Is this a scam??

HelpWhereIcan

There is no black magic involved in this ... or a scam in its truest sense for that matter.

The advert you point to may be senationalist, poorly written and less than clear about what is being sold, but the mortgages it refers to do exist.

What it does not tell you is that they are charging you £29 or whatever for them to tell you about a mortgage most people would not qualify for.

Generally, you need a provable basic income in excess of £100,000 to £150k for the main earner; need to be looking for a mortgage of £200k-250k plus and be looking for no more than 70% loan to value.

As dunstonh has said, it is a multi currency mortgage and, as such, is only really suitable to someone who can prove they understand the currency risk involved. You will also probably need to show that you have enough assets elsewhere to meet the potential losses that may be incurred before your loan is converted back to sterling (up to 20% of the loan).

They also have a higher level of fees than traditional mortgages as you have to pay the currency manager commission on each currency trade, an annual management fee and a success fee based on the amount of any debt reduction achieved.

Historically, people have seen a significant amount of their debt reduced simply through movements in exchange rates HOWEVER, 2007 was a very bad year for multi-currency mortgages (generally) and most people saw their debt increase and some faced real losses as their mortgage was converted back into sterling and/or they had to pay off a lump sum to maintain the loan to value.

So, the product referred to does exist and is not a scam, but the site this points to almost certainly is as it charges you to find out information any broker or IFA used to dealing with HNW would know.

Like a lot of the 'trade secrets' on the net - something that exists but not neccesarily for all. A bit like me publishing an e-book for £199 claiming to tell you how to get £000s out of auction property and then emailing you a pdf telling you all about buy to let mortgages and development finance and using your equity to fund deposits needed.

scm1

but the site this points to almost certainly is as it charges you to find out information any broker or IFA used to dealing with HNW would know.

That's a ridiculous thing to say. It's not a scam to charge for information that's in the public domain. Otherwise newspapers would be a scam (I can read news online for free, most of it submitted by the very same newspapers), so would books, training courses etc etc. And as for the IFA's, just tell me honestly (as you're in the business), if the average punter asked an IFA for a mortgage what % do you think would actually mention foreign currency mortages? It's not like this information is common knowledge (if it was then everyone who said "it's a scam!" would have known about it and wouldn't have said it was a scam)

Charging money to give people information they didn't know about is not a scam. And they're not even charging for it in this case, it's a free bonus report to encourage you to sign upto their newsletter... get a grip people.

Ian_Griffiths_Halifax

scm1 wrote: »

And as for the IFA's, just tell me honestly (as you're in the business), if the average punter asked an IFA for a mortgage what % do you think would actually mention foreign currency mortages?

Your view on Foreign Currency Mortgages would be interesting to hear. What is your opinion?

dwsjarcmcd

scm1 wrote: »

That's a ridiculous thing to say. It's not a scam to charge for information that's in the public domain. Otherwise newspapers would be a scam (I can read news online for free, most of it submitted by the very same newspapers), so would books, training courses etc etc. And as for the IFA's, just tell me honestly (as you're in the business), if the average punter asked an IFA for a mortgage what % do you think would actually mention foreign currency mortages? It's not like this information is common knowledge (if it was then everyone who said "it's a scam!" would have known about it and wouldn't have said it was a scam)

Charging money to give people information they didn't know about is not a scam. And they're not even charging for it in this case, it's a free bonus report to encourage you to sign upto their newsletter... get a grip people.

Maybe your technically correct, however, if foreign currency mortgages were such a great idea, why are they not sold/promoted more actively? Because they are far ,far too risky for the vast majority. That's why people on here react in the way they do, they are BAD NEWS, and are being touted indiscrimately to people who don't know better as some magical solution, which it most certainly is not!

Even your username (almost) says it!

dunstonh

And as for the IFA's, just tell me honestly (as you're in the business), if the average punter asked an IFA for a mortgage what % do you think would actually mention foreign currency mortages?

Given the high risk nature of a foreign currency mortgage and the fact that the typical UK consumer is low risk then no, foreign currency mortgages wouldn't be discussed.

We have already seen from the endowments issue that the general public do not want to take risks with their mortgage. Yet what that site suggests is higher risk than a typical endowment policy.

It's not like this information is common knowledge

Yes it is. With those that need to know and are capable of absorbing the potential risks.

Charging money to give people information they didn't know about is not a scam. And they're not even charging for it in this case, it's a free bonus report to encourage you to sign upto their newsletter... get a grip people.

The website is badly written and contains none of the risk warnings or potential problems that occur with that type of transaction. Anyone following the "advice" of such an individual needs to be on guard.

Quote like "a FREE copy of ‘Shortcut to Killing Your Mortgage Dead in 7 Years or Less’" are stupid and irresponsible. If everything worked in your favour then that could happen. However, if everything worked against you then how about having a free copy of How to double your mortgage in 7 years or less as that is the potential here?

Also, the website says "If you’re on a fixed rate mortgage which expires before 2009 it’s highly likely that you’ll soon be paying an extra £250 a month for a similar mortgage deal." . There is no mention of a source to that statistic and does not compare with research done by others. That suggests its totally random stat. In other words lies. [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]

competitionscafe

Surprised that the same company which publishes Moneyweek magazine is involved with promoting this overhyped, overpriced information. Much of which is available right here (MSE) for free. Some of these sound familiar for example:

• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]How to get money for broken phones[/FONT]

• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]How to download free antivirus, music download and film streaming software[/FONT]

• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]How to get a discount on virtually any online purchase (cashback sites)[/FONT]

• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]How to save hundreds of pounds on 5-star hotels[/FONT]

+ matched betting etc.......


from:
http://www.fsponline-recommends.co.uk/page.aspx?u=scccssscb2&tc=EPFCJB31&PromotionID=2147065837&u=547865&g=0&o=40758&l=162421&

(link is from an email sent to me as I am a Moneyweek subscriber)

sarah_elton

Guy I work with is having a chalet built in a ski resort in France. He has a Euro mortgage and is incurring Euro build costs. It's hurting right now.

From next year he'll be getting rental income in Euros which is something, but he's still wishing he'd gone with his instinct to hedge his currency exposure when he started the project.

Currency movements can make a HUGE difference to something the size of a mortgage. Seriously not something to even look into unless you know what you're doing.