New FSA Rules Protect Those Who Sell House for Cash

Selling houses for cash has become a popular option for many homeowners faced with financial difficulties during and following the recession, and the FSA has realised they need to protect Brits by introducing new rules for the sector. As the global economic crisis took hold, many British homeowners found themselves struggling to pay the mortgage amid rising interest rates and wage and job cuts. Hundreds of thousands decided to sell their house for cash and then rent it back, in order to raise capital and stay in their homes. Some, however, fell prey to unscrupulous providers of sell houses for cash schemes, so the Financial Standards Authority (FSA) took action to protect homeowners by introducing new rules for the sector.

Interim FSA Rules on Sell House for Cash Schemes
Recognising the need to act quickly regarding the potential problems homeowners could face when they sell houses for cash, the FSA introduced interim measures from July 2009. It acted following figures from the Office of Fair Trading, which revealed that some firms offering sell houses for cash schemes misled customers, imposed substantial rent increases or even evicted the tenants.

Full Regulations for Firms Offering Sell Houses for Cash Schemes
As of June 30th 2010, homeowners who decide to sell their house for cash will be protected by the full set of FSA regulations. The body has banned the use of exploitative advertising and high-pressure sales techniques, with phrases such as “fast sale”, “mortgage rescue” and “cash quickly” not allowed in promotional literature. Consumers who decide to sell a house for cash will have a 14-day cooling-off period, as they would with many other types of service agreements, to ensure they have considered the move carefully. Furthermore, the FSA rules stipulate that companies offering sale and rent back schemes highlight the potential risks consumers face.

Benefits of FSA Rules for People Who Sell House for Cash
Staying in the family property can be very important for many Brits in financial difficulty and selling their house for cash can be a great way to ensure stability. The new FSA rules will mean firms cannot exploit desperate homeowners and ongoing monitoring of those offering sell house for cash schemes will ensure this remains the case. If you are wondering how can I sell my house quick, speak to exchangetoday.co.uk

London Storage – Packing Tips

Storage in London is essential if you are moving house. Follow these tips for packing to save you time and stress

1. Write a list of all the items you need to put into storage from your London home.  Highlight larger or unusual shaped items, and things that can fold down or be taken apart to make more space in storage. London prices might be more expensive than elsewhere so will need to maximise your space to save money.

2. Calculate the total value of all the items you wish to leave in storage in London, and arrange appropriate insurance cover. You must do this before moving your goods into storage.

3. Label all your boxes clearly so you can find items quickly and easily when you return to your London storage space.

4. Place large and heavy items at the bottom of the storage space, and lighter items at the top. It’s also a good idea to put items you will need frequent access to at the front of the space. 

5. Use your London storage space cleverly by storing boxes and paper work inside chest of drawers and wardrobes to store boxes and paper work giving you extra room. Position items that you will need frequent access to at the front of the unit.

6. Cover all your furniture with protective dust sheets and remember to wrap table and chair legs in thick bubble wrap to avoid scratching. London storage firms will vary in quality so if you’re worried about damage to your goods as they are moved in, do your research first and find a storage company that is recommended by other users.

7. Store heavy items in smaller boxes to make for easy lifting. Store china and breakables in stronger cardboard and plastic boxes, and carefully wrap them with bubble wrap or tissue paper. The last thing you want is to return to London, go to the storage space and find all your china in pieces!

8. Make sure that fridges and freezers are fully defrosted to prevent water damage and where possible leave the doors open to allow ventilation. Storage, in London or elsewhere, is an airless space and if there is any dampness in your white goods there can be permanent damage.

9. Clean, wipe down and dry all garden furniture before storing and make sure that your lawnmower is drained of petrol.

10. Purchase a heavy-duty padlock to secure your London storage unit (these can usually be bought on-site). If there will be more than one person accessing the unit consider a combination padlock, and ensure that your storage company is notified of the identity of anyone likely to be entering your storage. London security in particular is kept tight so submit the names and descriptions of these people.

visit www.shipit.co.uk for a quote today and make moving in the UK or abroad simple.

Stop repossession of your house

Knowing that you’re in danger of having your home repossessed can make for a stressful and daunting time.

