Make money from falling house prices

The UK Residential Index fund will be launched in January 2008.  What is this and how does it work?  Its a complex investment fund that uses derivatives to bet on the extent to which the property market will fall over various time periods. One of the predictions at the moment is that house prices could fall by 10% next year and would carry on into the next year.  So two years of house price falls or as they say, “correct” may be on the cards because it is believed that British property is overvalued by an astonishing 40%.

How to make millions from property!

I recently read an article on how two brothers built their £9bn property empire with a £6,000 loan from their grandmother in 1995.  They have definitely accomplished a tremendous amount in a space of 12 years.  But why is it that most of these multi-million pound property fortune I read about are from people who started out in the 1990s?  Maybe I’m just jealous but surely a monkey could do almost the same thing since property prices have tripled in the last 10 years?  We need more articles on newer successful property developers that we can aspire to.

Hope for US property market

Reports on the US mortgage applications for last week showed a surge of 22.5% on the back of plunging interest rates.  Let hope that the US economy may not go into recession after all.  I’m a possitive thinker.  As the say, when America sneeze, the UK catches a cold.  Let hope that does happen.

Long-term remortgaging could be the solution

The devastating impact of the credit crunch on rates plus rising arrangement fees mean that for many borrowers, longer-term deals are now their best bet.  For example, if you purchased your property within the last year with little or no equity, my recommendations would be to get a good 5 year fixed rate so you avoid paying these ridiculously high arrangement fees every couple of year.  And most importantly you don’t have to worry about falling housing price or negative equity till your next rate change.  Alternative, you could go for a good lifetime tracker as most have no penalties and you can make as much over payments and redeem your mortgage whenever you want.  This is especially handy as economists are predicting that the Bank of England is very likely to reduce rates from 5.75% currently to 5% by the end of 2008.  But be sure to get advice from a good mortgage broker.

Future looks bright for buy-to-let

There is a lot of doom and gloom about the property market at the moment and will probably continue for a while.  But this is good news!  It means that it is a buyers’ market and should be taken advantage of – only if you can bag yourself a bargain.  Even Halifax bank have started marketing their first ever buy-to-let mortgages.  Surely this must be a sign?  With students and immigrants who cannot afford to buy and those waiting till they are more certain about the condition of the property market, now is the time to find the right property at the right price.  Do your homework before making any commitments and read the 10 tips for buy-to-let.