In The News

12th September 2008

Report

During the course of this week various news media have been reporting on one of our competitors, Home Assured Limited, who have made some of their tenants homeless.

The firm, based in Reading, failed to pay mortgages on the two houses which they bought from their customers, and the houses have consequently been repossessed by the lenders making the families, who rented back their homes from Home Assured, homeless.

Today the BBC interviewed the National Landlords Association who warned that, as in any business sector, there are a few amateur property investors attempting to offer this type of service but who don't have sufficient professional experience. They advised that people considering using a "mortgage rescue" service like ours should seek a professional landlord rather than an amateur property investor.

Analysis

As proud members of the National Landlords Association we can re-assure potential customers that we have a vast wealth of experience as professional landlords, and next month we will celebrate our 6th anniversary of successful operation. Unlike many of our one-man-band amateur competitors, we are a commercial business employing a conscientious and ethical team.

Our mandate is to offer our customers a rock-solid service of a standard that we ourselves would wish to experience in similar circumstances. We take this so seriously that we are constantly seeking improvements to our business sector by working with organisations like the National Landlords Association and Property Buyers Association (PROBAS).

We are currently working towards accreditation as Registered Social Landlords so that we can operate the government's forthcoming "Mortgage Rescue" scheme. It is a little known fact that although the government is promoting the new "Mortgage Rescue" scheme, it will actually be operated by local Registered Social Landlords. The service will be no different from that which we are currently providing - the only difference is the government's requirement that landlords be "registered".

If you are, or expect that you are going to be, having trouble paying your mortgage or secured loan then Contact Us straight away because, if you have sufficient free equity in your home, then we should be able to speedily buy your house and rent it back to you to free up some cash to settle your debts. It is also possible for us to agree an option for you to buy your home back from us in the future once your financial circumstances have stabilised.

We can sometimes even win back your home shortly after repossession and eviction have taken place.

8th February 2008

Report

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) today announced that mortgage repossessions have increased for the fourth year in a row to 27,100 repossessions in 2007 compared to 22,400 in 2006.

CML are warning that 2008 will see a sharp increase in the number of repossessions because of various economic circumstances (known, in part, as The Credit Crunch).

Analysis

It is vital that, if you are struggling to meet mortgage or secured loan repayments, you take immediate action. If you are continually late making payments, the lender will serve a repossession order and sell your home at virtually any price in order to recover as much of your debt as possible. Your credit worthiness will become damaged for 6 years and the lender can chase you for up to 12 years to recover remaining debts plus costs and extortionate interest charges.

We can sometimes even win back your home shortly after repossession and eviction have taken place.

We can arrange all of this very quickly (read about Our Service). Once you Contact Us we will aim to make an offer to you the same day, and to be paying the cash to you within 4 weeks. We can usually work quicker in order to stop a threatened repossession.

3rd September 2007

Report

Both the BBC and Daily Mail have reported, within the last 24 hours, their concern that people who sell their house and rent back, from companies providing a service like ours, should be very careful that they know what is involved.

In particular they reported that some unscrupulous traders were buying houses and renting back to the seller, but then selling the house on after a few months - thus making the seller/tenant homeless.

Analysis

We fully endorse what has been reported by the BBC and Daily Mail, and are delighted to report that we can set ourselves above the rest by virtue of our trading history and business principles.

Next month we will have been trading for 5 years. During that period we have not evicted any tenants (except one who was repeatedly late in paying rent), and we have not sold any houses. We are long term property investors, and within our company statute we pledge to not sell each house for at least 100 years.

We pride ourselves in being fair, friendly and professional with our tenants - and have become members of the National Landlord Association who promote this same policy.

Throughout our 5 years trading, our properties have been managed by the same letting agents - all carefully selected by us to provide the professional and fair levels of service that we demand for our tenants. And because we have worked with the same letting agents for such a long period of time they can provide testimony that we have never sold a house from under a tenant's feet.

25th February 2007

Report

Brace yourselves for another mortgage interest rate rise in March or April this year.

In our news report of 18th November 2006 we predicted an interest rate rise in December or January. Sadly we were proved right - the Bank of England raised interest rates by 0.25% in December.

Our industry sources now lead us to believe that there will be another interest rate rise within the next two months - most likely in March.

I has recently been announced by several sources that there has been a massive increase in repossessions and insolvencies. A further rate rise will be the last straw for many more people.

