Mortgage Advice for Business Owners

After almost 6 months of looking for a house we’re slowly but surely getting somewhere. At first we were finding it difficult to get any sort of sizeable mortgage because the business had been going for just less than 2 years and obviously the income on paper isn’t going to be exponential.

 However after a bit of scouting we came across Ulster Bank which is a member of the Royal Bank of Scotland group. We discovered that this bank will give you a mortgage based on a certified copy of a cashflow projection. The accounts must be verified by a chartered accountant however but this flexibility can be invaluable to those who have just started a business and need to get a mortgage before the house prices explode any further.

Failing this co-ownership is another means to get your foot on the ladder but it turns out much more expensive in the long run and I would advise anyone to get an outright mortgage if at all possible.

UK House Prices Going Crazy

On the news the other week it said that over the next 4 years the average house price in Northern Ireland is going to go up £60,000 ($120,000 for all you non Brits). For home owners this is fantastic news but for first time buyers like myself who have been self employed for 2 years which is our only income which hasn’t been astronomical, it is a very tough job.

It seems that the best thing for first time buyers in our situation is to get a property as soon as possible before the house prices escape us. The government offers a co-ownership deal where they buy half your house and you pay them a rent type thing until you can afford to buy the other half off them. Of course their half increases with the house price increase but it at least helps you get on to the property ladder in the first place. We’ve also found that many banks won’t give you a mortgage with the co-ownership deal. You can find more info on this at http://www.co-ownership.org/about_us/

 I can think of at least 2 other couples in this situation. I have no idea how a single person on a low income would ever be able to afford to buy a house and with the way things are going there’s going to be a lot of 30 year olds still staying with their parents.

Are the house prices really going to keep going up so much or will with this crazyness end soon?

  

Does cracking your knuckles cause arthritis

When I’m getting really stressed or concentrating on something I’ll crack my knuckles without even realising I’m doing it, to which I get told off by Grace lol

 People have told me from time to time that cracking my knuckles will give me arthritis while others have told me that it’s a myth so I decided to do a bit of research.

 It was considered on a few sites whether there was a trend between knuckle cracking and arthritis of which none was found. It was also considered whether those who cracked their knuckles had looser ligaments which would then result in proneness to joint damage of which the result concluded negative.

 Therefor I’m satisfied that the answer to this question “Does cracking your knuckles cause arthritis?” is no and that it was indeed people that found it annoying that started the myth.

 What is the cracking noise that comes from your knuckles? Apparently it’s gases (Nitrogen) escaping from between the joints that makes the noise.

The Honeymoon

Below are some pictures of our honeymoon in Vancouver, Canada!

Grace and Stephen’s wedding!

Well I’ve finally got a few digital images of my wedding so I figured I’d start a blog to post them online

I’m the 1 in the kilt

This was our first dance which was to the song Shania Twains “You’re still the one”

 

 

 

This was the road up to the big house where all the guests had tea or coffee while we were exercising our face muscles. Fixing Graces dress is her sister Jen.

We had our reception at a national trust centre where there were huge gardens all around the big house and restaraunt area.

As you can see we had fantastic weather as well which made the day all the better (and hot)

 

I think it must have been the camera of the person that took the inside pictures because it actually was a lot brighter than this.

If you look closely you can see the miniture version of Grace and me on the cake. The little clay models even had my spikey hair!!!

I’ll just add a few more photos below and that should be enough for now.

 

 

 

 

Hi Grace here!

This is a picture of 2 of my bridesmaids, I had 3 but havent a pic of them altogether. (These obivously arent the professional pics)

The one on the right is my big sis jen (Chief Bridesmaid) the one on the left is my cousin Ashley and her daughter Amy-Lee in pink.

The 2 little flowergirls are Laura (left) and Jude (right) they are both Stephens cousins. Cute!

 

 

 

Again the girl on the left is Ashley. The bridesmaid on the right is my cousin Cheryl.Don’t they both look pretty!

The bridesmaids where a Royal Blue colour which matched really well with the Royal Blue kilts. Our wedding favours for females was a little white handbag with a blue flower on it with mints inside. The men had little blue top hats with mints inside!

All our flowers were white calla lillies. The bridesmaids flowers had blue thistles in them to compliment the dresses, and mine had some white roses in through it.

 

 

 

 

 

Meet the Mother and Father of the Bride!

This is my mum Liz, and my dad Jack. Both looked stunning!

Mum was really beautiful in her outfit, and dad was very handsome in his kilt.

I was really proud of them both

 

 

 

 

You guessed it, its the Mother and Father of the Groom!

Stephens mum is called Ann and his dad is called Rob.

Ann looked really stunning in her lovely mint outfit and Rob (who really didnt want to wear a kilt in the first place) looked very handsome!

 

 

 

 

 

This is some of guests getting ready to pose for the group photo. Don’t they look well in their finery!

Pity we dont have a pic of the inside of the house yet. Beautiful red carpets throughout, piano, dinning furniture, snooker table and grand fire place.

 

 

Let me introduce you to some of my family. (From left to right)

Uncle Bobby (who played the organ at our ceremony), Aunt Isobel (mother of BM Ashley), infront of her Amy-Lee her grand-daughter, beside Isobel is our family friend Margaret, Aunt Rosie with husband Billy, infront of Margaret is Rosie and Billys Grand-daughter Shannon (BM Cheryls daughter).