Not taking an active role in your mortgage could cost homeowners thousands

Published: 4/23/2012

According to new research many homeowners are not taking an active role in understanding and managing their mortgage.

It has become clear that many homeowners do not understand the fundamentals of their mortgage and this is stopping them to achieving savings.

Many homeowners tend to forget about their mortgage deal and just see it as a one off purchase to aid in them buying a property. But they are in fact missing out on saving a lot of money by not taking a more active role to learn and understand fully about mortgages.

Research found that a large majority of mortgage payers did not even know what interest rate they were currently paying on their mortgage deal. This lack of interest by these homeowners could cost them a fortune in years to come if they do not take more interest in their finances. Knowing when to switch mortgages deals at the right time to get a lower rate of interest can save homeowners thousands of pounds.

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Number Of Estate Agents To Close

The Halifax is to close over 50 of its estate agent branches across the country with the loss of around a hundred jobs. The move by the Halifax comes on the back of what they have described as a significant decline in house sale numbers over the last 12 months. The heart of the Halifax estate agency business is in the North and Midlands, and it is here that they will focus most of their efforts moving forwards. Around 550 people will find their estate agency branches closing but the Halifax will be able to relocate most of these people, with a hundred that will hopefully be taken up primarily through voluntary redundancies and natural staff turnover.

Faster Mortgage Processing Introduced

Customers taking an Alliance and Leicester mortgage through a broker are going to find the process is much faster than it used to be thanks to the introduction of ifax. This new system transforms faxes sent by brokers into emails that are therefore much easier to read and go straight to the relevant persons inbox rather than hanging around the office. An Alliance and Leicester spokeswoman supported the move and confirmed that the new ifax system would greatly increase processing speed and reduce errors. The system can work for pretty much all the relevant documents so at each step of the way Alliance and Leicester mortgage customers will see a speedy turnround on their paperwork. The system will also be of great benefit to the intermediaries too of course.

Some Home Improvements Can Add Value Says The Halifax

In the current property situation it appears that the majority of homeowners improving their properties are doing so to increase its value according to the Halifax. The Halifax survey found that around 28 percent of people are planning home improvements this year, with the primary objective being add value. Of these people around half of them are expecting to add in the region of GBP5,000 to what the property is worth, with over 10 percent aiming for between GBP10,000 and GBP25,000. By far the most popular improvement is redecorating, followed by garden improvements and adding new furnishings. A Halifax spokesman said that home improvements can add value to a home, although expectations of higher property values should be balanced against a market where the buyer is stronger right now, so prices can be variable. Find the best rate available on a Halifax mortgage and save money.

Not taking an active role in your mortgage could cost homeowners thousands

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Number Of Estate Agents To Close

Faster Mortgage Processing Introduced

Some Home Improvements Can Add Value Says The Halifax