Breens Blog

19 Mar 2018 Author: Stephen Breen With house prices falling and an average time of 169 days to find a buyer*, selling a property in 2018 is proving to be challenging for many. 28% of house sales will fall through according to the website Quick Move Now, leaving sellers to pick up the bill for […]

9 Mar 2018 Author: Stephen Breen It’s time to take the next step on the housing ladder and you’ve found your dream property. It makes perfect sense to shop around for the best mortgage deal – but have you considered keeping your current mortgage? With a host of cheap deals on the table, borrowers may […]

8 Mar 2018 Author: Stephen Breen With house values soaring and 34% of households owning their homes without a mortgage (Source: English Housing Survey), it has never been more tempting to release some of that locked-up cash. Whilst properties are worth on average almost £70,000 more than they were a decade ago, homeowners in the […]

2 Mar 2018 Author: Stephen Breen You’ve got a perfect credit history and you’ve met the lender’s earnings multiple for the property you want: so why can’t you get a mortgage? Unfortunately lenders look at far more than these basic criteria and other less obvious issues can substantially affect your ability to secure a loan. […]

15 Feb 2018 Author: Stephen Breen A new wave of ‘joint borrower sole proprietor’ (JBSP) mortgage products have given parents more opportunity to help their children get a foot on the housing ladder. Parents who agree to be a joint applicant with their child can help the child to secure a larger sum, or simply […]

14 Feb 2018 Author: Stephen Breen In today’s current climate where down-valuations are becoming commonplace, how do you price your home for a quick sale? More surveyors than ever before are offering lower valuations than expected, with some properties assessed at six or even seven figures below what a seller was hoping for. For those […]

13 Feb 2018 Author: Stephen Breen First time buyers looking for affordable properties will often look at flats or maisonettes as a cheap way to get a foot on the housing ladder. But an understanding of the legal jargon is necessary in order to pick the genuinely good value properties from those that could be […]

27 Nov 2017 Author: Stephen Breen If you were asked in which of the seasons you should put your property on the market, winter might not be your first answer. But contrary to conventional wisdom, winter is a great time of year to sell. There is less competition, more committed buyers and it’s easy to […]

15 Nov 2017 Author: Stephen Breen Selling a home after a family death can be a stressful experience. Having lost a loved one, the last thing you want to do is deal with pushy estate agents, endless forms and complex jargon. To add to all that, you’ll need to clear the property ready for sale […]

15 Nov 2017 Author: Stephen Breen There’s always some online scam doing its rounds and most of us feel pretty confident that we’d never fall victim. However, a recent scam has caught out more than 19,000 unsuspecting people and netted fraudsters a total of £100 million in the first 6 months of the year. Many […]

14 Nov 2017 Author: Stephen Breen Just 46% of adults in Britain have a Will with more than half of the country leaving things to chance. So what happens to your assets if you don’t make this important legal document? We look at what happens if you die ‘intestate’ and the other compelling reasons why […]

6 Nov 2017 Author: Stephen Breen For many, new builds are the first rung of the housing ladder. They benefit from the Help to Buy scheme which gives you a 20% loan from the Government (40% in London), interest free for five years. For buyers who have saved the required 5% deposit, the Equity Loan […]

23 Oct 2017 Author: Stephen Breen It’s likely you’ll have heard or read recently in the news that Hugh Grosvenor, the only son of the late Duke of Westminster Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, inherited the bulk of his father’s £8.6 billion estate free from inheritance tax – a feat achieved through the use of family trusts. […]

12 Oct 2017 Author: Stephen Breen A Living Will – technically an ‘Advance Decision’, is a legally binding document that allows you to refuse certain life sustaining treatments should you lose mental capacity in the future. Life-sustaining treatment might include care, medicine, surgery or other help given by doctors in order to keep you alive. […]

29 Aug 2017 Author: Stephen Breen With house prices soaring, it can be tempting to pool your savings with someone you know to get your foot on the housing ladder. Whether this is your partner, sibling, friend or spouse, we look at the implications of joint home ownership. Benefits of buying together The main benefits […]

23 Aug 2017 Author: Stephen Breen Last week a former Court of Protection judge poured scathing criticism on Lasting Powers of Attorney, concluding that he would never sign one himself. Instead, the Judge advised that people do nothing, so that if they should lose mental capacity, a friend or relative would have to obtain a […]

15 Aug 2017 Author: Stephen Breen Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) have revealed that around 1.9 million borrowers in the UK have an interest-only mortgage, meaning that their payments cover the interest charged but never reduce the capital sum loaned. At the end of an interest-only term, a lender will look to […]

11 Aug 2017 Author: Stephen Breen Around two thirds of adults in the UK haven’t yet made a Will, leaving their finances to the mercy of intestacy rules. With so few taking the opportunity to put their affairs in order, it is no wonder that the Law Commission is looking for new ways to simplify […]

25 Jul 2017 Author: Stephen Breen First introduced by George Osborne in 2013, the Help to Buy equity loan scheme is still going strong and has helped more than 285,000 first time buyers get a foot on the housing ladder. If you’ve not yet considered Help to Buy, here’s what you need to know about […]

24 Jul 2017 Author: Stephen Breen With one in four care homes and one in three nursing homes failing on safety standards, finding the perfect care home for a loved one is nothing short of a challenge. Whether you’re looking for a care home for yourself or a family member, we take you through everything […]