Move 2 You

There is no other topic more guaranteed to get people talking in this country than what is happening to house prices; ok maybe the weather.

When the market moves in the right direction we feel good and we feel more wealthy. And when prices fall like they have done over the last year or so we worry a lot about what the consequences might be and we feel harder up.

It’s in the DNA of the nation. We are a nation of home owners and where we live and what we do with our houses tells others a lot about who we are. We add decking to our gardens, we carry out loft extensions, we knock down walls, build conservatories, our home is an integral part of the lifestyles we lead. It matters to us.

On the one hand just take a look at the TV schedule in an average week. Even now with all the turmoil in the economy there are programmes on every day about people buying and selling houses or developing properties or doing properties up …. if there is an angle on the housing market then there is a programme being made about it.

And on the other hand in the broader press we have been hit with so many stories over the last year about about how much money we are losing on our houses.

Why is this?

Because we read it! We lap it up!

And what do you think is the effect of these headlines on the average man in the street, with a house and a mortgage?

Well it makes us worried doesn’t it? Of course it does. That’s because it is a natural reaction to hearing bad news. But more than that, we start to hesitate about what we should do with our homes. Those of us that want to move put plans on hold, deciding to see what happens to prices before committing to a move.

And this becomes a self fulfilling prophecy and this is where we have been in the last 12 months or so. We are told that house prices are going to fall, so fewer of us are in the market for a new house – i.e. demand falls and guess what – prices fall to compensate.

Now clearly there have been some real problems in the market, no-one can deny that. We have seen for example a massive reduction in availability of finance due to the credit crunch.

But even with this the doom and gloom that is spread just adds to our woes. We develop a “herd mentality”. We feel safe if we act as a group – it is an instinct that goes back as long as we have been walking the face of this earth. If everyone else is doing something then it must be the right thing to do.

Can you see how much of what we do is all about psychology? Our mind drives our actions and if everyone feels bad about the market we feel bad about it as well.

Sometimes the right thing to do is to ignore the widely held belief, to take some control back and to act in your own best interests based upon your own individual circumstances.

What is the market after all?

It is just a collection of individuals buying and selling. So if you want to sell your home and you do manage to find a buyer who will offer you the price you want would you still sit tight and refuse to act just because that was the perceived right thing to do?

Of course not.

That’s all for now but check back here soon for more about why the way we see the housing market is all wrong.

In the last article on mortgages (see it here) we pointed out the way that mortgages are putting the brakes on the housing market – how they’re one of the main reasons people are not able to move house at the moment.

There are many reasons for that problem – some that are out of our control, and some that we can all do something about. There’s no point worrying about what we can’t change … there’s enough opportunity to seize by focusing on what we can influence.

The article is about the first of those – the first hurdle that you can overcome to help you successfully obtain a mortgage that will enable you to move house.

(Oh, this also applies to any of your friends & family, and to anyone else who might be wanting your house … so please help us share this information so you can help your buyers too!)

So … what’s the first hurdle?

It’s the way that banks (and any other lenders) look at you.

Now, you already know that our free move2you web service matches people with property, and property with people - but did you know we also rate the quality of those matches – so you get to find out if the person who says they want your place really looks like they want it? After all, you don’t want to waste your time with people who are less likely to take things forward do you?

Well, if you put yourself in the bank’s position, you’d want the same thing. Many people now know that we all have a “Credit Score” – a file that’s kept on each of us that’ll give banks (and other lenders) information about our financial track record.

Some of us have checked that file, others can’t be bothered. The majority of people don’t know how to check it.

And when people think about this information they assume that the banks are interested in assessing risk.

This is a myth.

They’re not really using this information to check risk. What do you think they’re more interested in?

Think about this! – because if you do “get this”, you can put yourself in a much stronger position at the very first hurdle.

What are the banks really looking for? What do they obsess about? What’s reported in the media about banks?

It’s all about profit. Banks want to know how much profit you can make them.

Do you see how that’s different from risk? Sure, if your credit file tells them you have a dodgy track record in paying bills and loan repayments then they’re much less likely to want to lend to you. But not because of the risk itself … because you will likely make them less profit that someone else.

This is so important!

So what can you do about this?

In later articles we’ll give you some actions that you can take to improve your financial chances, but for this article today we’ll provide the starting points:

Number 1: Think Like They Think

In other words, if you know what the banks are looking for, you start to know how to play them at their own game.

So … what are they looking for? (Imagine you’re looking for a date …) They’re looking for Attractiveness.

Hmmm … what does that mean? How can you be “financially attractive”? Does that mean you’ve got loads of money?

Well, that helps … but that’s not really what we’re talking about here. The thing that makes you super-attractive to banks is that they think you’re going to make them lots and lots of lovely profit. Nothing will get the salivating more! We’ll cover more on how to do that in later articles.

Number 2: Take control & ownership of your file – only YOU care about it!

It’s sad, but true. You’re the only one who really cares about your credit file. Or you should! Because if you don’t care about it, then that leaves no one who cares about it.

And that can really harm you.

Lots of organisations add information to your file – credit card companies, utility companies, banks, mortgage lenders and many others. But not one of them cares about your file. Sure, they won’t create a problem for you deliberately, but they all make mistakes. It’s just that there’s no consequence to them if they do make a mistake.

But there could very well be a consequence to you.

So … you need to know if your file is right, and if it’s got errors in it. Because errors could make you “ugly” … and you want to be “attractive”, right?

We’ll tell you where to get your credit file (for free) in a moment. First, let’s look at what you need to do once you’ve got hold of your file.

