Written by Adam Sullivan on May 8, 2012.
Heres an edited down version of the release…
SAINSBURYS OFFERS PERSONAL LOAN PRICE PROMISE GUARANTEE
Sainsburys Bank is offering a Price Promise Guarantee whereby if any customer successfully applies for its standard personal loan but secures a better rate elsewhere with another provider, the supermarket bank will beat it.
Sainsburys Bank already offers one of the most attractive personal loan rates in the market at 6.1% APR representative for loans of between £7,500 and £15,000. The Price Promise Guarantee* applies to all Standard loans from £1,000 to £25,000.”
My first title for this blog was Sainsburys launches meaningless price promise, as to find another loan cheaper afterwards, youd need to apply elsewhere. But e
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Written by Adam Sullivan on April 14, 2012.
Consumers have learned the importance of knowing their credit history and credit score. Those who do not pay attention to this important aspect of personal finance are often shocked to discover their credit may not be as “good” as they believed. Because there are so many variations in how scores are calculated and the number of scores available, many consumers decide it is easier to pay for a credit score monitoring service than try to figure it all out on their own. While there are certainly some benefits to having your credit score monitored by a third party, there remains several reasons why this may be a waste of your money. Here we look at credit monitoring services and the benefits as well as drawbacks of using one.
Why Should Your Monitor Your Credit?
The question of whether or not your credit score should be monitored is not really the issue. Obviously with so much riding on where you fall on the credit rating system and the very real threat of identity theft and fraud, monitoring your credit score is important. In
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Written by Adam Sullivan on April 6, 2012.
Mortgage rates jumped considerably higher on a weekly basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said in its weekly mortgage report yesterday.
According to the MBAs Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, which includes data for the week ending March 16, 2012, both fixed-rate mortgages and adjustable-rate mortgages saw average interest rate declines week over week.
Average rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 4.19 percent, an increase from 4.06 percent the previous week. This rate refers to the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed mortgage loans with conforming loan balances of $417,500 or less.
Jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgages those with loan balances greater than $417,500 jumped to an average rate of 4.49 percent from 4.39 percent the previous week.
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Written by Adam Sullivan on April 5, 2012.
The UK’s leading fund manager has rejected the Chancellor’s suggestion in the Budget that Britain’s economy is on the road to recovery.
George Osborne revealed in Wednesday’s Budget that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) believed the UK economy would grow in the first quarter, avoiding a technical recession, and revised up its 2012 growth forecast to 0.8pc and its 2013 forecast to 2pc.
He said: “The OBR expect the British economy ‘to avoid a technical recession with positive growth in the first quarter’ of this year. They [OBR] say that the British economy has ‘carried a little more momentum into the new year than previously anticipated’.”
But Invesco Perpetual income manager Neil Woodford, who manages more than £20bn of private investors’ money, has warned his legions of fans in his monthly update not to get complacent: He wrote: “The current wave of optimism sweeping global stock markets assumes that the developed world will now emerge from the period of low economic growth it has faced since the banking crisis of 2008.
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Written by Adam Sullivan on March 22, 2012.
I hate stamp duty. It’s not that I object to a tax on purchasing property. It’s this distortive tax that has absurd cliff hangers meaning an extra penny on a house’s price can cost thousands. So on the back of last week’s Budget, which fiddled with the rates but did nowt to change the problem, I’ve a challenge for you – can you fix it?
Stamp Duty is plain stupid
As explained in the stamp duty calculator, the buyer pays the stamp duty (tax) based on the price of the property being bought.
Property price £125,000 or less no stamp duty Property price £125,000.01 to £250,000 and it’s 1% stamp duty Property price £250,000.01 to £500,000 and it’s 3% stamp duty Property price £500,000.01 to £1,000,000 and it’s 4% stamp duty Property price £1,000,000.01 £2,000,000 and it’s 5% stamp duty Property price £2,000,000.01+ and it’s 7% stamp duty (or 15% if bought as a company)
What’s stupid is that the stamp duty tax rate is set at an absolute rather than marginal level. In other words, rather than you p
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Written by Adam Sullivan on March 18, 2012.
Buying a home these days is becoming more and more difficult with stricter credit guidelines and with banks being more picky about who they are going to loan money to. But it’s also getting more difficult with the uncertain economy and fewer people being able to save up the recommended 20 percent for a down payment on a new home. This begs the question: Is it really necessary to have a 20 percent down payment for your home? Here are some alternatives to consider if you can’t come up with a 20 percent down payment.
1. FHA Loans
With an FHA loan, you can get a mortgage loan for as low as 3.5 percent. These types of mortgages are typically available for people who have a low income and also for first-time home buyers. But since the subprime mortgage crisis in recent years, FHA loans have exploded in popularity. Recently, the loan limits for an FHA loan also increased to a maximum of $730,000 which has made it an even more viable option than it was before.
2. VA
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Written by Adam Sullivan on March 10, 2012.
In today’s finance market, it is rare to find a financial institution that is offering a good rate for their 60 Month CD term, but El Paso Area Teachers Credit Union (TFCU) is providing their current and new customers a chance to earn an astonishing rate
Right now, their 60 Month CD is paying out 3.08% APY. In order to receive this rate, you first must become a member. The membership application process is fairly easy and all that needs to be done is a $25 deposit into a savings account and you must live or work in the El Paso County.
The 60 Month CD is opened with a low $500 minimum deposit and the CD must be obtained in person. T
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Written by Adam Sullivan on March 7, 2012.
The U.S. saw a jump in mortgage applications associated with purchase activity last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said in a recent report.
Mortgage applications overall decreased 0.3 percent week-over-week, the MBA said, but the seasonally-adjusted (taking into account the Presidents Day holiday) Purchase Index jumped 8.2 percent from the previous week. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 0.9 percent week-over-week.
Purchase application volume increased over the week, but remains within the narrow and anemic range of activity we have seen since the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit in May 2010, Michael Fratantoni, Vice President of Research and Economics at the MBA, said in a statement.
According to the MBA, 86.4 percent of all purchase applications seen in January 2012 were for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages.
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