Thinking of Buying a Second Home?

Thinking of Buying a Second Property? Here’s my story:

Last year I wrote about developing my family home with the idea of increasing its value. I was fortunate to be able to add value to my property and now that the building work is all but over (it never really stops does it!) we are ready to embark on another journey.

Every year we holiday as a family in the beautiful Lake District, my wife and I have always said we would love to own a property there but have never really been in a position to do anything other than dream, until now.

It seems that the stars are lined up in our favour at the moment as the house has increased in value and we are now looking to release equity and use that to go towards a second home.

We don’t have a big stash of cash anywhere so we are borrowing money to buy somewhere. It is a risky approach but due to the mortgage offerings in the marketplace I feel it is a calculated risk.

If you are thinking this might be something you want to do then read on. Firstly you need to aim for at least a 25% deposit, in my case this is coming from the equity being released from a remortgage. Yo will also need to account for stamp duty and this carries an extra 3% tag on it as it is not going to be a main residence.

Have a think about what you are going to use the property for. If it is solely for personal use then you may be able to get a standard residential mortgage, these are subject to affordability and the lender will assess your income to ensure you can afford to run two properties. There is an interesting product available from Metro Bank at the moment that allows you to let the property for up to 90 days a year. This could help you making the mortgage payments. Also you will only need a maximum of 15% deposit so you can leverage a little here.

Do you want to let the property? If so there are a couple of approaches you could take. Income from the property will be taxed at your highest tax rate so you need to take advice from an accountant in this regard. Inland revenue rules state that if the property is a furnished holiday let and is let for 105 days per year or more the new income tax rules for rental income do not apply and mortgage interest can be a tax deductible expense. If you are taking up a holiday let product the Furness Building Society have a good product but you need a 25% deposit and the rates are not as competitive as a standard residential mortgage. The good thing about Furness though is that they allow you to use the property yourself as well whereas other holiday let providers do not.

This is not the property I have in mind!

At the moment I’m still looking for the right property so have yet to take the plunge. However whether it is the Lake District, Scotland, Cornwall or Blackpool if you are in the position of having a decent amount of equity to leverage then you don’t necessarily need cash in the bank to get that second property.

A MORTGAGE IS A LOAN SECURED AGAINST YOUR HOME OR PROPERTY. YOUR HOME OR PROPERTY  MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE OR ANY OTHER DEBT SECURED ON IT. 

The best places to raise a family in Surrey

Are you starting a family and looking to buy a property in Surrey? Perhaps you’ve been renting, and now you want to buy your first family home?

We understand that buying a family home is a very important decision and choosing the area to raise your children probably relies on a combination of great schools, low crime rates and access to activities.

Based on this, we’ve pulled together seven of the best family places to live in Surrey to kick start your property search. In no particular order:

1. Woking

Woking is one of Surrey’s largest towns, located in the northwest of the county. The town was recently ranked the 54 best place to raise a family in the whole of the UK, scoring particularly well for its NCT community.

Woking has also been recognised as one of the best places to live in Surrey for schools, with its St John the Baptist School ranking number one in the county for state secondary schools and number 23 across the whole of the UK.

Being one of Surrey’s largest towns, there is also a plethora of activities for children including a theatre, adventure play areas, horse riding and arts and crafts events. 

2. Guildford

Guildford is a popular Surrey town. Its location, 27 miles southwest of London, makes it a popular commuter town while also being a great place to raise a family. The town was named as the 6 best place to raise a familyin and around the London area.

If schools are your priority, Guildford is a great choice; housing three or Surrey’s top ten state secondary schools. Its St Peter’s Catholic School ranks 6th in the county (151th nationwide), the Guildford County School ranks 9th in the county (316th nationwide), and the George Abbot School ranks 10th in the county (327thnationwide).

If living in the heart of a busy town doesn’t appeal, then nearby smaller towns of Bramley, Shamley Green, Blackheath, Wonersh, Hascombe, and Winterfold might be worth considering due to their low crime rate; with figures showing this area is the 2nd safest place to live in Surrey. 

3. Farnham

Farnham is an old English rural market town to the west of the county. Although located 35 miles southwest of London, Farnham provides great commuter links into the city. The area is also particularly good for families, with the town housing All Hallows Catholic School – the 3rd best school in the county and 79th best school nationwide.

If busy town life doesn’t appeal, the suburbs of Tilford, Elstead, Thursley, Frensham, Peper Harow & Dockenfield are worth considering due to their low crime rates; with an average of just 24 crimes reported here per month.

