The last week has brought back a little ambiguity to the property market among those looking for hard evidence of trends. First there were the figures from property portal Hometrack, which found that this month's house prices were down by 0.2 per cent, the fifth successive monthly reduction. Against that, however, was the evidence in the same survey of rising demand, with the first increase in the number of new buyer registrations since last...more
For those looking for evidence that the worldwide credit crunch is not quite so worldwide as some might think, the best place to look, it appears, may be across the channel, which, as a major hotspot for Britons looking at buying investment property, is just as well.As Assetz made clear this week, the country has survived the liquidity crisis fairly unscathed. This is thanks partly to French Banks suffering far less from the subprime crisis due...more
One of the most notable features of Britain's strong economic performance has been the revitalisation of its regional cities. Not only have their economies improved, but so too have their appearances, with many prestigious new buildings being constructed and vast numbers of new flats and apartments appearing, with plenty of people wanting to enjoy the city centre lifestyle to fill them. Yet this has mainly applied to city centres and fashionable areas. Many will ask whether it has made much difference to Beswick in Manchester, Armley in Leeds Property or Ladywood in Birmingham property that so much steel and glass and high-priced property has appeared a few miles away next to all the shops, offices and transport hubs. This issue may not just be relevant from an inner city urban renewal perspective, but also for those looking for the next property hotspot. In Manchester, for example, many of the new apartments have been created and are still being built just outside the city centre, in areas such as Ardwick, Ancoats and inner Salford. As city centre brownfield space dwindles, more and more new development may take place in these sorts of inner city locations. For this reason,...more
Question: What is usually required for a down payment on a land loan?Answer: When looking for a land loan and trying to determine what you might need for a down payment you can typically expect a range between 20% to 40%. Each land lender has different parameters, but we have listed 3 key factors that usually hold the most significant value to land...more
Depending on who is your target market, you should really consider adding coupon codes into your system. The majority of the commercial wholesale or discount related stores just provide the regular retail price or a discount already integrated. There are certain shopping carts that already have this featured integrated into the system. For example,...more
For many people, living a debt-free life is just a dream. There's no chance that they will be able to reach such a place. The problem with this idea is that it is a failure to understand what it takes to attain a debt-free life. Often, it comes down to a lack of sound strategies for addressing the problem and achieving results. So many Americans are under tremendous debt loads, living literally from paycheck to paycheck. It seems like nothing more than a pipe dream to those who don't have a vision or a goal in mind. With proper planning, living debt-free is very possible. You first have to decide that it is something that you really want and make a commitment to strive for the prize.The first question you might ask may be, "Where do we begin?" If you want to know how to start your quest for a debt-free life, it helps to have some idea about what not to do. Often the first mistake that people make is to try to do everything at once. They attempt make huge, sweeping changes to their spending and saving habits or just paying down all of their debts in a haphazard fashion. This approach is totally unrealistic when you consider how complex financial debt concerns can be. If you are just...more
Online banking is a fairly established practice in our internet-saturated world. Many people are making use of the unique and convenient options that online banking services provide. Yet, if you are a bit behind the times, but still considering the...more
We all know that referrals are considered the "holy grail" of the mortgage business. They're an easy sell, and customers are less likely to shop around. But, the reason why most loan originators don't get a lot of referrals is that they don't know...more
The following story was shared with me recently, it's been circulating around the net for years and I now share it with you.In the United States of America lies a large industrial city which is the sight of one of the world's largest slave labor...more
No matter how successful you are, or how many loans you have closed, you should expect hiccups. No loan every goes as smoothly as you think it will. And with all the third parties involved on any one transaction, you can and WILL have problems.Here...more
Being a salesperson is never easy. To sell effectively, you must to be willing to do things that challenge you. No top producer has ever reached the upper ranks without first moving outside their comfort zone. Someone recently sent me this poem...more
In my last article, I covered the two main ways to start your own mortgage company. One way, was to go it completely aloneÂ…apply for your own broker's license, set-up all the relationships with the various lenders, handle all the back office stuff...more