EDINBURGH has been declared the hottest place to buy property in the UK – topping London and Glasgow in a nationwide league of rising house sales

Source Edinburgh Evening News

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/edinburgh-property-boom-sees-house-sales-soar-1-3484227

Contrary to reports in the press stating that mortgages are more difficult to obtain and taking longer to process, we have just had a case going from application to full offer in only five working days.

The ‘secret’ to getting your mortgage processed quickly is having a well packaged case- in other words providing all the documents required promptly in one package.

If nothing else this proves that at least some lenders have got efficient mortgage processing in place.

957 households in Scotland have already taken out a mortgage and purchased a house using this UK government scheme, the overwhelming majority of these (80%) were First-time buyers.

The Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme is supporting responsible lending, with the average house in Scotland bought under the scheme costing around £112,000 well below the average Scottish house price of £180,575. The average house price to income multiple in Scotland, under the mortgage guarantee scheme, is just under 3x salary.

Most people are not aware that the Help to Buy (Scotland) Scheme is available for Home Movers as well as first time buyers.

If you are looking to move to a new-build house but cannot raise sufficient deposit the Help To Buy Scheme can help. It can provide up to 20% deposit on New homes up to a value of £400,000. The buyer will be responsible for 5% of the deposit and all outlays.

For more information please contact us.

Buy to Let lender The Mortgage Works has recently published The Ultimate Landlords Guide.

Contents

★ An overview of BTL including a guide to investment strategies

★ Responsibilities of being a landlord

★ Information on finding a BTL property and choosing your target tenant group

★ A guide to BTL mortgages and how they differ from residential mortgages

★ Consideration of letting agents versus self management

★ How rental yield and capital growth are calculated

★ Exit strategies including tips on selling a BTL property and consideration of tax

★ Worksheets to calculate net profit, useful links and glossary of terms.

Download a copy at

http://www.themortgageworks.co.uk/includes/pdf/Independent-Landlord-Guide-16-10-13.pdf

Current Buy to Let deals are available from 2.99% fixed for 2 years with some tracker deals starting at even lower rates. They are available for either purchase or re-mortgage and for up to 75% Loan to Value.

Please contact us for more details.

The best re-mortgage deal currently available is a 2 year fixed @ 1.94% with a £999 arrangement fee, free legal fees and free valuation.

For more details  of this and other mortgage deals contact us.

The new Bank of England boss warned lenders  that they could be asked to restrict mortgage borrowing terms or be forced to hold more  cash on their balance sheets to dampen an over-heated market. He still maintains interest rates would stay at a record low of 0.5 per cent for the next three years. 

Mark Carney says he is ‘acutely aware’ of the  risk of a house price bubble and is prepared to curb the property market if  necessary.

The Bank’s plan to keep rates at rock bottom levels is the key message of Carney’s flagship ‘forward guidance’ policy. It has  received a poor reception in the City.

We have just been offered a portfolio of tenanted properties in West Lothian- all available for sale seperately at up to 20% below market value. We have also been offered a few below market value properties in Edinburgh. Please contact us for more details.

The first quarter of 2013 saw a new high in remortgaging activity, with more landlords trying to raise enough capital to expand their portfolios and take advantage of higher yields.

Remortgaging accounted for 69% of all buy to let transactions in the last quarter, up from 43% in the last quarter of 2012.

High yields are encouraging many landlords to remortgage.

Another factor creating the increase may be the Funding for Lending Scheme, which is now beginning to improve mortgage availability by encouraging lenders to ease criteria and drop rates.

And on-going demands from Clydsdale Bank, RBS Group and Irish banks for landlords to refinance elsewhere have also contributed to the sharp increase in remortgaging.

Average property values for buy to let transactions increased over the course of the year on residential stock. This is particularly to do with the wider rise in house prices but also because investors are choosing to purchase property in the South East and other more expensive areas The average property values on transactions are over a 30% higher than they were a year ago.