Well today this is a hot topic for conversations amongst lawyers as well as the property owners and the would be investor.

Why is there so much concern about the market and what is it that drives lenders to want to evict their customers from a home? In a word Greed.

Clearly there are winners and losers in this type of market. Invariably the lenders and investors will make gains while the homeowner will find not only that they are homeless but with a large debt still owing even after the property has been sold usually to an investor.

For the invester clearly now is a good time to enter the market as there are many very reasonably priced properties on the market and there are still mortgage deals to be obtained if you know where to look.

So what about the home Owner ? Even if you are in negative equity-where the property is worth less than the mortgage owed on it- it may still be sensible to stay continuing to pay the mortgage as if you give up you will still have rent to pay as well as retaining the balance of any mortgage debt. It is important that the property is not looked at as being an investment but rather it must be considered as a roof over your head and a home.

If you can no longer afford to stay in the property there are a number of organisations that are prepared to purchase-usually at a heavy discount-and allow you to remain in the property but paying a commercial rent. You will be wise to avoid entering into this type of arrangement without first discussing the various dangers and pitfalls with a specialist property lawyer as the conveyancing is complicated.

It is my view that the preferred option is to speak to your lender and renegotiate the terms of your mortgage so that sufficient time can pass to enable the UK Property market to recover.

I hope that you have found my comments helpful and in future posts I will be commenting on the various aspects of the conveyancing process.

Reg