What happened in 2020 and a look ahead to 2021.
Welcome to 2021's Financial Focus Newsletter...
“Our ability as a society to adapt, innovate and grow on a global and local level has been extraordinary. From innovations in science and medicine that accelerated a COVID-19 vaccine to the social awakening of citizens and corporations taking action in support of Black Lives Matter to communities rallying together to fight natural disasters to the largest turnout of voters in the history of U.S. presidential elections, 2020 has demonstrated our humanity, scars and all, and what it truly means to be a global citizen”
(Mayer, Yahoo CEO. 2020)
Looking forward to 2021 with the rollout of the vaccine of which we now have two and our 3rd lockdown, which is predicted to last until the end of March 2021. We enter a new era in our fight to regain control of our lives, borders and adapt to a new way of living which will likely stay with us in some form or other even after we declare victory on the battle against coronavirus, in all its forms.
We have sought to adapt to the new way and have been operating remotely for much of 2020 and will continue to do so for most of 2021. Our commitment is to keep our clients safe which goes beyond selling protection products and extends to the way we work with our clients because regardless of what is happening in the world, individuals have financial goals and will seek financial security where ever they can.
New in 2021 from Look 4 Mortgages
Secured Loans
We have branched out into secured loans and have a suite of packagers now who can deliver secured lending to meet client needs, high loan to value loans, poor credit ratings, not a problem. The need for this came about when the pandemic started and lenders restricted the loan to value on loans. This meant clients needing to debt consolidate were having a hard time finding a solution that was right for them. Many of the secured loans have been offered by banks were limited to 80% or in some cases 85% of the property value, which included the mortgage and additional borrowing. So, remortgages where capped, what we found was some clients needing additional secured borrowing up to in some cases 100% of the property value. Or in some cases, they were simply declined due to poor credit. Or in some cases both! We have a suite of packagers who can do all that and add fees to the loan so the client has no upfront costs and cash in the bank within 2-3 weeks or sooner in some cases.
Recommend a Friend is back with a new relaunch in Jan 2021
We have also gone global with a recommend a friend service that pays a massive £100 on every successful referral and even offers a choice on how the referrer is paid. SO, GET REFERRING!!
The best bit for me which is new is who can refer.
- You can refer yourself!!! Yes, if you have a mortgage with us but not a secured loan, for example, you can refer yourself for a secured loan and get a £100 cashback as a thank you on completion.
- You can refer a friend for either a mortgage or secured loan and either on advice (if a mortgage) or your completion (if a secured loan), you get £100 thank you paid how you want it.
- Someone who has never dealt with us before can recommend themselves for a mortgage or secured loan, and yes, that’s right, get a £100 referral fee paid just how they like it on completion or advice if it’s a mortgage.
We have incorporated this innovation into our website and subject to a few conditions which are sensible and easy to understand everyone and anyone can start referring and earning.
We have no idea what impact this will have on our business or how successful it will be, but we hope it will add real value and a sense of fun.
Commercial Loans
Our Commercial Loans service came in the middle of 2020 and again is us answering a question of credit or credit facility in a world where money lending has been restricted. We have developers looking to finance build projects and even people looking to buy a shop. The smaller loans are more subject to individual income and deposit criteria usually 35% deposit. The larger loans for developments are subject to accountant reference regarding the limited company earnings and subject to around 65-70% loan to value.
Our Lender Propositions
All throughout 2020 our lending proposition has grown and seen new specialist lenders and insurers join our panel via our vast network PRIMIS. We have now got more solutions to help people get homes regardless of circumstances than ever before. Now there really is no stopping clients achieving their financial goals and dreams of homeownership.
Tenant Income Protection
A person’s income pays for everything from car insurance to mortgage or if they are not a homeowner rent. Income protection has been around and we recommend everyone has it because once the employer assistance ends you’re down to around £94.00 a week SSP and that will not even cover food, let alone a mortgage or rent payment. We decided that Income Protection is a product that is based on earning not if you own your home or not. Since you can take out income protection with us anytime, we thought we should shout about it to tenants. Afterall some families by choice or circumstance rent a house or flat not own it, but still have the same bills everyone else has, indeed for renters they are often higher than a mortgage so more vulnerable if long term sickness hits.
As you can see, we have been busy, but we are in it together and are not stopping.
Stay safe and I hope we all have a better 2021.