I think we are letting the lenders off a little lightly here. What about dual underwriting (NatWest & Woolwich), dual pricing (Nationwide, Halifax & Co, sales support teams who give you different criteria every time you ring to check a case enquiry; online systems which don’t work properly; BDMs who only want to meet when they have their regional manager with them; BDMs who never answer their phones and their voicemail messages last for around 2 minutes before you can leave your own message.
Lenders who trumpet on about being the intermediaries’ number one voted lender for picking up the telephone within 5 rings or getting an offer issued within 6 weeks – whoopee. I could go on but I think you have the gist. If I ran my business the way lenders ran theirs I wouldn’t last 12 months.
Pointed
25 Feb 2013 | 15:48
NewBuy completions more than double in last quarter of 2012
Why am I not surprised by these numbers? Certainly no evidence of “kick-starting” building trade let alone the economy!
HW
26 Feb 2013 | 11:58
Networks need to make profits too
One thing to add – if you are with a network or are thinking of joining one, make sure that YOUR commission is ring-fenced and secure. If it’s not, don’t do it. It’s too late when they go pop, taking your money with them.
Ballbag
26 Feb 2013 | 15:29
Have Stamp Duty changes spooked foreign buyers?
You bet your bippy it has. 5% for £1million and 7% for £2million and over – added to which a proposed further 1% per annum. May as well rent. For the Stamp Duty alone £140,000 will have you in a decent London hotel for no more than £100 per night for a long stay deal.
That’s almost four years for the Stamp Duty. Or 2 years for a couple; while saving on laundry, heating, lighting, cleaning and council tax – got to be a good deal! If the idiots bring in the 1% mansion tax they may as well buy cheaper out of town and employ a chauffeur (cash in hand to a Romanian or Bulgarian of course).
In my own area houses that were up for sale for around the £1million mark are now priced at just under. I’d guess the difference is passed in brown envelopes just to avoid the marginal 1% (£10k at least).
And the numpties in Westminster wonder why there is tax avoidance and evasion. It will get a whole lot worse (or better depending on where you stand) if they enact even a few of the daft proposals being bandied about.
Harry Katz
27 Feb 2013 | 16:00
13,500 resi and BTL customers hit by Bank of Ireland rate increase
This an absolute disgrace! How does it fit with Treating Customers Fairly and will they reduce rates if and when we have negative interest? It will no doubt be a case of heads the bank wins and tails the customer loses.
The good news is that it opens up genuine remortgage possibilities for the independent sector.
Terry Humphreys
28 Feb 2013 | 12:44
Thank you for your comments this week.
