AToM’s chairman Vic Jannels picks up ‘Service to the Industry’ award!
I start this week with some fantastic news in the AToM’s chairman Vic Jannels was awarded his second accolade of the year as he picked up ‘Service to the Industry’ at last week’s Specialist Finance Introducer Awards 2018. The event, held at Madison in St Pauls, London, was attended by over two hundred of the industry’s finest and hosted by Homes Under the Hammer and I’m a Celebrity’s Martin Roberts. AToM’s system, OMS (One Mortgage System), also picked up ‘Best use of Technology’ and ‘Product Innovation’. Awesome news and well done team!
The market is pretty quiet currently, apart from the odd ‘cabinet reshuffle’ here and there and at the time of writing, we’re about to get our 17th housing minister in 20 years! Mind blowing.
What we are seeing, despite heavy rumours of a bank of England base rate increase possibly as soon as August, is lenders reducing their current rates. The holiday period is inevitably quieter, although add this to an already quiet market, and lenders need to attract customers to keep on track to hit their annual targets.
Just in the last week, we’ve seen Halifax, NatWest, Platform and TSB all reduce selected rates and our friends at Secure Trust launch a 90% LTV product that caters for those who have had a credit blip in the past. There are some great rates and options around currently.
Finally, valuations on properties to be mortgaged come in various guises. Every mortgage lender will require a valuation on the property although, in some cases, they will not actually visit. This is because they can often access detailed information electronically. Remember that this fairly basic valuation is for the lender, at your cost, and should not be relied upon as a guarantee that the property is sound and fit for purpose. Seek a more detailed survey if you have any doubts. Recently, and with a lack of stock readily available, we are seeing valuers ‘down value’ a property. Just because it’s been sold at £330k, does it mean it’s worth that price or has it been sold to the highest bidder. Always do your home work before the valuer goes out, as if he says its only worth £300k, then you’ll have to find the difference from your own pocket as the lender will only lend against the lower of the purchase price or valuation.