You should apply for mortgage protection as soon as you go sale agreed.

You should issue your mortgage protection policy before you sign binding contracts.

This is the only way to avoid the heartache of not being able to buy your home due to an unexpected health issue.

You finally did it - you bought life insurance.

You head out for lunch, feeling like an official grown up, having done the right thing and applied for life insurance online

And you did it on company time!

Double win.

You take your phone out of your pocket to call your partner with the good news (they've been at you for ages to get your  life insurance sorted)

No reply.

You look down at your phone to redial, stumble onto the road and...

On June 7th, 2023, Insurance Ireland announced the complete details of their new Code of Practice for Underwriting Mortgage Insurance for Cancer Survivors.

Under this Code, insurance companies will not consider a cancer diagnosis if the person is in complete remission and active treatment ended more than 7 years before the application (or more than 5 years if the individual was under 18 at the time of diagnosis)

Cancer survivors can get mortgage protection (reducing life insurance) of up to €500,000 for a mortgage on their primary residence.

A few schemes are supposed to help first-time buyers take that precarious first step onto the property ladder, such as the Help to Buy Scheme and the Local Authority Homeloan Scheme.

But what’s this?

Instead of building more actual houses, our esteemed leaders have dreamed up a shiny new scheme to help you own your own home!

Introducing the First Home Scheme

Everything you need to know about Mortgage Protection Insurance (MPI) for the Local Authority Home Loan Scheme is right here in this article.

And if you have been refused by New Ireland / Cornmarket, we can help you!

Mortgage Protection Insurance clears your debt to the bank if you die.

So, if you (or your partner) meet an early, very sad end, your home becomes theirs, debt-free.

If you didn’t have Mortgage Protection, the debt would keep on keepin’ on and there’d only be one of you to pay it off – which, again, given the apocalyptic state of the housing market, would be really, really rough.

Anyway, the lender won’t actually give you a mortgage without Mortgage Protection, so you’re gonna have to cough up for it, whether you want to or not.

For decades, HIV was a ruthless killer, savaging entire communities.

Thankfully, we’ve come a long way since, both in terms of treatment and response.

According to Sexualwellbeing, 6,000 people live with HIV in Ireland and are getting on with their lives as normal. You may be one of them – and if you are, you may be considering buying a house or getting life insurance because you’re at that time in your life.

Today, I will look at that very topic in this article.

Thankfully, we’ve come a long way since, both in terms of treatment and response.

Getting a mortgage was a cinch in olden times (the noughties).

Deposit? Pah - 100% mortgages were the norm.

3.5 times income? Pfff -  Borrowing 8 times income was a breeze

You could even self-certify your earnings!

Yeah, I know, it didn't end well, and this laxer lending made the Central Bank more cautious when laying down Ireland's current mortgage lending rules.

But are things changing?

Is the whole house-buying industry a money-making business? I’ll let you make up your mind but let’s put it this way, buying a home is not cheap.

If you're new to the homeownership game, you might not even be aware of all the little extras that add up quickly.

Don’t worry, I want to get you all caught up, so you don’t get caught out.

Here are the extra money-sucking things you’ll need to plan for if you want to buy a home in Ireland.

There are certain milestones in life that you’ll cling to as proof that you are an actual adult – even though “adult” can feel like a state of mind as your age slowly and not-so-assuredly creeps up.

Meeting the other half who you’re serious enough about that you’re happy to sit in and watch Love Island or whatever sportsball they’re into. Sustaining said relationship, even through wobblers about wet towels and whose turn it is to load the dishwasher. Finding the first few grey hairs. Having very serious discussions with your friends in the pub about mortgages and personal finances and babies.

Very strongly considering applying for a mortgage....