Archive for February, 2008

If you’re considering taking out a mortgage, the first thing to do is make sure your finances are in order and this includes how you manage your debt.
Here’s a good source from mortgageguide.co.uk on how to do that:

February 14th, 2008

Don’t Panic.

Do you remember why the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is the most popular book in the galaxy - because it has the reassuring words ‘Don’t panic’ written in bold letters on the front. Whatever your financial situation don’t let the problem of debt dominate your life. There are several options which will enable you to work through your financial situations.

Understand Your Situation

It is important not to sweep all your debts and bill reminders under the carpet hoping they will dissappear. Keep track of every bill, debt and overdraft and work out which is the most pressing to reduce first.

Optimise Your Debt.

Debt is not good, but some debt is more expensive to service than others. Prioritise your debt and seek to reduce the most costly debt first. If you are paying credit card debt at greater than 15% this is a very expensive way of borrowing. Seek to reduce the the most costly debt first. If possible you can consolidate debt into the lowest interest paying account. If you consolidate your debt against the value of your house, be aware that you may put your home at risk. Nevertheless you may see your interest fall from 17% to 5%. This can be very helpful, if you use the smaller interest payments to reduce your debt capital.

Tags: mortgage, debt

Posted yesterday from invets-n-trade on the current trend in interest rate  movements.
(Although UK only cut by 25 points the footsie is holding up ok.So no panic yet on the stock market in th UK)

It seems to be an almost certainty, that there will be further rate cuts in US, UK and India. There are strong signals from Fed, Bank of England as well as Reserve Bank of India, that there may be interest rate cuts in the coming few weeks.

Yesterday, it was Ben Bernanke, The Fe Chairman, who set the outlook for the coming year, and clearly hinting that the Fed is very open to cut the rates further to help the struggling US economy recover from the so called fear of recession, which some experts believe is unavoidable. How bad the US economy is is clear from the measures taken by US government recently – offering a tax rebate, Warren Buffet making an offer to reinsure municipal bonds & Fed reveals plans to help mortgage defaulters - Just to name a few.

In UK, we have the same story. The Bank of England governor has already expressed deep concerns over the falling standards of living in UK due to substantial price rise in food and fuel costs. Reuters yesterday reported that there is a strong possibility of 2 more rate cuts by Bank of England to bring some clam to the struggling UK economy.

In the emerging markets, India’s Finance Minister and Reserve Bank of India Governor is giving strong signals for a rate cut. The expectations are that in March, there will be some relief from the growing interest rates. Though in a recent statement, the RBI governor had left the field open to the banks to battle it out and many banks in India have deducted their rates for house loan, car loan, etc.

Tags: rate

Seems all is not doom and gloom in the property sector.
Rental growth is still being achieved as reported by the mortgage sorter
14 February 2008 10:30

The capital also accounted for over a third of the total annual growth in the value of landlord-owned homes up to November, but its yearly growth rate of 15.6 per cent was second to the south-west’s, where stock value rose by 35.1 per cent to £72.02

Tags: rental, property