Christmas is over and the New Year has begun, so now is the time to start looking at your financial condition and decide just what areas of your present debt needs to be dealt with first. According to a report by money.co.uk 4.7 million adults admit they are still paying off last year’s Christmas costs, so debt this year looks likely to be a key issue for many people. An area of debt to consider what options you have is secured loans; the most common example of a secured loan that affects most of us is our mortgage. Mortgages are secured on the value of your house and so it is important to make sure you pay your mortgage each month to avert the risk losing your property. If you are having difficulty with your mortgage call your lender or Mortgage Broker immediately as often they will be able to provide help or advice, such as changing to an interest only mortgage for a shortperiod of time to help you get back on your feet financially.

Too often when considering mortgage payments we only look at how much we are going to be paying each month without considering the longer term picture. If possible making overpayments on your mortgage can reduce the overall mortgage term and thus significantly reduce the amount of interest t to be paid on the loan. Also this can create a buffer against negative equity, a position nobody ever wants to get into. Negative equity does not just affect those who are thinking of selling their home, but also those of us who are contemplating taking out a Remortgage deal. If you are contemplating taking out a new Remortgage deal you will need to make sure you have a decent equity stake in your home first before thinking of this option. According to Hannah Mercedes-Skenfield at moneysupermarket.com you will need to have built up at least 20% equity in your home to find a better rate on a three year fixed deal. So what if you are not intending selling or do not need to take out a new Remortgage deal, is there any need to worry about negative equity? Well there is still the issue of house price falls. In some areas house prices have stabilised and there have even been some gains, but the recession is clearly not over and property values could still go down. If you do want to Remortgage your property and have the correct amount of equity in your property to get a better rate there are still somevery good deals to be had. Just be sure to check all the extra costs involved in remortgaging before proceeding. Some deals may look good if you just consider the headline rate, some have a considerable arrangement fee, and these can differ greatly, anything from zero to £1000 or even more. Other cost to consider are valuation and conveyance fees, getting guidance from a well respected Independent Financial Advisor or Mortgage Broker is worth doing at this point to make sure it will be worth going ahead with the deal.

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