I’ve become high risk!

24 February 2011

Today, I would like to talk about banks...you know those institutions which look after our money, use it to create wealth for themselves, pay themselves mega bonuses for being so clever and then charge us for giving them our money.

Got the hint. I am truly fed up with banks and their stupid attitude towards lending. It wasn't so long ago that they would chew your arm off to get you to borrow money off them. Ridiculously low interest rates, credit cards at zero percent and loans for all those things you never really needed. But now, even when interest rates are at record lows, the average mortgage rate seems to be higher than it used to be. All of a sudden we have all become high risk. I think it is the banks that took the risks and we are paying the price.

So you might have guessed that we have been having a little trouble getting even the small mortgage we have asked for. Our mortgage broker took the precaution of going to a lender which is usually sympathetic towards those who are self employed and on a variable income. But it seems that the fact we are just one income at the moment is not ideal.

Even though we have a pretty hefty deposit available, the bank is not keen on people in the building trade. Apparently our idea of buying a house and doing it up is not really a viable business model at the moment and they are not willing to invest in it at this time... They seem to think that being a builder is one of those jobs which can come and go and I may not be employed in six months time. Well, what about the fact that I have been fully employed since I started doing this 4 years ago?

So anyway we are looking into another bank which offers a slightly higher interest rate and we will have to see how it goes. The thing is that I thought that being self employed would be the road to riches. I imagined that I was striking out on my own for the good of my family and putting us in a better position. We have more money now than ever, but are too high a risk to put that money to good use. It seems absurd.

So the money still sits in the bank gathering dust (expensive dust) and we continue to wait. Meanwhile I have been knocking out this middle flat. It has been going great guns and I might even finish in time for the new tenants. The bare bones of new bathroom and kitchen are both in and I am working overtime on the tiling at the moment.

The bathroom should be quicker because I have bought glass panels for the wall behind the bath. They should look really smart. The wall behind is perfectly flat and smooth and will be painted before the glass panels are put in place. The glass is toughened and held in place with clear silicon adhesive. It is kind of expensive compared to tiles, but when I factor in my time, I reckon I am breaking even. Plus it looks great. As I am going for plain glass which hasn't been coloured, it is a bit cheaper. I think that painting the wall will look just as good, but the proof is in the pudding, as they say.

I expect the glass to be delivered this week. To make it easy I just ordered rectangular sheets without any fancy cuts. This is just an experiment but I might splash out on the downstairs flat and do the kitchen and bathroom with glass splash backs for a change.

Anyway, hopefully this week goes as well as last!