Whatever the reasons for a repossession threat to your home, there are ways you can stop or slow down the process. People usually face the threat of repossession because they have failed to keep up their mortgage payments and have also failed to contact the lender to talk about their circumstances or come to a new payment arrangement.

How to stop the repossession of your home

The repossession process can take several months to complete and you are able to stop it at any time, with help from specialist agencies and advisers. Whether it’s as soon as you’ve received your first warning letter from your lender, or only when you’re due in court, you can make the difference between keeping your home and losing it.

Letters – try and answer every letter you get from your lender and make suggestions about how you can make payments. Keep a copy of every letter you receive and every letter you send so that if you do have to go to court, you have a complete record of all the relevant correspondence.

Legal advice – get legal or consumer advice as soon as you can. Consumer advisers can help you to look at ways to cut your costs so that you can at least demonstrate your willingness to pay your debts by making small regular payments. They can also help you to write clear letters to your lender or finance company setting out your financial difficulties and how you plan to overcome them. You can stop the repossession of your house by responding positively to your lender’s offer to help you manage your payments.

Attitude – it’s important that you demonstrate a positive attitude to stopping the repossession of your house. It can be difficult to do this, particularly if you are already experiencing stressful circumstances, but it could make all the difference to the lenders, and to the courts, if the repossession process gets that far.

Buy my house fast – selling your home could be the answer to your problems and there are companies that can buy your property within days of contacting them.

Three Top Tips in Preparing for a House Sale

Regular maintenance and DIY jobs around the house help to keep your property in top condition, and it can help to improve the overall quality of your home in preparation for when you decide to sell up or get an online house valuation.  But before you put your home on the market, there are some things that you may need to do in order to maximise your selling potential.  From fixing the wobbly floorboards to re-painting the kitchen, from professional driveway cleaning to weeding the garden, there are many areas of your property that may require your attention.

Here are three top tips in preparing your property for sale:

1. Driveway cleaning – professional driveway cleaning can help to ensure that the first thing that a seller sees is spotlessly clean and attractive.  ‘Kerb appeal’ is something that can have a huge impact on potential interest and giving your driveway the full, professional driveway cleaning service will make sure that you are making an impression within seconds.
2. Landscape gardening – your garden can improve your property value by a huge 15% of your overall market value.  So it really is important to keep your garden looking neat and tidy. Landscape gardening can help to give your garden unique and attractive features, but keeping your looking pretty doesn’t just stop in your backyard.  Add to your kerb appeal, and as well as professional driveway cleaning and external improvements to your doors, windows and walls, you can adorn the front of the house with plants and flowers.
3. Neutral colours – if you want to turn your property into the perfect blank canvas for potential buyers, choosing neutral colours such as plain wall paint and wallpaper can help to create a great starting point for anyone looking to decorate their own home. Personalisation is everything to a new homebuyer and every buyer wants to be able to mark their own personalities on their property.

Get Driveway Cleaning Today

Before you start committing yourself to the endless list of DIY jobs and improvements around the house, it’s important to remember that you need to get viewings, first and foremost.  But how can you get viewings without kerb appeal? This is the first thing that potential house buyers see when they arrive at your property. Not only is it crucial that your driveway and external area complements the rest of the street, but it needs to be neat, clean and tidy. Professional driveway cleaning is very important if you are just about to put your house on the market.

Remortgages could save homes

2012 could be the year when more homeowners seek out remortgages as a way to manage their finances. It was hoped that mortgage rates would come down after the cut in interest rates, but homeowners have been disappointed by the fact the Bank of England only cut interest rates by a quarter of a point in December 07. Finding a more competitive mortgage or remortgaging to release equity is one way of dealing with overstretched finances.

Remortgages set to increase

As well as mortgages, those with saving accounts have suffered as saving rates have been cut for a second time. It seems whether you are saving or borrowing it’s a no-win situation. The mortgage squeeze has been discussed for months, as experts predict increasing repossessions as affordability is put to the test as fixed rate mortgage contracts come to an end. Lenders have raised their mark-ups on new mortgage products and have in general increased the deposit lenders need to get a new mortgage. But about 1.2m people are expecting to opt for remortgages in 2008.

