You may not be aware but you may be eligible for a council house mortgage. A council house mortgage may be granted to tenants who are currently renting a home from a local authority. There are certain qualification criteria, which we shall soon discuss. First, let’s discuss what are council house mortgages.

When a tenant applies for a council house mortgage, a valuer will be sent to assess the house and give it a market value. This process usually takes around 3 months. If the tenant fulfills all the criteria, and the council house mortgage is approved, the tenant can buy the house at a heavily discounted rate. For example, a house valued at $100,000 may be bought for $50,000.

A tenant can borrow up to 100% of the council’s valuation. In the above example, that means the tenant has excess cash of $50,000. The money can be used for various purposes such as renovations, buying furniture, or for business. Or the tenant can use the money to pay off some debt. Whatever the case, the council house mortgage will leave the tenant in a stronger financial position.

In addition, the tenant is now officially a homeowner instead of a tenant. There are several qualifying criteria for council house mortgages.

Firstly, tenants must have stayed in the council house for at least 2 years. If the tenancy began after 18 January 2005, then the minimum period is 5 years.

Secondly, the house must be a district council house, a London Borough Council House, or a house belonging to a Housing Action Trust. You can apply for the right even if you have bad credit ratings. For instance, you may be a discharged bankrupt, and still qualify for the scheme. All you have to do is to consult a professional mortgage firm that specializes in applying for the right to buy.

Similar to other home mortgages, you are required to pay interest on the loan. In other words, the more you borrow, the more you have to pay back. For this reason, it is best to apply common sense when it comes to deciding on the loan amount to borrow. Obviously, you should not take out the maximum amount that you are eligible for if you do not need that amount of money.

Borrow what you need, and what is necessary to enable you to achieve your own goals. For instance, if you have the intention of using the money for a business start-up, make careful calculations of how much you need and borrow that amount. If you borrow in excess, your monthly payments will naturally be higher, putting more pressure on you to pay off the monthly installments.

And if you find yourself not being able to pay off the monthly payments, you home may be re-possessed. Therefore, always seek professional advice when in doubt. Borrow prudently and you will never have to worry about losing your home.

Homeowner secured loans are dubbed as second charge loans or second charge lending. Tracing the roots, a charge was registered on land registry each time a credit is secured on the property. Mortgage lenders get the honor of possessing the first charge. Secured loans have the second charge. This explains the coinage.

Secured loans are repaid on a monthly basis. This is the general practice but one can vacillate from the payment structure. Sometimes the lender comes to a consensus with the borrower over other methods of payments. These can be over payments and lump sum payments. In few cases it gets even better. A borrower can withdraw funds from the account; this can be done on a rolling basis given that one stays within the credit limit.

Secured loan lenders serve generous offerings. This is only apparent generosity because at the end, it does not make much difference. The bounty can come in the form of payment holidays or payment interruptions. This allows a borrower the opportunity to defer payments. This implies taking a structuring break. A borrower can also opt for a payment holiday at an intermediate stage of the loan. Interest though, invariably keeps mounting and hence we get larger payment figures when we opt to pay again.

The point as to how much one can borrow largely depends upon one’s credit rating and calculations pertaining to payment-power. A person can end up borrowing higher than what he initially imagines owing to the lack of conventional income multiples. With a stable credit rating, borrowing a sum that is 125% of the value of a property is not unheard of. Poor credit rating can still let one amass 90% of the property value. The largesse includes existing mortgage plus the secured loan and must be underwritten. Secured loan can be made available anywhere between 5000 pounds and 250000 pounds.

Though the loans are lucratively placed and highly luring, they also ask of reasonable credit history and rating. So in the event of one’s frequently changing address or lacking credit history, the loans become difficult to be procured. Further, self-employed people find it comparatively harder to avail such loans.

Lenders are also known to indulge in mercy-calling. They thus help people with poor circumstances attain the benefit of secured loans. This is on a high interest rate though.

Processing and approval are generally done expeditiously and bend towards being consumer-friendly. Datasheets reject or approve of loans immediately. This is because the credit report of each citizen is available at a small click of the mouse. Furthermore, the processing bit is completed through subtle verifications. People failing in such verifications can still avail off the loans given that they can attest to their mode of repayment. Such people can face severe financial problems in the event of default.

