Michael Knight’s Blog

You may have noticed in yesterday’s papers that the original car from the hit show Knight Rider has been up for sale on the internet. Apparently the sale was ending yesterday and the latest bid was £27,000!! Good luck to whoever won, I’m sure they’ll get used to turning heads, I wonder if their name is Michael Knight too?

Believe it or not, estate agents in the UK do not have to have any professional qualifications or permission from any official body. You can decide to open a shop or internet agency and start selling straight away. From personal experience I’ve seen this happen and it wasn’t a pretty sight!!

I don’t think that it is a coincidence that estate agents have such a poor public perception for customer service and value for money. 

Having said that, once you have dealt with a good estate agent you can see how they can improve the buying and selling experience. Keeping you informed, chasing solicitors, arranging for various reports to be carried out, they can make the process a whole lot easier.

Qualifications and a regulatory framework will not necessarily weed out the bad estate agents but if it was made a little more difficult to enter the market then perhaps perceptions would improve.

Being a fully qualified mortgage broker with the Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practise (CeMAP), the Mortgage Advice Qualification (MAQ) plus the full financial planning certificate (FPC) I would definitely say that Estate Agents should have to attain a relevant qualification. That plus recourse to the Financial Services Ombudsman (FSO) means my client have expert advice backed up by an independant organisation if we were to fall into any kind of dispute.

I’m glad to say that I’ve never had a complaint, let alone need to refer to the FSO!! Why not try me out, I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Recent research by the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries shows that in light of changes in the market, consumers want and need impartial advice for purchases and remortgages. For example, over 80% of first-time buyers used an intermediary - a 10% increase on the previous year. The remortgage markets also saw intermediary business up by 10%.

Supporting your local broker is now more worthwhile than ever to find the best advice. Call me now for more information.

Just to let everyone know that I’ve joined the wonderful world of the ‘Blackberry’. It all started last Saturday when my dependable XDA decided it didn’t want to work after all…..turning itself off, terminating calls and the white screen of death. Much sorrow as it had proved to be a superb business tool; a windows based operating system with touch screen input meant it was really easy to move from screen to screen - the built in sat nav was brilliant.

So, an emergency visit to my local o2 shop resulted in opting for a Blackberry Curve for a change. Initial impressions are quite favourable although getting the sat nav operational has been a bit of a headache. It would have helped if the o2 shop had put me on the correct tariff!

So, in conclusion, I wish I had smaller thumbs for the tiny buttons but I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it soon!! Anyone with great applications to add to the ‘Blackberry’, I’d love to hear from you.

The Monetary Committee has decided to keep the base rate at 5% as it maintains it’s inflationary focus despite the current pressures on the economy and housing market. It is hoped that as the effects of the BoE’s liquidity scheme feed through the financial system there will be some benefits for mortgage lenders, and in turn borrowers, later in the year. 

While commodity prices are putting pressure on inflation, the Monetary Policy Committee has little freedom of action. And at any rate, loosening monetary policy today would have had little effect on lender’s retail rates.

All in all, keeping base rate at 5% has had little impact either on the credit or debit side. It just goes to show that managing the economy has become even more difficult with the traditional controlling methods becoming redundant.