Understanding the Irish Housing Crisis

A housing crisis can be detrimental to the economy of a country. A housing crisis occurs when the availability of affordable housing is rare and you need a higher income to be able to afford a place to live.

 

A housing crisis happens due to a change in supply and demand for real estate. If there are a lot of houses with few people looking, housing prices will drop. Likewise if there are lots of people looking for houses with few properties available prices will go up.

 

The problem with this system is the availability of housing does not have to do with salaries in the area, so when housing prices go up too much and the income does not change it creates a crisis.

 

Digital Mortgages can help people get out of the expensive rental market, allowing them to own property.

 

Why There’s a Crisis

 

Housing is a big part of a person’s monthly budget. For the typical person housing should account for about 35% of their monthly income.

 

When looking at the …

Read More

The In’s and Out’s of Mortgage Technology in 2022

Mortgage technology has changed a lot in the past decade. Keeping up to date with the changes is important, to understand how to simplify the process for yourself while also saving the most money.

 

The future of mortgages is online with the increasing development of Fintech (Financial Technology). Learning how to take advantage of the new ways of doing business will help prepare through this transition from face to face business to online business.

 

Mortgage Tech in 2022

 

Mortgage Technology has improved significantly in recent years. This is due in large part to the COVID pandemic. Businesses and mortgage lenders specifically had to adapt quickly to the sudden shift to an all online business format.

 

This led to the implementation of the digital mortgage application process becoming standardized as no business was being done in person and on paper. Fintech markets are continuing to grow and with this the technology to make financial processes easier is now becoming available.

 

OnlineApplication is a company that makes software that assists lenders with digital mortgage applications which simplifies …

Read More

Fintech is the Future, Here’s Everything You Need to Know

FinTech (Financial Technology) is the new modern technology designed to compete with the traditional financial methods of delivering services.

 

With the increase of importance of technology due to the COVID pandemic, Fintech has evolved and became significantly more important to banks and people alike.

 

With this transition occurring it is important for everyone to understand what these changes mean and how it will continue to evolve in the future. 

 

What’s new

 

With the generations of people who grew up with technology getting older, businesses have had to adapt to please these generations.

 

People have become more and more comfortable managing their money and businesses online. They are eager to use new technology because it offers these businesses and people flexibility that they did not have before.

 

Some of the results of this increase in Fintech is the addition of digital mortgages and digital lenders. This technology was very important for banks because when COVID happened it was the only way to do business.

 

Now people prefer the business to be online because it …

Read More

How to Apply for a Digital Mortgage Online

Gone are the days of doing painstaking research to find the best bank to get a mortgage from. Buying a house or apartment is already difficult, why go through the hassle of loads of paperwork when you can fill out your information online and have it done for you.

Technology has evolved and with it, the digital mortgage process has too. Applying for a digital mortgage takes the stress out of your hands while simultaneously finding the best rates.

Getting Started

Starting the mortgage process can be an overwhelming situation when looking from the beginning. Companies such as OnlineApplication work to make this process fast and easy to use.

The pandemic has shifted much of work to online and gotten rid of the need for face to face interactions. With this new technology why would you do anything on paper?

What is OnlineApplication?

OnlineApplication is a company that works for brokers to find the best mortgage.

Our quick and simple process allows you to upload all your financial information to our safe and secure website. After that we …

Read More

What is happening with interest rates, why, and what can you do?

What is happening with interest rates?

Interest rates rise and fall, we have been in a secular-ZIRP (zero interest rate policy) environment for quite some time and as people who subscribe to the monetarist school of thought, this would always lead to inflation which we are seeing now, albeit a fairly delayed response given how long this policy has been in place.

Why?

Not too long ago the yield curve was negative 20 years into the future such was the dismal outlook of markets for any level of inflation, but then you had a pandemic, the ‘great resignation’ and between labor and supply constraints along with monetary policy effects, there is inflation you haven’t seen in 40 years. Now the curve is negative only one year into the future and the price in the money markets has risen.

Just to clarify this, many mortgage providers get their money by buying it (you buy at X + interest rate and then ‘sell’ it to borrowers at X+margin [which is ideally above the price you bought it at]). In an oversimplified manner, …

Read More

European mortgages explained: Czech Republic

About Czech Republic

The Czech Republic ia a state in Central Europe. It is a landlocked state of 78,870 km2. It is bordered by Germany, Austria, Poland and Slovakia. The capital city is Prague. The Czech Republic is a market economy country that belongs to the highly developed countries of the world, according to economic, social and political indicators. Economically it belongs to the world’s 31 riches nations with the highest financial incomes, according to the World Bank. The unemployment rate has been low for a long time and below the average for developed countries.

History of the Czech Republic

Czech Republic was first populated by Celts 4th century. In 863, the Byzantine missionaries Constantin and Methodius come to the part of the present-day Czech Republic and introduced Slavic liturgy there. The defeat of Austria-Hungary in World war 1 cleared the way for the foundation of an independent state of Czechoslovakia, which was founded on October 28, 1918. The first president of Czechoslovakia was Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia was divided into two independent states: Czech Republic …

Read More

Irish Mortgage Brokers featured in the Irish Times

We were mentioned in the Irish Times in a piece by Cliff Taylor about the increase in the number of people seeking to refinance their home.

Rather than a fear of higher interest rates, Karl Deeter, of Irish Mortgage Brokers, believes it is primarily driven by people facing tightening (link to article here)

The crux of the point being made is that as inflation is affecting people and rates look set to rise that it is naturally driving people to consider ways to get better prices on one of their biggest outgoings and to get some assurance on what the price levels of their outgoings will be.

Read More

How to get a mortgage Ireland

There are many factors which play a huge role in your mortgage deal. Before starting to look for a house you should check with the lenders to get a statement of how much they are able to lend you. So you will know in what price range to look for a house.

The factors are: Your credit score – past payment history and borrowing behaviour [the higher score the better. The lower credit score you have the more you overpay.] Your debts – the less debts you have the better. If you owe too much, you will have to take out smaller mortgage or pay off your debt before you apply for a mortgage. Your work history – To get a mortgage you have to provide a proof that you are employed and have steady income and job [switching jobs all the time is not a great look for lenders]. Your down payment – The lender usually wants you to put money down so they have some sort of protection. Ideally 20% of the cost of your home [so you …

Read More

Home of the Year 2021 and RIAI Awards – by Nikola Lancova

The Home if the Year is a competition series where the team behind RTÉs is searching for the most unusual and architecturally stunning private houses. The desicion is based on functionality, clever design and individuality. Each week the team of three judges visits three homes across the country. They give the house score out of 10. The home that receives the highest score goes through to the finals.

This year it was the seventh season of this competition series. In this season judges visited 21 homes across Ireland. From these 21 competitors, the judges selected seven finalists:

David O’Brien (Cork) Jennifer Sheahan (Dublin) Tanya Lee Conroy and Noel Conroy (Galway) Saara and Mike McLoughlin (Co Limerick) Sally-Ann and Ruairí Mitchell (Dublin) Kevin Desmond (Dublin) Kate and Cian O’Driscoll (Dublin)

Of the above competitors, Jennifer Sheahan from Dublin won the prize. Her house is 1800s cottage in Dublin. She bought this house in 2019, it needed a lot of work, it was damp, there was no central heating and the toilet was outside. Jennifer renovated the entire house, knocked all internal …

Read More