate cut is also good news for the mortgage brokers here on Financebam who really do want to offer first time buyers and those who want to re-mortgage some good considerations to buy their next or new home.
Often many consumers contact mortgage brokers looking for that mortgage deal that was maybe there a year ago but now has gone, due to market conditions and the banking financial crisis. They find themselves spending a lot of time arranging and advising on mortgages that just do not transfer into reality.
After the huge bail out some time ago the original bank that needed support from the Government and Tax payer was the Northern Rock. But recently it has been criticised throughout, by charities and customers a like and now the newspapers are reporting the issues. It has been reported that you are twice as likely to have your home repossessed if you have a mortgage with the Northern Rock than anyone else.
Charities have claimed the North Rock will nothing by this aggressive stance as the homes at this point in the market have little value, not only to reply the previous owners but the North rock themselves. Far better riding out the storm is the message, when home prices will have increased and if repossession is still the only answer, then both parties will have benefitted.
Of course these claims are made from outside the business and Northern Rock clearly has a responsibility to the tax payer to repay the money lent to them in the first instance.
As for new mortgage hunters who can get a loan to buy their home, it is very likely that this news will scare them away to other lenders, again reducing the customer base of the Northern Rock.
It may be worth asking you rindependant mortgage broker when seeking advice, how this news may affect you and your financial security.
We were told to remember eth date. The 13th of October will go down in UK history as the day the government pretty much nationalised most of not all of the high street banks. The financial system was so bad, that many high street banks and mortgage lenders went to the government cap in hand and said, please give us some money. Billions of tax payers’ pounds were injected to keep these banks afloat, but it came with conditions.
First of all many top men lost their jobs and their bonuses, but also there are conditions that lending returns to the levels of 2007. There is the hope that many mortgages will return to the table and because the government will guarantee funds for bad loans confidence will grow with both consumer and financial institutions.
The stock market did increase after the news, but it is still early days to see if mortgage lenders do feel confident enough to reduce their conditions of the loan and increase the customer base and improve availability of mortgages throughout. There is still a woryy though that building societies and banks will follow the goverements requests and not make a mockery of the tax input.
With house prices now really low, having access to a mortgage may mean god bargains out there as well as pressure to drop mortgage interest rates even further, even though inflation is at high levels.
Let’s see if the confidence grows and those who have turned to renting do get their mortgage and dream home.
At  Mortgagebam we don’t offer advice on Mortgages because we are not qualified to do so, but we do aim to point to people who can, that includes the mortgage brokers and advisers on our site but also other internet information , so you can use their advice to improve your mortgage decisions.
Today the source of your mortgage information is from the BBC who has produced an article explaining the different types of mortgages. Â As we know borrowing money for a home over a long period of time is substantial commitment and decisions made toady can affect you for 24 years or more.
The BBC covers these types of mortgages (These links below go to our pages not BBC’s)
They also talk about the governments 10 questions you should ask and the FSA’s rules. You can read the article direct from here. Understanding Different Mortgage Types
