I have been in the property and mortgage business since I was 17 years of age and during those years have seen many cycles of ups and downs but none quite so ferocious as the most recent Covid-19 outbreak.
In 2007 when I first worked for myself our friends at Northern Rock had to close their doors and I remember thinking to myself “That’s not how I’d foreseen my first month!”. The difference with the mortgage market then and what we have experienced over the last few months is the sheer speed that events took place. In a little over two weeks we had gone from a buoyant and safe mortgage market to lenders reeling back as far as 60% loan to value products, with the calculations of the various credit and risk teams across our lending partners going into overdrive as to what effects this could have on their lending.
I have to confess I was a little worried, however like anything with a little time to settle and find the ‘new normal’ lenders have started to step forward once more, some quicker than others but a step forward nonetheless.
I had suspected that the market would perhaps struggle, but I hadn’t foreseen that actually work may well change for many of us as we return from our enforced hibernation. Perhaps this would be the driver that would make people wish to move or indeed those younger people who have finally realised that having all of their washing, ironing and their dinners cooked for them may actually have to stop should they wish to have their own space. Shout out to all the Mum’s and Dad’s out there!.
It is there that we currently find ourselves and our estate agency partners and friends are reporting to us that the market is indeed buoyant and many people are out and about looking for the right property.
It is also seemingly a great time to invest and we have been busy putting applications together for people whom are buying either land, a buy to let property or even a business. We found a few years ago that we wanted to be more than just any mortgage brokerage, we had always had a dream of standing next to our clients with anything that they required for their life’s journey in terms of debt requirement and the protection around it. We know so many firms won’t treat their clients as if it were their own financial arrangement and that is what we do, without excuse.
All in all I see some real signs of hope in the property and mortgage markets and whilst writing this I am extremely proud to announce the opening of our new and prestigious offices. I am extremely proud to be able to deliver this, it hasn’t been easy to do, having completed in late February… Who knew plaster would become rarer than pink diamonds!
I suspect more and more businesses will opt to move away from the face to face environment – not us! We offer our clients a private meeting room to discuss their needs and we remain even more visible around the office than we were previously, allowing our clients to know we are hard at work. Our new modern office has the technology to allow us to have intimate and private online meetings with our clients if they wish. This keeps our clients as safe as possible while still offering the same great 5 star Trustpilot rated service.
We have also taken a new step and are offering our regulated mortgage and protection service totally FEE FREE – again this has been something we had been working towards and I know some brokers charge an extortionate amount for their service, which is quite often substandard – so there we have it FREE, NOTHING, ZIP, NADA… and did I mention our 5 Star Trustpilot rating given to us by our customers?
Our team is amazing, friendly, down to earth and they really will have your best interests at heart with everything they do!
