Hi guys, apparently we are spoilt for choice if the latest headlines from the FT are anything to go by.
They have announced that buy-to-let lenders are back with a vengeance.
There are now over 300 buy-to-let mortgages available compared to only 226 a year ago according to stats from Moneyfacts.
However, this is only a tenth of those available at the peak back in 2007.
More importantly, there are more lenders in the market. Last year there was only 45 now there are 54 to choose from. One of the big lenders before the crash Paragon has recently announced that they are back in the market and have a billion to advance to landlords.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that rates are now starting to drop as competition between lenders hots up.
The question is with big spending cuts coming down the line and house prices looking 'iffy' do we and is it a good time to increase our leveraging or expand our buy-to-let portfolios?
I bought my first property in August 2007 with a 5.79% 2yr fix, a couple of weeks before the Credit Crunch was announced. It's now equity negative but, thanks to the BOE, it's cashflow positive - all I have to do is wait.
ReplyDeleteI waited for 18 months before I invested again and I only did so after the advice 'The time to invest in property is NOW'. I regret doing that because I could've picked up the same bargains with lower deposits and higher LTVs. Now I'm stuck with high mortgage rates for between 18 months and 2.5 years.
My recommendation is to spread yourself thinly and negotiate deep discounts so that you'll at least break even when rates go lower and LTVs higher. Higher mortgage amounts are supposed to be compensated by lower mortgage rates.