Analysis

For most people, a repossession will be absolutely devastating. Did you know that following a repossession your credit rating will be damaged for 6 years making it hard to obtain credit (even a mobile phone contract!) and to apply for many jobs (many employers now do a solvency check). Also, you will still be liable for outstanding debts for 12 years.

As an example, we were approached by someone who, twelve years ago, couldn't make their mortgage repayments and had their home repossessed by the mortgage company. After the couple were evicted the lender tried to sell the house - but ended up selling it at auction. The lender added nearly £10,000 costs (due to the sale) to the couple's debts leaving £50,000 still being owed to this lender and two others. Not realising that the lenders could continue to hound them, the couple started a new life - working their way back up the property ladder, building up a nice amount of equity. They were contacted by a lawyer acting for the lenders a few months ago - nearly twelve years after the repossession, who demanded repayment of their £50,000 shortfall PLUS £90,000 interest!!! The lenders filed a repossession order upon the couple's new home in order to recover their debts. This should serve as a vivid example that, in most cases, you must act immediately and fully resolve debts rather than "bury your head in the sand" by allowing repossession to occur.

If you are, or expect that you are going to be, having trouble paying your mortgage or secured loan then Contact Us straight away because, if you have sufficient free equity in your home, then we will be able to speedily buy your house from you to free up some cash to settle your debts and possibly give you a cash lump sum. You may also be able to rent your home back from us (perhaps RENT FREE for a while). We can also agree for you to buy your home back from us at a discounted price in the future once your financial circumstances have stabilised.

All of this can be arranged very quickly (read about Our Service). Once you Contact Us we will aim to make an offer to you the same day, and to be paying cash to you within one month. If you have been threatened with a repossession we can usually stop your eviction with only a few days' notice.

18th November 2006

Report

During the last two weeks several worrying things have happened.

Last week the Bank of England announced that it has raised interest rates by another 0.25%, making mortgage repayments even more expensive and stressful for many people. Several sources are forecasting another interest rate rise in either December or January. Interest rates are now at their highest level for several years.

Two weeks ago it was announced that, for the ninth straight quarter in a row, the number of home repossessions and number of people in debt and facing bankruptcy has risen.

Analysis

It is vital that, if you are struggling to meet mortgage or secured loan repayments, you take immediate action. If you are late making payments, the lender will serve a repossession order and sell it at virtually any price in order to recover as much of your debt as possible. You will be made homeless and your credit worthiness will become damaged for 6 years.

If you are, or expect that you are going to be, having trouble paying your mortgage or secured loan then Contact Us straight away because, if you have sufficient free equity in your home, then we will be able to speedily buy your house from you to free up some cash to settle your debts and possibly give you a cash lump sum. You may also be able to rent your home back from us and maybe even be able to stay RENT FREE for a while. We can also agree an option for you to buy your home back from us in the future once your financial circumstances have stabilised.

All of this can be arranged very quickly (read about Our Service). Once you Contact Us we will aim to make an offer to you the same day, and to be paying cash to you within 4 weeks. If you have been threatened with a repossession we can usually stop your eviction with only a few days' notice.

4th August 2006

Report

For the eighth quarter in a row, figures from the government's Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) have shown a year-on-year rise in the number of home repossession proceedings - with a worrying 33,180 proceedings started in Quarter 2 of 2006 compared to 28,475 the same period last year.

Also, statistics released by The Insolvency Service (another government department) today show a massive 66.3% rise in the number of personal insolvencies in Quarter 2 of 2006 compared to the same period last year. In Quarter 2 2006 there were 26,021 personal insolvencies comprised nearly 15,000 bankruptcies and just over 11,000 Individual Voluntary Arrangements (an increase of 153%!!!).

Analysis

It is vital that, if you are struggling to meet mortgage or secured loan repayments, you take immediate action. If you are late making payments, the lender will serve a repossession order and sell it at virtually any price in order to recover as much of your debt as possible. Your credit worthiness will become damaged for 6 years and the lender can chase you for up to 12 years to recover remaining debts plus costs and interest.

If you are, or expect that you are going to be, having trouble paying your mortgage or secured loan then Contact Us straight away because, if you have sufficient free equity in your home, then we should be able to speedily buy your house from you to free up some cash to settle your debts. You may also be able to rent your home back from us so that you don't become homeless - we may even be able to agree for you to stay RENT FREE for a while. It is also possible for us to agree an option for you to buy your home back from us in the future once your financial circumstances have stabilised.

