The winners and losers of 2010

Ho ho ho, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year... before we get too bogged down with tying up loose ends before the holiday break, I'd like to wish all at Bridging and Commercial and all my blog followers a brilliant Christmas and a prosperous New Year with 2010 bringing loadsa business and loadsa wonga for each and every one of us.

There have been some high points these last 12 months amid the doom and the gloom...

I wholeheartedly praise the back office system that we switched to – full praise indeed to MortgageKeeper, it really has made the laborious behind the scenes work a whole lot easier and efficient, well done to Ginnie at MortgageKeeper for her excellent support in this. We subscribe to the full system, both residential and commercial, well worth the money each month.

There has also been the odd glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel with a few new lenders and some old ones rejoining the brokers’ armoury. When researching funding options for our clients we need as many lenders and products as we can get so all newcomers are welcome. This is an area where Bridging and Commercial keeps us well up to date with breaking news – keep up the good work Mo, and the team.

Also, lenders like Goldentree Financial Services looking to break the mould by actually doing something simple like “having an appetite to lend” have made my year that little bit brighter. Their foray into development finance alongside their bridging offer has been a ray of sunshine for us brokers.

Aldermore – though I would still like the closed doors to be open to all brokers – has led the way when good quality deals on the High Street were conspicuous in their absence. Well done to all at Aldermore.

Also a mention to the increasing list of active bridging lenders, the lack of traditional funding has opened the door to bridging finance and they've grasped it with both hands.

Of course a blog wouldn't be a blog without a little moan...

I suppose the words solicitors, valuers, estate agents, and accountants would be the words that flow forward when talking about moaning topics.

No more to say really, other than let's hope in the coming year solicitors act that bit quicker, accountants answer emails, surveyors don't always look for the lowest value, and estate agents stop making my clients think it's illegal not to use their in-house broker.

Well we can wish, can't we?

Before I can tarnish all this lot with the same brush, I will add that during the course of the year I've dealt with some excellent people among these rather unpopular professions.

And my wish list for the New Year?

• Aldermore to open its closed doors. I, and a lot like me, are sick of the high fees and the poor service from elements within their panel list. • A slightly higher LTV from more of the residential BTL lenders. That would also make for an easier route into bridging with an exit easier to prove. • The High Street to have a more positive outlook with more than just trading businesses. • Barclays to answer funding requests. • Accountants to stop wearing green corduroy trousers. • Valuers to grow a pair. • Development lenders to accept that there are good opportunities outside of the M25. • And for Sheffield United to win one or two games, well that's perhaps a bit too much.

Merry Christmas to all!

Bob Havenhand [email protected]