The Abbey National announced rate cuts on some of its mortgage products at the weekend as well as bringing out two new fixed rate mortgage offers.
Some of the Abbey National two year tracker mortgages have seen rate reductions of up to 0.2 percent, with the lowest introductory rate now standing at 6.04 percent. One of the new mortgages offered by the Abbey is a 10 year fixed rate mortgage, with a lowest rate available of 6.25 percent.
An Abbey National spokesman explained that it was the strength the big high street name had in the mortgage market that made these rate cuts possible. The bank also feels that the 10 year fixed rate mortgage is going to prove very popular, combining as it does an attractive interest rate and a long fixed term period.
The fallout from the ongoing credit crunch has really hit Peoples Choice hard, pushing them to file for Chapter 11 in the US.
Peoples Choice are one of the many subprime lenders who have been riding the wave of second tier lending, that is to those who are a greater risk than normal, only to find the waves crashing over their heads as defaults and lack of extra funding leave them unable to continue.
The company has filed for Chapter 11 so they can take some time out to reorganise themselves and regain stability. During this time their creditors are kept at bay, thus freeing the organisation up to get their house in order and ideally come out better than before.
One of the biggest problems with subprime lending, and one that Peoples Choice will certainly have seen, is that a lack of affordability leads to lenders offering more and more money as an incentive to use them, with 120 percent mortgages not uncommon. The borrower relishes the extra money but often finds it has gone very quickly, the repayments are higher than they would normally have been and the value of their property does not cover the amount borrowed. A recipe for disaster as soon as house values stop growing at a high rate, which is what has happened in the USA recently.
As part of the Mortgage Club Legal and General has added a conveyancing service for customers, something they feel is an essential part of the whole mortgage process.
The view of the Legal and General mortgage spokesman is that effective and efficient conveyancing can make or break the house moving process. If the conveyancing is not done at a good pace then there is a greater likelihood that the deal can fall through, meaning the whole process of finding a property has to begin again.
Legal and General are using the skills and knowledge of intermediaries to manage the conveyancing process, since these financial advisors and legal experts have the experience and knowledge to get all the work done to customers satisfaction.
