Getting a mortgage when you have bad credit takes more work, but it is not impossible.

Here are some tips on how to make it happen.

When deciding whether or not to give you a mortgage, the banks will look to see that you have stable income, an attractive credit history and a low debt-to-income ratio.

Many people think that if they have bad credit they will never be able to qualify for a mortgage. If you are lacking in any of these areas, you might struggle to find a lender who will accept you for a mortgage. If you do manage to obtain a mortgage, you will likely have a much higher interest rate because of your bad credit.

Although having bad credit makes it much more difficult to get a decent rate on a mortgage, it does not make it impossible. There are a few things that you can do to improve your chances of getting a mortgage when you have a bad credit history.

Fix Your Credit Score

One option is to wait to buy a house for a couple of years while you focus on repairing your credit score. The more you repair it, the better chance you have of obtaining a mortgage at a good rate.

The first step is to get a copy of your credit score and make sure that everything is correct. Then, put together a plan for paying off your credit card debt, student loans and other debts. If you need to, you can consolidate them into one loan with a lower interest rate. Put as much of your monthly wage into paying off your debts as you can manage so that you can improve your credit score and get a better mortgage rate.

Offer a Large Down Payment

If you can negotiate with your bank and offer to pay them a very large down payment on the house, they might be more willing to say yes to your mortgage. The larger your down payment, the less the bank has to risk when funding the loan. If you have bad credit, offering a huge down payment will reassure the bank that they are making a good investment in you and that they should offer your mortgage.

Seller-Held Mortgages

This is a different type of mortgage which might offer a different option for those who have bad credit. How it works is that the seller of the home holds the mortgage as an investment. A higher rate might be charged and the mortgage is drafted with a balloon clause which requires it to be refinanced by a certain date.

Essentially, the seller carries the loan for a short period of time which reduces the risk of loaning money to a bad credit risk. Meanwhile, the buyer has extra time to repair their bad credit issues. The monthly payments to the seller that the buyer makes can be used as a credit reference when it comes to the point when they will refinance the loan.

These are just a few ways that you can get a mortgage even if you have bad credit. Good luck!

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Did you know that you could avoid paying large amounts of inheritance tax by placing your property into a "trust"?

When you die, your wealth will be passed along to your loved ones as designated in your will.

However, because of inheritance taxes, a large portion of your money and your property could go to the government instead if you do not manage your finances well. You will be expected to pay up to 40% tax on any amount of your estate which exceeds the threshold, and the current threshold is £325,000.

To avoid going over the inheritance tax threshold, you can put aside some of your money and assets into "trusts". When you place your assets into a properly worded trust fund, they will not be able to be touched by local authorities or creditors. You will be able to pass on your money to your loved ones without having to worry about whether it is exceeding the tax threshold.

There are many different trusts that you can place your property and your assets into, such as:

Life Insurance Trusts

This is when you place your life insurance policy into trust. If you die, the money from the insurance policy will be paid into a trust fund for your partner and your children. They will have full use of the income and control over the investments until they die.

Upon their death, the finds will not be included in their estate when their inheritance tax threshold is calculated. Essentially this means that your children will be able to receive your assets without having them diminished by inheritance taxes.

Discounted Gift Trust

This type of fund is for people who want to put away some of their assets to avoid paying inheritance taxes, but also want to be able to earn some income from their capital while they are still alive.

These types of funds are well suited for people who have significant savings of cash, or those who have sold a property or an expensive asset and have a large chunk of money. Not all of the money that you place in this type of trust will be exempt from inheritance tax.

However, a certain percentage will be separated from your estate will not count towards your inheritance tax threshold. Choosing the right discounted gift trust is complicated, so it is best to make this kind of investment with the help of a qualified financial expert.

Business Trusts

Did you know that if you own a family business or a small company, you will be able to use a business trust to protect your assets from inheritance tax? Let’s say that you own shares in a small family company, and you leave them to your spouse when you pass away. If you leave them in a business trust, your partner will be able to purchase the shares from the trust and then pass them along free of inheritance tax to your children.

Before using any type of trust to pass along your money without having to pay inheritance tax, talk to a financial expert.

Trusts can be very complicated, and you will want to make sure that you are managing your finances correctly.