Ray Boulger Quotations

The state of the property market certainly affects whether people want to buy with friends. When prices were rising at 20 per cent a year, there was much more pressure to buy as soon as possible. If buying with a friend was the only way, people were prepared to do so. Now the market is more stable that pressure is less strong.

Post-Christmas economic statistics have been inconclusive, with those from the retail and manufacturing sectors on the negative side, while house prices are showing signs of improvement. Therefore, despite earlier hopes of a cut this time, a no-change decision was widely expected. However, we firmly believe the trend is still downwards and therefore this is a cut 'deferred', not a change of heart.

You have to look at how competitive these loans are. People who walk into branches will be sold them but would be much better off getting a 100 per cent loan with no higher lending charge. The cost of borrowing that extra percentage is huge.

The interest rate differential between the best offset and best standard mortgages has been consistently narrowing. It now stands at between 0.2 and 0.25 per cent.

Buyers will not be looking to pay off both mortgages at the same time, so using an interest only loan is much more likely.

The most important requirement is to have enough income to support both mortgages. The decision then is whether to raise all your money on the main residence, or to split it.