Jul
2018

Scotland on The Cusp Of Establishing Worlds First Ethical Finance Hub

categories: Financial

The Islamic Finance Council (IFC) UK and Scottish law firm Tods Murray are leading the initiative. Islamic and ethical finance are closely related and the sector is growing rapidly. According to an industry expert, Islamic finance will be worth $2 trillion (1.2 trillion) globally by the end of this year.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Graham Burnside, chairman and head of banking at Tods Murray and IFC board member, said, We have seen ethical finance debate gain real momentum in the last 12 months.
We know that the financial services industry is fully behind the proposal and there is no doubt that Scotland is now well placed to develop the worlds first centre for the development and promotion of ethical finance, which could in turn stimulate the development of innovative financial products.
Last year, figures released by the IFC found that more than 50% of Scots want to see some of their money invested using green or ethical criteria. This signalled the opportunity for the creation of an ethical finance hub.
Swinney commented, Providers of ethical finance have the potential to position themselves as a viable alternative to mainstream institutions within the financial services sector in Scotland which will inevitably benefit consumers and the industry itself as increased competition drives standards and promotes innovation.
According to the organisations, Scotland could also see investment of over 100m in public projects from Islamic capital markets as a result of new powers to issue bonds. From 2015 the Scottish government will have the additional power to issue investment bonds.
Burnside said, This additional source of borrowing paves the way for Scotland to establish a suitably rated sukuk bond which, according to the Islamic Finance Council, could comfortably leverage well in excess of 100m from Islamic capital markets.
The use of these powers could offer a way forward for large scale infrastructure and renewable projects, which is an area of real interest to Gulf investors and one which is generally acknowledged is in search of funding.
The firm added that such a project would bring together key players from government, financial services, academia and the third sector to facilitate both commercial investment and thought leadership.

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Jul
2018

Lending And Loans For Small Apartments

categories: Financial

There is the old question that comes up every now and then, –
Should I buy that studio apartment?

They are usually marketed with a very attractive rental return however thats sometimes where the good news ends.

Here is some of the noise that surrounds them-: They wont lend against small inner-city studio apartments, You wont get approval if the floor size is less than 50 sqm, Student apartments are not an option, Some lenders wont lend for apartments in large complexes, Hotel or motel conversions are no good, The location of the unit within the complex is important

While being just noise some of these points are somewhat valid.

The recent credit crisis has put the brakes on a lot of lending overall and small apartments have not been shielded from this

The biggest hurdle is usually lenders mortgage insurance (LMI).

They are the ones imposing all the restrictions that are passed onto the bank.
If you require LMI this is where the hard work starts

Hurdles:

Title. Strata/stratum title is normally acceptable, as are group titles. Mortgage insurers arent usually afraid of company title and will lend, though they may lower their LVR.

Size: While this might not be important to the lender, you can expect the mortgage insurer to have minimum limits on the floor space. Always aim to avoid any apartments with a floor space of less than 50 sqm. It must be 50 sqm of actual living area (not balconies and car space etc). In special cases this may be stretched down to 40 sqm but the property would have to be in a blue-chip capital city area. The Bank may not impose a floor-space limit but notes that LMI might fail the application for that very reason.

Location in the development/complex. One important factor may be whether its in a good location in the development or if its at the dark shaded noisy rear corner of the complex.

Changing from commercial or industrial to residential. Hotel conversions, holiday lettings and serviced apartments (commercial) lettings rather than residential units fall under completely different lending requirements (possibly commercial). So if they are being converted you may not get finance until the conversion is complete providing it meets all councils ordinances and general lenders requirements, most lenders will proceed but there may be a reduced LVR or restrictions on LMI. The biggest reason is youre reliant upon the performance of the management company looking after the apartments.

Number of apartments in a development: There might be a limit on the number of apartments within the one development that you can put up for mortgage insurance.

The bank may limit lending on six apartments in any one development or limit lending for no more than 25 per cent of a development

Do you want an investment apartment loan? Contact Us Here and let us help you out.

More Hoops?? You Are Kidding
Here are some extras hoops you may have to jump through for finance:

-More thorough valuation inspections and reports.

-A lower LVR (70 to 80 per cent max, though some, usually non-bank lenders, only go to 60 per cent) a higher deposit required.

-Reduced maximum mortgage amount.

-More expensive LMI if even available.

-Reduced consideration of the rental income to allow for longer vacancies.

-A call for additional or cross-collateral security(see earlier post here).

