your financial freedom
Although the base rate is very low at the moment, there are still lots of people who could benefit from moving to another mortgage provider.
We offer an initial free mortgage health check service, so why not let us review it for you today?
Or if you're looking for a mortgage, don't trawl the internet, let us find the best deal for you.
Check out the rates under Residential Mortgage Rates on our website.
How would you like to be able to afford Private Medical Insurance up to the age of 80+ at a reasonable cost.
We can arrange a product which is designed to meet the needs of those seeking valuable healthcare or comparing it with an existing provider. It offers extensive cover up to £150,000 per person per year with the choice of two excesses (£3,000 and £5,000) to help ensure your premiums are not excessive.
The plan also offers a unique “rolling excess” which is based per person per year not per claim. This means that once your treatment costs exceed your excess limit within a 12 month period, the insurer will cover the cost of all eligible treatment for a further 12 months. So in effect, you get a full year’s “excess holiday”.
It is an intelligent way to fund your healthcare with premiums up to 80% less than traditional full cover plans.
Cover and premiums will depend on completion of a health questionnaire but if you would like to find out more about this plan please call on 01372 844344 (Quoting Active Health) or email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
The Royal Mint have announced that a number of newly designed 20p coins have entered circulation without a date on them.
This makes them very rare and therefore, valuable to coin collectors who are prepared to pay more than the face value.
The Royal Mint have confirmed they are still legal tender but I expect anyone who discovers one is unlikely to try to buy the morning newspaper with it.
We all know how difficult it is nowadays to get on the property ladder, even though interest rates are low and property prices have fallen.
Deposit
In order to achieve a reasonable interest rate you need to have at least a 25% deposit. Don’t forget that you also need to have sufficient funds to pay for legal fees, survey fees and other costs associated with moving into a property.
Income Multiples
Lenders are now also looking more closely at income multiples and gone are the days when you could achieve over 5 times your income. As a general rule if you look at 4 times you will not be far off the mark. Please also bear in mind that any loans you have will be taken off your income and some lenders also now take off credit card balances.
Credit History
Your credit history pays an important part in obtaining a Decision in Principle from a lender and if they cannot find much history i.e. you don’t have a mortgage, credit card, bank account etc, your credit rating will be lower. If you do have credit cards, you should set up a direct debit to pay at least the minimum off each month, as people are often caught out by forgetting to pay a credit card or paying it late. These are all things which will affect your credit history.
Guarantors
There are a few lenders who will accept guarantors, such as close family members to assist you in buying a property. You should be aware that the guarantor will need to be able to afford their own mortgage as well as yours and using a guarantor (especially a parent) could mean that you cannot have the mortgage over as long a term as you could if you were buying on your own. Guarantor mortgages should be viewed short term and you should work towards being able to afford the whole mortgage on your own within a few years.
Types of Mortgages
There are a variety of different mortgages on the market from fixed, tracker, discounted, offset etc and these are available on either a repayment or interest only basis. With First Time Buyers, most lenders will restrict the amount you can have on an interest only basis, and you should always have some sort of repayment vehicle in place, as you will not be paying off any of the mortgage capital.
The Way Forward
Buying a property will probably be one of the most expensive purchases you buy, so you need to make sure you are comfortable with the processes involved and can afford the repayments, especially if interest rates rise.
It is important to seek independent financial advice to ensure that you get the most suitable arrangement for you, so speak to one of our advisers for further information.
For further information or assistance, contact your local office at Blacktower or email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read issue two of the Blacktower Magazine to find out about:
and many more interesting articles
http://www.mygazines.com/issue/8443
Blacktower is proud to announce the first edition of its own magazine. Inside the first issue you will find interesting articles such as:
http://www.blacktowerfm.co.uk/images/uploads/E-mag1stissue.pdf
Blacktower is constantly seeking to uphold the very highest standards of service and professionalism, and it was therefore a natural progression for the company to be one of the first to join FEIFA – the Federation of European Independent Financial Advisers.
This European trade association was launched in August 2009, part of its remit being to support and raise standards of advice and compliance. “We were very pleased to accept Blacktower on board as FEIFA members” the Federation’s CEO Paul Stanfield said at the time. “The company is very much the sort of operation that we are looking to encourage, as we seek to lift professional standards across the industry in Continental Europe”.
We are delighted to announce the opening of our office in Nantes, France. The office is headed up by Simon Verity who brings with him over ten years of experience giving professional financial advice as an IFA both in the UK and France. Simon moved to France with his family in 2002 and fully understands the concerns of his clients facing the complex tax and inheritance rules created by the French system.
Simon is looking to help expatriates across the country with their savings and investments.
As Blacktower are licensed to operate across Europe we hope to open further offices in Italy, (Rome & Madrid) and possibly the Middle East in the future.