My Financial Tips

When I bought my first property in the late 80’s buy to let mortgages were not available. You could only get a residential or commercial mortgage. And they were expensive with commercial mortgages being quite risky in comparison to today’s buy to let.

Then There Was None

How could anyone know what was to come.When I applied for my mortgage (pre the financial crash) the bank manager asked me to come in for a chat.
He very kindly explained that I should take out some insurance just in case the unthinkable happened.

The Options Were Few

As friendly as he tried to put it, I felt like my arm was renched high up my back. It was quite clear. Insurance = mortgage. No insurance means I keep living with my parents.I was young and na?ve so I accepted the terms and signed the paperwork.But at least I had the protection of the insurance so how bad could things get?If you want to know what happened next go to mortgage insurance and read the conclusion to my mortgage disaster.

You need to check carefully how much cover your insurance policy provides.If there is anything you don’t understand ask for clarification. If you are still not happy get third party advice.There are times when insurance can really save your backside. I just get really angry with companies that claim to offer great cover only to try all they can to get out of making payment when you call on them to help.There are many more articles being added to the Hayes Mortgage Solutions website so check it out for more advice.

It didn’t take long before a manageable mortgage of 7.5% jumped massively to 16%Ouch! Yes it really did hurt, in more ways than one. What do you do when your mortgage payments double but your income stays the same.Add probable unemployment to the problem of extra expense and it all seems so hopeless.

Simple! Stay Calm. Don’t panic. There’s always the back-up of the insurance and if I lose the house its just a house right, I can get another one when the market turns again. What’s the point in worrying about something I can’t control?

Yes I Was Repossessed

So if you reach court stage and the mortgage company are asking for possession what do you do?Now I could have tried positive thinking to get me out of this mess but there’s positive thinking and there’s the debt that mounting while you practice thinking positive thoughts. All the time with one eye on the increasing balance. The negative balance. The one I would have to pay back. And who knows how long this will last. Could I actually end up bankrupt? At this point I’m still only twenty one.

Mortgage Bad Dreams

Needless to say many sleepless nights followed. And what sleep I did get was far from enjoyable. It almost seemed easier to stay up watching late night TV. Anything to keep from allowing my mind to visit my mortgage hell.

Quick Get Out The Insurance Policy – We need IT!

So did the insurance save me? Did it hell. The insurance it turns out was to protect the bank not me. It covered the banks cost of repossession my home! And that wasn’t the end of it either. Having repossessed my home the bank proceeded to sell it at auction far below market value. They then pursued me for the shortfall, some sixteen thousand pounds.

So I paid for the insurance and the bank got protection. You work it out.