4. Walton-on-Thames, Esher, and Chertsey

Walton-on-Thames has been voted the number one place to raise a family in and around the London area. It scores 96/100, with factors such as schools, health, job prospects and crime taken into account. Esher in Surrey was named number four in the same study.

Nearby Chertsey has also been recognised as a great place to raise a family in Surrey, being recognised as the 28th best place for families in the UK and noted for its particularly good childcare. Feltham ranked 52nd in the same report, commended for its good schools.

But it is, in fact, Chertsey and Sunbury with the best schools in this area of Surrey; with Salesian School in Chertsey being ranked 5 in the county and St Paul’s Catholic College in Sunbury ranked 7th.

The areas of South Walton & Ambleside are particularly suited to families; being named the 4th safest area to live in Surrey with just 27 crimes per month on average.

5. Warlingham

Warlingham is in the Tandridge district of Surrey, 14 miles south of London. It’s been voted the 19th best place in the whole of the country to raise a family, particularly commended for its great variety of activities.

Activities for families in Walingham include Zorbing, farm visits and plenty of countryside and woods to explore.

6. Leatherhead and Epsom

The Leatherhead and Epsom area is one of the best family places to live in Surrey if schools are a priority. Leatherhead has the 2nd best state school in the county (St Andrew’s Catholic School), and Epsom has the 8thbest (Rosebery School).

If travel to London is also an important part of your house search, these areas also offer good commuter links.

7. Chobham & Bagshot

Chobham and Bagshot are located in the northwest area of Surrey. They’ve been recognised as particularly good areas to raise a family, with Bagshot known for its range of family activities, and Chobham recognised for its great schools.

Bagshot has been named as the 30th best place in the UK to raise a family and Chobham the 86th.

Kick start your search

It’s important to know how much you can borrow before you start looking. You might have your heart set on a property you can’t afford, or you may be able to borrow more than you realise.

Before you begin your search, talk to a mortgage broker who will be able to advise how much you can borrow based on your personal circumstances. Then, once you’ve found your perfect family home, they’ll be able to find you the best mortgage deal on the market.

Want some advice today? Contact Richard Bousfield, The Surrey Mortgage Broker, who will be happy to offer an initial free mortgage consultation.

Alternatively, why not download our helpful Buyers Guide to Mortgages to help you navigate through the complex house buying and mortgage landscape?

A MORTGAGE IS A LOAN SECURED AGAINST YOUR HOME OR PROPERTY. YOUR HOME OR PROPERTY  MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE OR ANY OTHER DEBT SECURED ON IT. 

What have I learned recently!

I’ve not written a blog for months, in fact the last one I wrote was a bit “woe is me” piece about my home improvement problems.

You will be pleased to hear that the house has finally been completed and we have re-installed our kitchen and have a new floor laid after our flood. It was stressful and the insurance claim is a protracted and painful process that has still not been 100% resolved.

However today I’m going to move away from home improvement and touch on some other areas I have been lucky enough to learn about in recent weeks.

The nice people at HSBC for intermediaries invited me along to a seminar at the end of October which was very interesting. It was held at Mercedes Benz world, which was great even for an anti-petrol head like me.

One of the things I like to mention in Blogs over the years is the Bank of England interest rate. I have made many predictions and I’m quite pleased to say I’ve been pretty accurate so far. The main factor I like to draw your attention to is wages. Once wages are outstripping inflation for a sustained period of time then you can expect a rise in interest rates.

Wages in real terms  are actually less than they were in 2007. I do think this is changing, slowly but surely and this will point towards a rise eventually.

However there is an unknown variable that has cropped up, sorry to bring this up, Brexit.

It is this matter that brings me back to HSBC, the nice chap giving a presentation mentioned this in his analysis (as well as lots of other stuff), and said that their prediction was no further interest rates would happen until 2021.

This is backed up by the proliferation of really competitive five year fixed rate products available right now. With the right equity/deposit you can secure a five year fixed rate at under 2%. That is cheap money.

Another presenter who intrigued me was talking about technology and in particular API’s. This stands for Application Programming Interface. We use them all the time without knowing it. Loads of apps on your phone will use API’s. The point the presenter was making was that soon you will be able to apply to mortgage companies with the help of API’s taking information from other apps (personal information) and pre-populating a mortgage application. This isn’t really available right now and having done a bit of research myself I see it is a little way off yet due to all the lenders being quite defensive over their own then you can expect a rise in interest rates.systems. Plus there is the data protection issue so I think we should watch this space and see what happens.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised and inspired by a number of life insurance companies and their enthusiastic business development managers. Legal and General, Royal London and Vitality Life all have hit home with some remarkable statistics and some really good products.

