Buying Stocks Fast

The buy to let mortgage market is suddenly booming after two quiet years. More than a few banks and mortgage companies have started offering mortgages to landlords when a year ago they were cutting back. One such is Kensington Mortgages, which is lending to professional landlords. Others are also getting in on the act. Not only are there more mortgage products out there but in many cases banks are also relaxing their lending standards. A while a go it was difficult if not impossible to get a mortgage that was for more than about 50% or 60% of the value of a property. Now some companies are offering mortgages of 80% or more of the value of the properties.
There are two ways of interpreting this. The one is that the slump in property prices has ended and there are now reasons to expect property prices to improve. After all, if the banks are feeling more relaxed then surely now is a good time to invest?
The second way of looking at this is to say that we are seeing a bounce but that the market has still not reached its bottom yet. Why are banks providing buy to let mortgages again, you may ask. The reason is simply that with interest rates so low, they are finding it difficult to make much money anywhere else. Buy to let has always offered slightly higher interest rates to banks so they are keen to expand this business. My view, however, is that it is still a bit too soon to jump back into residential property investing in Britain, especially if you are a beginner landlord. Interest rates can easily move up and the economy is still quite slow. Although some parts of the market are showing strength, there is a real risk that property prices will tumble again. Just because banks are more willing to lend doesn’t mean that you should be more willing to borrow.