We can arrange all of this very quickly (read about Our Service). Once you Contact Us we will aim to make an offer to you the next day, and to be paying the cash to you within 4 weeks. We can sometimes work quicker in order to stop a threatened repossession.

3rd August 2006

Report

It came as a big surprise to many people (including us!) that the Bank of England today decided to raise interest rates. Rates had been steady for 12 months but rose today by 0.25% adding more than £20 per month onto the cost of a £100,000 mortgage.

For people who are already struggling to pay their bills, this rise will not be a welcome one.

Furthermore, it is thought that the Bank of England chose to increase interest rates in order to stop the rise in house prices. Some sources believe that this increase in interest rates may cause house prices to fall by around 5% (although we think that is unlikely to happen).

Also, figures due out within the next few days from the government's Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) are expected to show a very much higher number of home repossessions during the last three months than had previously been predicted (we will add a news item as soon as the information becomes available).

Analysis

It is vital that, if you are struggling to meet mortgage or secured loan repayments, you take immediate action. If you are late making payments, the lender will serve a repossession order, evict you from your home, and sell it at virtually any price in order to recover as much of your debt as possible.

What most people fail to realise is that, even if you are repossessed, the lender is permitted to hound you for twelve years to recover their debts. As an example, we have recently been approached by someone who, twelve years ago, couldn't make their mortgage repayments and declared themselves bankrupt leaving a £50,000 shortfall for the lender. Not realising that the lender could continue to hound them, they started a new life - working their way back up the property ladder, building up a nice amount of equity. They were contacted by the lender a few weeks ago - nearly twelve years after the repossession, who have demanded repayment of their £50,000 shortfall PLUS £90,000 interest!!! The lender has also filed a repossession order upon their current home in order to recover their debts. Fortunately we will be able to help the couple stay in their home - but it serves as a vivid example that you must act immediately and fully resolve debts rather than run away from them.

If you are, or expect that you are going to be, having trouble paying your mortgage or secured loan then Contact Us straight away because, if you have sufficient free equity in your home, then we should be able to speedily buy your house from you to free up some cash to settle your debts. You may also be able to rent your home back from us so that you don't become homeless - we may even be able to agree for you to stay RENT FREE for a while. It is also possible for us to agree an option for you to buy your home back from us in the future once your financial circumstances have stabilised.

5th May 2006

Report

For the seventh quarter in a row, figures from the government's Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) has shown a rise in the number of home repossession proceedings - with a massive 33,442 proceedings started in Quarter 1 of 2006 compared to 25,870 the same period last year.

There were a total of 115,353 repossession proceedings started during 2005 which, according to figures published by Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) earlier this year, led to 10,250 actual repossessions in 2005.

The CML expects the number of home repossessions to rise further to around 12,000 in both 2006 and 2007. Also, according to their figures, around 106,000 households were more than 3 months late in paying their mortgage in 2005 - which they predict will rise to around 120,000 in both 2006 and 2007.

Also, statistics released by The Insolvency Service (another government department) today show a truly massive 73.4% rise in the number of personal insolvencies in Quarter 1 of 2006 compared to the same period last year. In Quarter 1 2006 there were 23,351 personal insolvencies comprised over 15,000 bankruptcies and just under 8,000 Individual Voluntary Arrangements.

Analysis

If you are late paying your mortgage you will seriously damage your credit rating - making it difficult in future to obtain loans, mortgages, credit cards, HP, store cards, mobile phone contracts, etc. (it can even make it difficult for you to get some jobs!). More importantly, if you continue to miss mortgage payments your bank will repossess your property and you will be evicted from your home.

If you expect that you are going to have trouble paying your mortgage then Contact Us straight away because, if you have sufficient free equity in your home, then we should be able to speedily buy your house from you to free up some cash to settle your debts. You may also be able to rent your home back from us so that you don't become homeless - we may even be able to agree for you to stay RENT FREE for a while. It is also possible for us to agree an option for you to buy your home back from us in the future once your financial circumstances have stabilised.

3rd May 2006

Report

BBC's Watchdog programme last night reported that more than 60 people have complained about the tactics of a company advertising a similar service to ours.

The complaints claimed that National Homebuyers Ltd (based in Burgess Hill, West Sussex) charged an up-front property valuation fee which was not refundable in the event that the customer decides to pull out of the sale. It was alleged that National Homebuyers Ltd did not tell their customers before the valuation fee was paid that they would be offered a "trade" price for their property and not the "public" market value - such that when they learnt about the "trade" price and decided that they would not proceed with the sale, they would lose their valuation fee.