Remortgages pay off debt

Remortgages are popular ways of switching products to get better rates, whether on new homes in Bristol or old cottages in the Cotswalds. Brokers are still predicting rates could fall so it’s worth thinking about remortgages and keeping an eye on competitive products. Remortgages can also be crucial in helping those struggling in the credit crunch to pay off debts. A high profile news story is that of the Lawlor family who have to remortgage their multi-million pound home to pay creditors massive debts. Liam Lawlor was a business tycoon who it was thought made a fortune from property before his death as a result of a car crash in Moscow last October. It seems his finances were not as abundant as thought. Remortgages offer a way to release equity without being forced to sell because of escalating deb. The pressures of debt during the credit crunch means remortgages offer much needed financial buffers for all social classes in society.

Credit or negative equity – the remortgage risk

Remortgages are only profitable however if the house in question has risen in value. Luckily, many homeowners who bought early have benefited massively from the property boom of the last decade. This means they have a financial buffer in their bricks and mortar if they are struggling with debt, but it could also spell bad news for those homeowners whose homes devalue and may even lose money in the predicted, up-coming recession.

Sell House Fast – The Mortgage Wobble

If you feel the housing market is on shaky ground, a sell house fast scheme may help.

The housing market has gone through a devastating dip. Many have had to opt for sell house fast schemes or deal with repossession. Others are finding they’re hanging on by their fingertips as their finances take a battering. Sell house fast schemes have burgeoned as a result of the housing crisis and UK recession. And the past year or so has been a wakeup call to many about the illusion that property is a safe bet. Get help with a fast house sale @ House Buyer Bureau.

The Renting Resurgence

At one point a property was one way of cashing in – a sure-fire money maker. But now many homeowners find themselves with mortgages that are more expensive than the value of their home as property prices have dropped. The result – an expensive mortgage they can ill afford with no hope of profit or even in some cases, positive equity, on the horizon. Sell house fast schemes are one way of walking away quickly from an unwanted and overly-expensive mortgage.

Housing Market Speculation

The press has been peppered with news reports and speculation on the housing market recovery. But for each positive news story there seems to be a negative, such as the recent headline in The Telegraph: ‘Housing market bounce looks on shaky ground’. Of course the housing market has months of the year where sales traditionally slow down, but for homeowners wanting to sell their house fast, it can be bad news. Sell house fast schemes could offer a way out for those stuck with expensive mortgages and desperate to move but unable to find a buyer.

 Sell House Fast – Stop Repossession

Some economists say there may be more repossessions and sell house fast schemes in the future, warning that the stabilisation we’ve seen in the market recently is temporary. Predictions have been made that property prices will start falling again – alongside rising unemployment, for some their problems have only just started.

Freedom from Property Debt

The rise in renting as an alternative to home ownership could be seen in some ways as a reaction to the doom and gloom the housing market has spawned. Renting is ‘the new elastic in the market’ allowing families and individuals more choice and flexibility in their lifestyle choices. Selling a house fast and switching to renting is one way of embracing a lifestyle that doesn’t have to contend with the dark clouds of debt that a mortgage and difficult housing market can threaten you with.

Mortgages Dorset: Importance of the FSA

There has been much talk of late about the new mortgage regulations which were introduced by the FSA last year but what does this mean to you as a consumer? Will these regulations affect you and are the individual areas within the UK, such as Dorset, affected in different ways?

The FSA (Financial Services Authority) introduced regulations within the mortgage business on the 31^st of October 2004. This means that every mortgage lender you deal with today should be FSA registered and should comply with the FSA regulations. As a result this means that all the advice you receive from a professional mortgage adviser should be honest and within your best interests. This is a tremendous benefit to you as a consumer as it means that you can be sure that the advice being given to you is upfront and you should no longer have to try to second guess any hidden loopholes.

The main regulations introduced are as follows:

• The advice given to you should be clear and accessible

• You must be provided with an Initial Disclosure Document (IDD) which outlines the type of service which they provide and also with a Key Facts Illustration (KFI) which explains the different suggested mortgages in terms of charges and risk factors.

• The KFI should follow the standardized format in order to make it easier for you to compare different mortgages

• The mortgage contract, in particular the pricing information, must be outlined in a clear manner so that you can understand it and there should be no hidden charges, tie-ins or penalties http://www.fsa.gov.uk/