Number 3: Verify and Act

What should you look for when you’re checking your file? Here are the priorities:

(a) Right Personal Details – is everything about “you” (the person) correct. Name(s), address(es), other personal details. If they’re not right you could get mixed up with someone else … someone who’s “ugly”. And you don’t want that!

(b) Right Debts and Balances – are all the credit agreements listed really yours? Are the balances right? Are the amounts repaid shown correctly? Do they show any missed payments? Are those accurate? Again, wrong information could make you look “ugly”.

(c) Currently Active Accounts Complete – does the file include all your currently active records? If you know something’s missing it’ll be showing up on someone else’s file. And if that record is something that’ll make you look more “attractive” then you definitely want it back on your file!

Number 4: What if there’s an Error?

If you find a problem with your file, firstly remember … you’re the only one who cares! So you need to write to the agency requesting a change be made to your file. Again, we’ll cover this in later articles.

What to do Right Now

Are you attractive or ugly? You need to know … so you need to get hold of your file. There are many ways that you can do this, and most charge a fee for doing so.

It’s well worth spending money on this anyway, but for now, here are a couple of ways that you can get the information for free, using the main two credit reference agencies, Experian and Equifax:

For the Experian route, go to www.creditexpert.co.uk and choose the Free Report option. They’ll sign you up for a 30 day free trial. Once you’ve got your file, just phone them on 0800 656 9000 to cancel your trial and that’ll stop any charges being made.

Another option is through Equifax, at www.econsumer.equifax.co.uk You can try any of their services, but look for the option that says “free for 90 days, then £69.99 for 12 months”. Again, once you’ve got your report, just phone them on 0870 010 0583 to cancel the membership and you won’t get charged.

Of course they could change their offers and contact numbers at any time, so check out what’s available – these details are right as this article goes to press.

So … we’re starting to uncover a lot of information – really important stuff that you need to be aware of … and this is just the first hurdle when playing the mortgage game.

But, if you know how the game is played, you can get better at the game, can save yourself lots of money, and can win.

And that means you (and everyone else you share this information with) can get the best deals, and can move house … and you can even help other people in your chain at the same time … so everyone wins!

Stay tuned for more key info that’ll make all the difference to you.

Chris

Ok, back again.

We were talking about HIPs in the last post. The fact that you need to spend £300 to test the demand for your house. It’s the law and there isn’t much we can do about it.

As much as we don’t like it and as much as we want it to change you do need a HIP if you want to market your property.

But what about reducing the risk of the gamble? What if you just want to test the market (like you used to) to see if there is any demand for your property before you actively market it as being ‘for sale’?

Wouldn’t it be great if you could instantly see the demand for your property, before you made the decision to pay the £300 for a HIP. If demand was poor wouldn’t it be good to know this before you write the cheque?

Well …… now you can!

Ok it’s a bit of a plug but we’d like to talk you through the move2you website, a website that lets you test the water first without any need to pay for a HIP.

Property websites are nothing new of course, we are all used to searching for properties when we think about moving. These websites don’t help the seller of course - they are just the online equivalent of putting your property in an estate agent’s window.

But this isn’t the reason for the post. As we talked about last time the problem right now is being able to test the market and see if your property is going to generate any interest at a price you are happy with before parting with a substantial amount of your hard earned cash.

This is where this site comes in. . It’s simple: it’s a bit like a dating site for your house. It matches people’s interests with people’s houses and then you take it from there.

A dating website puts people together – it takes information about what kind of person they are (age, job, hobbies, interests, looks etc.) and matches that with what other people are looking for (because they’ve told the website they’re interested in people who are … i.e. “this” age, with “this” personality, “these” interests etc.)

Move2you does the same thing, but for houses.

You let the website know that you’re interested in “this” kind of house, in “this” price range, in “this” road, village/town/city, with “these” characteristics.

And owners let the website know that they own “this” type of house, in “this” price-range with “these” characteristics.

And here’s where it’s different from other property websites – not only does it match owners with people looking, it also gives them the ability to “post a virtual note to them” – anonymously (unless you want to give your name).

So …. The site tells you who might want to “move2you”

And …. you can log an interest in someone else’s area or street to say “I might want to move2you” helping them see the demand for their property.

The really, really neat thing about this site is that you don’t need to be marketing your house to use the site - you could be “just interested” to see how many people want to live in your place. That’s why you don’t need to pay for a HIP - because the move2you website matches interests with properties even if they’re not on the market.

Of course if the demand is good and you do want to move, then you can take things forward.

So what does this mean for you? Well:

• You don’t need to gamble on a HIP.
• You can instantly see the demand in your place before you put it on the market.
• You can safely contact genuine potential buyers.
• You can sell your house by finding buyers directly.

And if you’re buying a house as well

• You can be the first to find out if a place you like is about to come on the market.
• You can safely contact genuine potential sellers.
• You can increase the chance of securing your dream house by getting in there first.

Sounds great doesn’t it? Well this is what you need to do to get started:

Well the first thing you need to do is register for free at www.move2you.co.uk

Then you add your interests – i.e. the locations you would be interested in moving to. This helps to create the demand.

Then you add your own property so you can see the demand.

This is when the matching process starts and you get the information that may help you find your buyer, and your next place. It could save you a packet too.

And what’s more, you can contact potential buyers safely and anonymously to see if they really are interested. If they are then it is up to you how you take it forward.

Seeing the level of demand for your property can be accessed for free. Don’t forget to do this the traditional way you need to register with an estate agent and then pay your £300 just for the privilege of seeing if anyone wants to buy your home.

Find out for free, or gamble £300. I hope you agree, that’s not too hard a decision!