In particular I have been struck by Vitality Life and how they are encouraging healthy lifestyles. So inspired was I that I have signed up for a policy. They offer a premium discount up front and if you “engage” with them by being active you will continue to receive that discount You can also get offers and discounts on various goods such as fitness trackers, apple watches etc.

In my world very few clients see the benefit of insurance and yet we all have it in one form or another. The cat is insured, the TV is insured, the car is insured but very few of US are insured. Have a think about what would happen if you couldn’t work for a year. What would you give up? Have a look at this old blog from 2016 for a bit of useful information.

If you would like to discuss what insurance and protection policies are best for your individual circumstances, please get in touch. Or if you have a question about any of the above, leave a comment in the box below.

A MORTGAGE IS A LOAN SECURED AGAINST YOUR HOME OR PROPERTY. YOUR HOME OR PROPERTY  MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE OR ANY OTHER DEBT SECURED ON IT. 

Buying a House and Moving before Christmas

If you’d like to wake up on Christmas morning in a new home, you need to act fast. December will be here before you know it, and you’ll want to be in your new property at least a couple of weeks before the 25th, so you can decorate the Christmas tree and put a wreath on your front door. Aside from the Christmas decorations, you’ll want time to turn your house into a home too.

Buying A House Fast

If you’ve decided your current home isn’t big enough, you fancy upgrading, moving to a new area or you’re buying your first home, you should dedicate some time to deciding what you want and don’t want from your new home. If you’re buying with someone else, compromise might be required. Having a clear search area, property type and budget, can stop you from wasting time looking at properties that aren’t suitable.

Make sure that you’re registered with local estate agents and that they know you want to move fast. If you’re also selling a property to enable your purchase, you’ll need to find a buyer who is equally as keen to get moving.

Get a mortgage offer quickly

Don’t wait until you’ve found the perfect property before booking an appointment with a mortgage broker. They’ll be able to offer your invaluable advice, answer any questions you have about the house buying and mortgage process, and provide you with a mortgage in principle.

A mortgage broker or adviser will look in detail at your finances and circumstances, asking a number of affordability questions, as it’s vital that you’ll be able to keep up with your mortgage payments, month in, month out, or you could end up losing your home.

They will then search the market for you to find the best mortgage deals, saving you valuable time. Many mortgage comparison sites don’t search all available lenders, and therefore won’t necessarily identify all mortgage products that are suitable for your needs. A broker has access to everyone and will spend the time stress testing each option and exploring alternatives. They’ll then go through the best deals with you, explaining how they each work, e.g. some may be fixed deals for 2 years, 3 years, or 5 deals, which are often ideal if you want to know exactly how much you’ll have to pay each month. If this isn’t something that matters to you, you may decide that a tracker mortgage is better.

Once you find a deal you like, your broker can put in an application, and you’ll receive a mortgage in principle letter. This means that you should be able to get a mortgage for a given amount; so can act as proof that you’re a serious buyer when you place an offer on a property.

From offer, to exchange, to completion

Placing an offer on a property is exciting, but until it’s accepted and the property is taken off the market you won’t be able to begin the conveyancing process. The conveyancing process is what happens when a property legally changes hands. Generally it takes around 6 weeks from instructing solicitors to exchange.

Your mortgage adviser will most likely be able to recommend several local solicitors, for a speedy purchase and / or it is best to get them lined up early so you can instruct as soon as your offer is accepted. They will also act on behalf of the mortgage lender (who is essentially buying the house for you, or at least part of it) and will need details of the mortgage offer to proceed.

The mortgage lender will send a surveyor to assess the property you want to buy, to confirm that the property is worth as much as you say it is. If it’s down valued, you might not be able to get the full amount you were hoping for. If this happens, your mortgage broker will explain the different options available to you, one of which will be to apply again this time with a different lender. Having an independent mortgage adviser to help you through this process, can take the pressure off and make it a lot less stressful than trying to do it yourself.

Once your mortgage has been approved, your broker will probably also recommend buildings insurance products – you need to have this in place from the date of exchange – but you do have the option to shop elsewhere for buildings cover if you choose. Your solicitor will arrange a date for exchange of contracts, and a completion date, which is the day you’ll get the keys to your new home. Once you know these dates, you’ll be able to begin packing up your belongings and book your removal company.

Need a mortgage broker?

Moving home can be stressful especially in the run up to Christmas, but if you have the right professionals in your corner, you should have as smooth a move as possible. If you need mortgage advice, or a general chat about your options for buying a property, please get in touch.

A MORTGAGE IS A LOAN SECURED AGAINST YOUR HOME OR PROPERTY. YOUR HOME OR PROPERTY  MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE OR ANY OTHER DEBT SECURED ON IT.