A study carried out by the Lloyds TSB mortgage department has found that the days of the removal man may be numbered as people take a do it themselves approach.
The bank surveyed their mortgage customers and found that over half of them were planning to move into their new home under their own steam, without employing professionals to move their goods. Lloyds TSB also found that the estate agent was being cut out of 10 percent of home sales as vendors sold privately.
A Lloyds TSB mortgage department advisor commenting on the results suggested that the economic climate could be driving these changes. The average cost of employing a professional removal company is over GBP7,000 so being able to save a lot of that makes good sense.
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. See our mortgage comparison table for more information or our guides and tips pages.
The current state of the housing market means that most home improvements are not adding any more to the asking price than they cost said the Abbey National.
A home extension can leave someone selling the property around GBP20,000 out of pocket if they were to sell straight after getting the work done, while a new conservatory or kitchen can easily leave them down by GBP14,000. The only home improvements the Abbey National feel are worth doing for those selling a property are the cosmetic ones such as decorating.
The key to home improvements then is to undertake them only if the plan is to stay in the property. This way they become a real benefit to the homeowner said an Abbey National spokesperson. It is understood that well over 8 million people will be improving their homes in the coming year which may prove a revealing statistic in what is a dormant market.