-Downright refusal of application at worst!

The fundamentals of real estate remain important, not necessarily the fact that theres a studio apartment. There are plenty of studio apartments that have doubled their value over 10 years. The unit my have great rental returns low vacancy and be located very well so a bit of hard work and research at the start may pay off long term!

So Where Now->

Will your apartment qualify for finance?

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Jul
2018

Loans for unemployed an affirmative financial provision

categories: Financial

Without the necessary job and being unemployed for quite some time, your financial stability does get affected. In fact, under these conditions, you will never be in a position to deal with your needs and demands. Even arranging the funds through other alternatives seem to be impossible. Of course, you will have to look for ways to raise the funds, but for the same, you can no way rely upon the regular loans. Instead, you can opt for the provision of loans for unemployed, which has been designed solely to assist you overcome temporary financial crisis.

The loans can be utilized to deal with your every conceivable need and requirement. These loans are easy to derive, provided you do meet the requirements, which are listed below:-

Should be a permanent resident of UK Age should be at least 18 years Need to have a valid checking account

With the support of these loans, you will be in a position to tackle expenses on needs such as consolidating debts, educational purposes, going for a vacation, starting a new business, wedding, home renovation and so forth.

When it comes to availing these loans, you can either choose the secured option or go for the unsecured option. Secured option of the loans are asset based and can be utilized to source a bigger amount. The repayment tenure is long and owing to the presence of collateral, the interest rate charged is comparatively low. On the other hand, the unsecured option of the loans can be acquired, without the need of involving any collateral. This option of the loans is ideal to borrow a limited amount. Even applicants such as tenants and non homeowners too can go for this option.

Those with bad credit such as CCJ, IVA, arrears and defaults too have a chance to avail these loans, albeit under different terms and conditions.

If in case you want to avail these loans with relative ease and that too without wasting much of your precious time in formalities, then you can make use of the online mode.

Loans for the unemployed allows you to realize your financial needs, even when the conditions are not that suitable.

Andrew Epand is a professional guru and has been commerce with different finance programs. If you want to know further about loans for the unemployed, cash loans, bad credit loans, payday loans, no credit check loans, same day loans, cosmetic surgery loans, loans for unemployed,logbook loans you can on visit http://www.needloans.org.uk

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Jun
2018

Financial Plan is Important So Why Many of us Don’t Have One

categories: Financial

We all love to dream about the future we want, but many of us do not like the idea of organizing our finances and preparing a financial plan. It seems that our dream of our future is the fun part, but planning sounds like tedious and boring work. This is evident by the fact that 65% of individuals do not have a financial plan.

A study found that the benefit of having a financial plan is very significant. On average, individuals who had a plan for retirement had two and half times more assets in their retirement than those who did not have a plan. Having a plan is only part of the success equation because working with an advisor and having a financial plan shows that there is a nine to ten times increase in assets than with those who do not work with an advisor and have a financial plan.

This may explain why one third of individuals consider winning the lottery as one of their financial strategies to achieving their financial goals. So why do most of us not have a plan? It cant be because of a lack of awareness since there are many financial institutions that are advertising the importance of planning. There is also a lot of information and material on the subject with millions of results on Google. So when it comes to Financial Planning why is it that we are not prepared? Well here is a list of the three myths that I have experienced people saying.

Myth of Time: In todays fast paced life we are all starved for time. We are so busy in our everyday activities that we feel that taking time for planning is not available. When it comes to planning there is an upfront commitment of time in identifying your life goals and putting together an action to achieve them, but once you complete these steps then it is just a matter of monitoring your progress as time goes on. The time commitment is minimal compared to the return you get by working with an advisor and having a plan done as noted above.

Myth of Knowledge: The financial world, especially today, may seem too complicated with all the information out there. We are exposed to a lot of information and financial lingo. If you start by telling yourself that it is not too complicated and too hard, then you have no excuse not to do it. You may consider participating in a seminar or a workshop. You can start reading books that talk about financial matters. Soon you will learn that the financial world is not complicated once you learn some of the basics.

The Myth of Wealth: I dont have enough savings to worry about a financial plan. If you have savings then you have enough. Having a plan will help you decide not only where you should put your money, it will also help to define the why. I have learned that the why is more important than the how and where. When it comes to planning you need to start somewhere. Dont think that just because you think you dont have enough you should not have a plan. A Financial Plan will help you define the goals and dreams you want to accomplish.

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