Tips, insights, suggestions, and recommendations written by mortgage and protection experts to help you.
Are you paid in US dollars, euros or another foreign currency? Learn how UK mortgage lenders assess overseas income and how it could affect your mortgage application.
Find out how mortgage lenders assess multiple sources of income, what documents you’ll need and how different income streams could affect your borrowing power.
For many homeowners, a large amount of wealth is tied up in their property. As property prices have increased over time and mortgage balances have reduced, many borrowers now have substantial equity in their homes. Remortgaging to release equity allows homeowners to...
Last year, despite the pandemic, there were 674,263 houses sold in the UK and a staggering 356,800 of these were bought by first-time buyers. Now that is fantastic news! Not only does that show that the housing market is still chugging along at a steady pace, but it...
Mark Gledhill - Oportfolio advice client since 2008 Mark and his wife came to Oportfolio for advice in 2008 as first-time buyers with a new baby and in need of some expert help and guidance. With Oportfolio’s advice and knowledge around the homebuying process, Mark...
The government has announced that this winter they will launch the all new ‘Help to Build’ scheme, available to people looking to get stuck in and build their own home.
Going to the gym helps you build your fitness and improve your endurance. Aside from the obvious physical benefits, the gym can also help your mental well being, by improving your mood, sleep, and brain function. When you’re living and working in London, life can be...
We’re living through strange times in the housing market where open an house allows a full afternoon of ten-minute viewings, resulting in immediate offers being put in at asking price – or above. Long gone are the days when the buyer holds the power and a lower...
A little like finding the perfect house, matching mortgage requirements to the right lender is a very individual and delicate process that requires knowledge and expertise to ensure it’s a complete fit for your long-term requirements. It’s not always easy to know what...
After spending the past few years north of the river, we have recently moved to bespoke new offices in Putney. Since 2009, Oportfolio have serviced clients in the local area and further afield but Putney has always played a key role in our story because it was where...
What is the best mortgage on the market? You’re not alone in wanting to know the answer to this question – it’s one of the most-searched property-related questions on Google. Most mortgage searches start with comparison websites but while they can give you a useful...
We have recently moved to new offices at St Georges Court in Putney. With the current trend for creating home offices, we thought it would be a good idea to share the story behind the design of our new home in the hope it may provide some inspiration to our clients...
You may go into house hunting with an eye on what you can get per square meter or moving to where the biggest garden will be, but the old estate agent’s favourite phrase still rings so true when buying houses – it’s all about location, location, location! Even if...
This article is aimed at you if you are considering if you can afford moving to a new house. Not just first-time buyers, not just those soon to retire… everyone. If nothing else, the pandemic has shown us that we can't predict the future. So, getting professional...
For many first-time buyers in the UK, the bank of mum and dad continues to play a crucial role in helping them take their first steps onto the property ladder. While the housing market has evolved drastically over the last few years, the challenges of saving for a...
