Tips, insights, suggestions, and recommendations written by mortgage and protection experts to help you.
With increasing interest rates, homeowners and buyers in London are experiencing increased mortgage costs and less stringent affordability checks. It is essential to understand how these impacts will have on your planning for finances in the current economic climate....
London buy-to-let property is a smart long-term investment. But buy-to-let property loans are treated differently than regular residential mortgages. First-time landlord or portfolio extension, an understanding of the way they work and how to secure the best deal is...
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a key cost that London homebuyers must include in their budget. Whether you're a first-time buyer or looking to expand your portfolio of properties, understanding how the tax is charged will avoid unexpected fees and enable you to better...
When it comes to securing a mortgage for your dream home, you have two primary options: working with a mortgage broker or going directly to a bank or lender. Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages, and the decision of whether to go to a mortgage broker or...
Buying a home is a significant financial milestone, and securing a mortgage is often a crucial step in this process. TSB, a prominent retail and commercial bank, has established a set of mortgage affordability criteria to ensure that potential borrowers can...
Purchasing a residential house is a significant milestone in anyone's life, often symbolising financial stability and personal achievement. However, the soaring property prices in recent years have made this dream a bit more challenging to attain. Mortgage...
Owning a property is an aim held by many, and owning further properties to rent out and earn a secondary income is a dream that can become a reality, with the right mortgage partner and broker. In this blog post, we'll explore the realm of mortgage affordability with...
Living in a property for years and making it your own, can often make it very difficult for tenants to part with it. For some lucky first-time buyers, the opportunity might arise for them to actually purchase their rental property from their landlord. For many...
Questions to ask for first-time home buyers answered by Oportfolio Getting on the property ladder can feel like an impossible task. Although still a challenge for many, there is a lot of help available for first-time buyers to get a mortgage and their first home. Here...
When it comes to mortgages, there are various types available to suit different financial situations and goals. Sometimes a standard repayment and interest loan is neither beneficial or appropriate for a borrower, and alternative repayment methods might be more...
What Are Mortgage Affordability Checks? When applying for a mortgage, you must meet certain mortgage affordability criteria before a loan can be granted to you. Of course you must meet certain rules such as having a good credit profile, purchasing the right type of...
What Are Holiday Let Mortgages? It might seem like a fairly obvious answer, but it is definitely worth getting the basics down before we get into the real meat of holiday buy-to-let mortgage loans! A holiday let mortgage is a mortgage that allows you to rent out a...
The property market is a strange beast at the moment, that is no secret. Things are more complicated than they once were when searching for that dream home. Mortgages were pretty chaotic for a few months at the end of 2022 and beginning of 2023 and are still...
What Is An Early Repayment Charge? Most people reading this blog will have heard of an early repayment charge or an ERC. Chances are that you have been confronted with the prospect of having to pay an ERC or have seen it written in the small print on your mortgage...
In this edition of advisor insights, senior mortgage and protection advisor at Oportfolio Mortgages Jade Pinkerton shares her thoughts about why self-employed people need mortgage advice now more than ever. Jade and the Oportfolio team attended the PRIMIS mortgage...
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