Chris Thompson   Chris Thompson on the internet

Mortgage lending figures dropped sharply in January, as the BBC article covering it here reports, and it has been in the news for a while. The joys of the recession, eh?

However, a couple of weeks ago, mortgages were in the news for an entirely different reason. A very surreal reason.

Four people are facing jail because of an £8 million mortgage fraud, where the group seem to have “bombarded” a number of different companies with claim after claim after claim. It doesn’t seem real, somehow. It’s a little like something out of a James Bond film or something. Quite strange to think that, actually, it was happening just down the road in Essex.

And it got me wondering: just how easy is it to do something like that? To continually apply for mortgages or remortgages from Nationwide, or any of the other big establishments.

I suppose it’s fair to say that, with mortgage forums that are set up to discuss borrowing money, it has become easier to find markets.

The internet makes everything easier. You can do anything from broadcast your music, to selling your property or home quickly for cash on the internet. And in many ways, it’s a wonderful tool.

But, like many wonderful tools, it can be exploited. It amazes me that they were able to apply for 33 fraudulent mortgage applications. And it amazes me that, considering it looks like it was only two companies they pestered, they weren’t found out sooner.

Today has been a bit of a strange one.

After speaking with one of my oldest friends, who is trying to sell up and move down south, I’ve been reading up on the news on house prices and the housing market.

My friend bought the house a long time ago for something like £200,000, I think, and although it had gone up considerably a few years back when they flirted with the idea of selling, now it’s fallen down again. Which is strange, because apparently house prices finished 2009 around 4% higher than they started it.

But there are plenty of examples that this isn’t necessarily the case.

Here, for example, you can find dozens of examples of property prices falling, all collected neatly in the same place, as well as a number of slightly depressing predictions about when we can expect any kind of economic recovery.

You can check out repossession news, and finance market websites, you can get something of a picture to why such a recovery could be a long way off. Apparently up to 1 million UK households have used credit cards to pay for their house mortgages.

When we are at such a stage that we have to borrow so much money just to have a house to live in, it’s no wonder there are so many repossession problems. Despite a rise in online help, if you are in a situation where you are looking at remortgaging or repossession; despite investment companies offering ways to avoid repossession and stop repossessions, it can still be stressful and problematic. And it’s always worrying.

My friends are looking to move from Leeds down south, which will be good for me, because it means I can see them more. But it’s looking slightly more expensive for them than they were expecting. They’ve been looking out for mortgage deals already, of course, but it doesn’t mean that they’ve found any particularly striking ones.

Let’s hope that these predictions of a full economic recovery in 6 months time are correct.

I have been thinking a lot about houses recently, after a recent trip to Cambridge. It’s an area I’d like to live in, if I could. Now, though, I find myself looking at all the mortgage news I can find, even if it’s just to keep on top of it. I feel like if I can just do a little bit of research here and there, and keep up to date with the latest news and trends, I will find myself in a good position when it eventually does become a matter of getting one.

Now, when mortgage time does roll around, I don’t very much like the idea of a bad credit mortgage. And the recession is slightly worrying. But articles like this one inspire a little bit of hope, and make me feel as though there could be a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel, when it comes to mortgage rates.

I must say, though, that mortgage deals aren’t the only thing that has been playing on my mind, though. I still can’t help but feel a little disappointed about the house prices in Cambridge. Especially when you consider how much people can pay for the cash for home offers that are becoming more and more frequent now.

Ah well. I suppose I should just try and forget about it for a while. Perhaps grab a beer and watch some of the NFL, or something.

I spoke to a friend earlier on today, and he said that he is determined to move to London. I knew it was always an aim of his, to work there, but now he’s moving without even knowing wants to do; he just knows he wants to do something, and he wants it to be in the city. In order to pay for it all, it means that he has to do something with the mortgage on his current house, which he bought before coming to this decision to move. Now, remortgages are tricky things, as I understand them, but he’s not fazed – in fact, he’s anything but. Which is quite something, at the beginning of a big adventure like this one.

I think I would find moving to the city before getting a job quite a scary experience in itself, and thats before you factor in living on the money you make from reshuffling things on your other house. Maybe he’s doing it as a temporary thing … a feeler, a taster, to see if city life is for him. I don’t know.

According to him, though, the process isn’t too badas long as you keep up to date. You can keep up on mortgage news online, getting help from people and keeping up to date with offers and trends. He’s one of those make a decision on an instinct, spur of the moment type of guys, and I suppose in a way this move really is just a big adventure.

His day, now, will probably consist of looking around apartments in London, whilst mine, with a day of work, looks much more peaceful: a spot of writing, followed by beer and athletics. I feel like a slob, in comparison… but oh well. If tonight’s races can promise anything near the excitement of yesterday, when Bolt broke yet another world record, then it will be well worth watching.