Is it Coming Home?
Celebrating Our Men
The next month brings us plenty of occasions to support and celebrate all the men in the spotlight. Good luck to the England Men’s team in the Euros. We are 100% behind you and hope you bring it home! We will continue to help you with your ‘home’ related funding and protection needs whatever the result!
(Image Source: Goal)
It’s Father’s Day this weekend, and we have a wonderful group of fathers supporting us and our families here at TMAG, who without, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do so wonderfully. We wanted to say thank you to them all and hope that they enjoy their special day.
Truesday – If BDM’s and Brokers did Speed Dating…
We have had two fabulous training Tuesdays since we last blogged, and squeezed as many lenders and insurance providers in as possible for a quick update, doing full days with half hour slots for as many BDM’s as we could get in.
Thank you to all of the BDM’s who gave us their time for an update on their latest products and criteria changes. The relationships we have are invaluable.
The main thing dominating the headlines is the upcoming General Election on July 4th, and what it means for the housing market and rates, and I think it will probably shape the rest of the year whatever the outcome.
The next Bank of England Base Rate review is the 20th June – so keep an eye out on our social pages for updates on any changes that are made. We expect the Base Rate to remain the same this month….but we would love to be wrong!
Employee Focus
Romarna works predominantly in our Kings Norton office and is a mortgage and protection specialist. She joined us in September, after working as a trainer within the financial services industry for 4 years.
Romarna’s previous experience and knowledge in the industry means she has hit the ground running, and she has achieved amazing things with us in her first 9 months. We have had so many lovely reviews and kind words from Romarna’s clients that she has helped already, we are very proud of her.
Romarna has found it really interesting being on the real-life side of the job, and in our opinion, she is far better in a client facing role because her interaction with customers is invaluable.
In her own time, Romarna has a very busy social life! She always has plans to do something different. She is a very talented singer and has recently joined a band, and she is a dog lover with 3 fur babies, Frank, Ruby & Luna.
Mortgage Focus
I want to focus on people moving this month, and these are the most FAQ we have and answers from our team of brokers! This is not exhaustive, and we have all sorts of wonderful scenarios we come across, and it really is a time when a good broker is worth their weight in gold.
Q I am tied into my existing mortgage product, is it still possible for me to move?
A Yes. We will need to have a look at the existing mortgage you have, and advise you of what your early repayment charges would be ( financial penalty for leaving the mortgage early), or see if you can port your mortgage product, which means moving the mortgage product from your current property to a new one.
Q What if the new property is a big upwards move, can I take out extra on my mortgage as well as use my equity
A Yes…..subject to affordability and criteria but we will assess all of this for you.
Q Do I need to keep the existing term from my current mortgage.
A This is something we can review for you and extend/reduce to suit your budget if the lender allows. Most lenders do allow you to choose a new term when you port your mortgage.
Q I am waiting for rates to decrease before I consider moving. When is the best time to move?
A We have heard this a lot over the last 12-18 months. We are here to go through your circumstances and will support you in making the decision if the time is right for you. The housing market hasn’t stopped because of higher interest rates. People are moving now with the hope that rates will decrease when their new product expires in 2/3/5 years’ time.
Q What fees are involved in moving?
A We will do a detailed costing exercise with all of our clients who are planning on moving. The costs we will consider are estate agents fees, mortgage arrangement fees, legal fees, stamp duty, removals, surveys, surplus funds for home improvements or repayment of debt, and even a contingency fund in case there are any unpredicted costs. We will work out what your remaining equity will be after repaying these fees if you want to pay for them through your equity, and we will make you aware of which costs need to be paid from your own funds.
Q The people we are buying off will only sell to us if we have no chain, but its our dream home and we don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to buy it….
A We have had this scenario very recently and our clients have changed their existing property and mortgage into a Buy to Let mortgage, raised a deposit for their new property purchase with the plan of selling their existing property in the future. In extreme scenarios, we can also explore if a ‘Bridging Loan’ is a solution to make sure you don’t miss out.
Q Can I have an interest only mortgage on my residential property.
A Yes. It can be seen as riskier so there will need to be a good solid plan in place for how you are going to repay the mortgage and there is very strict and set criteria you will need to meet – but we will assess all of this for you.
Q I saw a different broker for my existing mortgage can I still see you for my new property?
A Yes and we always welcome new clients!
Think carefully before securing debt against your home. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
I will never apologise on behalf of any of our protection specialists for them trying to contact our clients regarding arranging a protection review. By this we mean Life Insurance, Critical Illness Cover, and Income Replacement. It forms such an important part of our mortgage process, and a lot of the reasons we are given from our clients who decline a review are the very reasons we need to see you.
Budget worries about affording a policy due to the cost-of-living increases and mortgage payments being higher due to rate increases is often what we are told.
However, these are the very reasons why we need to ensure you are protected as if the worst was to happen, then it would mean even more of a struggle financially.
One of our protection specialists has been helping a family recently who is going through an unbelievably sad time. After arranging a mortgage for them last year, with a lot of persuasion, we finally managed to arrange a review for them, and we recommended the couple both take out their own critical illness policies. They then went on to have a baby, and recently had the devastating news that their 4-month-old son has incurable cancer.
We have supported our customers with the claims process, and the two policies that we arranged for them have agreed to pay out the full lump sums they are covered for under their Children’s Critical Illness benefit, which we know will provide great comfort to them in this very difficult time. It might be towards additional or private health care, or supporting their income whilst they take time away from work to spend crucial time with their son.
This is the second devastating Children’s Critical Illness claim we have been involved with recently, and it only makes me more determined to make sure we are doing our jobs and ensuring our clients have a review.
A special mention to Nicola who was the advisor on this case and has been supporting the customers with the claim. And thank you to Royal London who dealt with it so quickly and sympathetically.
Just a gentle reminder from me that we are halfway through the year already! It might be good to have a mid-year review of your finances, and if you still want to move this year/re-mortgage, get the ball rolling sooner rather than later.
Maybe it could be looking at your credit report, making sure your bank statements are in order, or any documents you may need to request from an accountant if you are self-employed, checking what you have saved or where you are with any debts you are working to pay off.
Please contact us and get booked in, whatever your enquiry may be.
Thanks for reading and we’ll catch you next month
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01527 864 222
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07807 332421
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Our Location
Prospect House, Church Green West, Redditch, B97 4DJ
Redditch Mortgage Advice is a trading name of McTernan Financial Ltd who are an Appointed Representative of PRIMIS Mortgage Network, a trading name of Advance Mortgage Funding Ltd. Advance Mortgage Funding Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Registered Office: Prospect House, Church Green West, Redditch B97 4DJ. Registered in England and Wales. Company number: 09168296.
YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE
Most Buy-to-Let Mortgages are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The guidance and/or advice contained within this website is subject to the UK regulatory regime and is therefore primarily targeted at consumers based in the UK.