Many people still hanker after the good old days when beer was cheap, money was cheap and if you were just breathing, you could get a 100% mortgage. Fast foward to 2012: beer is very expensive, money is still cheap if you can find it anywhere and mortgages are atill available after someone has passed a secret police interrogation. Figures recently released from a comparison website show that the number of mortgages available to borrowers with a 10% deposit have plunged by more than a quarter in the past year. For those buyers with a 5% deposit (typically a first time buyer), they dropped by a third in just 6 months. “This mortgage famine for first time buyers is in stark contrast to the rock bottom deals lenders are offering for borrowers who are able to stump up larger deposits” Ruth Lythe Daily Mail 29 August 2012.
Getting started on the property ladder has always been difficult and is increasingly so, but it is not impossible. It would appear almost too daunting to bother but there are people who can offer expert help and advice to those determined to take that first step. If you are contemplating taking that first giant leap into the unknown, you must ensure that you know exactly how much you can borrow before you start looking and you have to be sure that you are happy to take on this long-term financial commitment.