Average price of a house is assuming an ascending slope in UK. Moreover UK is witnessing a tangible hike in demand of tenants. Lenders understand the virtue of this time. They have fathomed that there are people with the right kind of money or at least the right kind of will needed to buy a property. Later group of people are the target-base of lenders who are offering many fresh buy to let remortgage schemes. Lenders are verily minimizing the rental eligibility criteria and have also let the Loan to value ratio feasible come down from 85% to 65%.

The incentives go a long way in determining product flexibility. Such non-rigid dimensions help a buyer think seductively towards an offer of buy to let remortgages.

What then is buy to let remortgage? – It is simple. People buy property and then put it on rent. It is an easy way to realize rental revenue apart from being continuously ensured by the rising prices of the property. A lot of money would have flowed in as rent by the time an owner actually makes up his mind to sell the property.

How does it fare against selling a property? - There are times when property escalation seems to have touched the summit. In such cases, an owner feels like settling the issue for good and begins to look for buyers. Is it the right time? Let us argue. Let’s assume an initial interest only mortgage at 85% of worth of property. Even when the property doubles in price, the mortgage debt remains the same.

While selling the property, we will have to clear the mortgage debt, subtract the initial investment to the tune of 15% and further minimize the Capital Gains Tax. Mathematically our net gain would be in the realms of 35% of the price at which we sell the property. At the same time, we would be completely deprived of any further profit owing to future escalation of property prices.

Let’s now judge the other side of the coin. With increase in rate of property with time, the rent levels also take a sharp upward turn. Owing to the beneficial rent clause, we do not have to pay any Capital Gains Tax. The property remains with us and any lay man can confirm that amassing the 85% mortgage debt is quite feasible through accumulated rent. In fact the rent each month can help with paying the mortgage EMI.

While venturing into buy to let remortgage, it is important to understand that the current variable interest rates prescribed by the government are too high and we must abstain from them.

A quick tip - We can work further towards consolidated remortgage and consolidate our other lending commitments to the mortgage.

There are many reasons why one may need professional mortgage advice. For example, you may be a first time home buyer, or you are not familiar with certain mortgage rules and regulations. Speaking with a professional mortgage advisor will help you avoid costly mistakes.

A mortgage is a huge and long term financial commitment. Obviously, being behind in mortgage payments is not exactly fun. In serious cases, the lenders will execute their legal rights and foreclose the property, leaving the owners homeless. Usually, such problems can be avoided with proper financial planning. That is the main reason for consulting a professional mortgage advisor.

Another good reason for engaging a mortgage advisor is because there are too many different types of mortgage loans in the market. This situation arises because different people have different needs. For example, there are first time buyer loans, self employed loans, variable rate loans, bad credit loans and more. A professional advisor will be able to make the proper recommendations to narrow down the scope for you. This is to ensure that you don’t end up with the wrong mortgage type.

In addition, professional advisors will also be on hand to offer you information that would have been difficult to obtain. For instance, you can ask about the maximum loan amount that you qualify for, the deposit required (if any), or whether there are other costs such as stamp duty. Such information will help you come up with better financial plans. Otherwise, you may find yourself coming up short of funds and having your mortgage applications rejected.

Also, since professional mortgage advisors are actively seeking out the right mortgage loans to fill the needs of their customers, they are more likely to be aware of the best deals in town. As they are in a better position to negotiate for competitive rates, you may get to enjoy lower interest rates.

Some buyers tried to apply for mortgage loans on their loan but their applications were rejected for some reason. The most likely reason for rejection is probably bad credit. Therefore, these loans are also commonly known as bad credit loans.

Professional mortgage advisors may be able to help these buyers get their loans approved. This is because there are lenders who specialize in handling bad credit mortgages, and mortgage advisors already have an existing relationship with these lenders. So it is easier for them to get a bad credit mortgage approved.

As the economy rises and falls, some homeowners find that they may not be able to cope. In such times, bad credit mortgage services become extremely useful.

Besides mortgage services, a homeowner may also require additional services such as debt consolidation services. This is another reason why professional mortgage advisors should be hired. They are able to provide comprehensive financial services to alleviate financial burdens.

Finally, when engaging the services of a mortgage advisor, make sure that the advisor is not tied to any lender. If so, the lenders may be paying them commissions to help promote their loans. As a result, they may offer advice that is biased.

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