Analysis

We, ourselves, are appalled by the claims and, if they are true, demonstrates a very unethical and uncompassionate attitude on the part of National Homebuyers Ltd. After all - the service that they provide is mainly of interest to people who are experiencing financial difficulty and, if the claims are true, to charge several hundred pounds for a valuation without fully explaining the nature of the service - such that most customers will have no option but to pull out of the sale and lose their valuation fee - is wholly outrageous.

We never charge our customers any up-front fees. In fact, we don't bill our customers for anything - we will even pay their solicitor fees. We also make it clear to our customers at the very beginning of negotiations that we will offer a "trade" price for their property and not the "public" market value.

Read more about Our Service and Contact Us if you would like our help. We aim to make an offer within a day, and to pay cash for property within 4 weeks.

22nd March 2006

Report

BBC's Whistleblower programme last night revealed the lengths to which some Estate Agents will go to persuade people to sell their property through them rather than one of their competitors.

One of the tricks exposed by the programme was for the Estate Agent to significantly overvalue the property to make the customer think that they will get a better price by using them rather than another agent.

In one case seen on the programme, once the agent had successfully conned the customer and got the property onto their books, the agent faked very low offers so that when a reasonable offer did come along (albeit still substantially below the advertised value), the customer was keen to accept this low offer in preference to the thought of having to consider the extremely low "fake" offers.

It seems amazing that you pay Estate Agents a 2%-3% fee for their services, yet often they are not acting in your best interests.

Analysis

We always prefer to deal directly with our clients rather than using an Estate Agent - thus eliminating the need for our clients to pay an agent a 2%-3% fee and suffering their sometimes unscrupulous practices.

We are honest about our service and will only ever negotiate a deal for us to buy a property when we can be sure that both our client and ourselves are happy with the outcome. Our quick house buying service is not suitable or appropriate for everyone - we will buy houses at trade prices in return for providing a quick service to help people that are keen to sell quickly to us - without the uncertainty and hassles of a typical property chain via an Estate Agent.

Read more about Our Service and Contact Us if you would like our help. We will aim to make an offer to you within a day of you contacting us, and to be paying the cash to you within 4 weeks.

8th February 2006

Report

The Government's Land Registry service has issued its latest Residential Property Price Report covering the periods up to December 2005 - demonstrating that property prices have been fairly static over the last year compared to previous years.

Whilst this is good news for first timer buyers, it is not good for people who were hoping that prices would continue to soar upwards so that they could sell their property for a whopping profit.

The report shows that the average house price in England & Wales rose only slightly from £182,920 in the quarter ending December 2004 to £191,327 in the same quarter of 2005 - an increase of 4.6% - not much more than the rate of inflation. The county of Wiltshire (where buy-house.co.uk is located) saw a smaller increase in average prices: £212,359 up to £216,580 - an increase of only 2.0% (the same as the rate of inflation).

Analysis

If you were depending upon a rise in property prices to allow you to sell or refinance your property to free up some cash then you will be disappointed by this news - especially if you live in Wiltshire where the increase in house prices only just kept up with inflation.

If you urgently need to release cash from your home then Contact Us straight away - if you have sufficient free equity in your home then we may be able to speedily buy your house from you. You may be able to rent your home back from us so that you don't become homeless - we may even be able to agree for you to stay RENT FREE for a while. It is also possible for us to agree an option for you to buy your home back from us once your financial circumstances have stabilised.

3rd February 2006

Report

According to figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) today, the number of home repossessions rose by an alarming 70% to 10,250 in 2005 compared to 6,030 in 2004. There were 22% more repossessions in the second half of the year than in the first half.

The last three months of 2005 were particularly bad according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), who reported that there was a 57% increase in the number of people declaring themselves bankrupt or taking out an Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA) compared to the same period in 2004.

Analysis

If you expect that you are going to have trouble paying your mortgage then Contact Us straight away - if you have sufficient free equity in your home then we may be able to speedily buy your house from you to free up some cash to settle your debts. You may be able to rent your home back from us so that you don't become homeless - we may even be able to agree for you to stay RENT FREE for a while. It is also possible for us to agree an option for you to buy your home back from us once your financial circumstances have stabilised.