FOAK: mortgage advice

My 5 year fixed rate mortgage with C&G is up for renewal at the end of the
month they've offered a variable rate deal at 6.75%. It is split between an
£80k repayment and a £52k endowment with about 9 years to run on the
original 25 year term.
Before I start to call around the usual herd of the banks and building
societies, anyone know any good deals about atm?
Thanks for any advice or leads.
JB

 

Try Nationwide. Can't be beaten IMHO.

 

Ta muchly. Thought I was gonig to have to get the lube out :>)

JB

 

Do you want a fixed rate, capped rate or variable rate - this is not a
Nationwide advert, just a question as there are so many deals out
there it may be best to clarify what type of mortgage you are ideally
looking for before filling your head with the many different rates
available at the moment.

See, I'd probably look for a below bank base tracker, with offset
account so I can have flexibility with underpayments and overpayments,
and have any savings offset against the mortgage balance, thus
reducing the overall mortgage term.

I'd try as much as possible to arrange a mortgage without any early
repayment charges, so I could have the flexibility about when I switch
to another lender.

I'd also be wary of the costs involved in switching lenders, some
offer free legals and valuations, but bump up the arrangement fee to
cover the incentives that are being given out with one hand

It is only worth fixing for as long as poss if you like to gamble on
rates not falling significantly. In 2001 bank base was 5%, in 2003 it
was 3.75%. Now it is back at 5%. (in 1991 it went from 12% to 15% and
back to 12% in the space of a few hours [1]. Yesterdays increase was
well expected in the industry [2] but opinion is divided as to when
the next one is coming along. Doomsayers say

Woolwich have 4.99% ish for 10 yr fixed rate at the moment - but this
has heavy penalties if you want to change mortgages within this 10
year term. The mortgage however can be taken with you to a new
property (portable) if you want to move home in this period of time.

Standard variable - the 6.75% you are referring to, is normally bank
base plus 2% depending on the lender. So 6.75 with C&G could be 7% by
Monday pm.

[1] it may have been days - it was my first week at work after leaving
collecge and I have never seen so many men in tears.

[2] work as compliance officer for local mortgage brokers.

--

 

Another one for the list.
thanks,

JB

 

Thanks for the good background. I'll look into this much further I think.

JB

 

Just completeing <sp> on Monday.
5 years fixed rate with Britannia. No charges.
All legal bollox and surveys included, and pretty damned quick!
HTH

--
Greybeard

FLHTCUI UK-07 96 cu-in (Written off after 3 days & 182 miles!) Courtesy of a
myopic female driver.
FLHTCUI UK-07 Mk II (On order!)
Trumpet Trophy 1200 -96, (The Barge) for rainy days.

ukrm@foxtails[dot]co[dot]uk

 

*ding*

Give that man a banana.

Also watch out for exit fees that are ridiculously high - this seems to
be the current sport amongst lenders to see who can get away with the
highest fees.

 

We had a good deal with Britannia until we fled the country over the
summer - 10 year fixed, and they're currently offering 5.44%. Our mortgage
at the time was split between repayment (over 10 years) and an endowment and
they were also amenable to altering the ratio between the interest only and
the endowment parts when our endowment policies continued to go further
belly up.

Cheers

Andy

 

We had a good deal with Britannia until we fled the country over the
summer - 10 year fixed, and they're currently offering 5.44%. Our mortgage
at the time was split between repayment (over 10 years) and an endowment and
they were also amenable to altering the ratio between the interest only and
the endowment parts when our endowment policies continued to go further
belly up.

Cheers

Andy

 

Ferger wrote:

But if you need the security of knowing what you'll pay, find

Why, high arangement fees is a just a response to the mortgage tarts out
there. To be fair, I've only ever had experience of mortgages with
Nationwide. I've just forked out £1500 arrangement fee, but the savings over
the 24mth period are much much more than that, if I'd gone for a rate with a
cheaper arrangement fee. Plus, Nationwide have a policy that if you pay one
arangement fee, you can fix more than one product. So, I've now got an
option for a very low rate on any extra borrowings I may make in the next 6
months [1].

[1] i.e. when we move.

 

That's the one. Actually, I think it's 4.47%. Halifax did have a slightly
better deal at 4.39% but it expired last week, and there was the hassle of
moving mortgages. Plus, my exisitng fixed rate didn't actually run out until
end of January but that was no big deal as we're now within 3 months of the
expiry period so nationwide could jsut replace it.

I'm actually surprised the 4.47% rate is still available given that rates
went up the other day. Doubt that it will last much longer.

 

Virgin One

 

I quite like www.moneysupermarket.com for taking a first cut through
what's currently available. It gives a handy indication of the total
cost over 5 years (or your preferred duration).

 

Only if you've got lots of savings to offset your mortgage with.

 

I was going to ask what the new AER/API rate (or whatever it is) actually
comparing [1]. When looking at mortgage deals, some of the best deals had
crap comparison rates, mainly because the results were completely screwed by
the standard variable rate applied at the end of any fixed term. Must say,
whilst I agree with the idea in principle I'm not sure the comparison
actually gives us a real indication of whether a mortgage product is any
good.

[1] I have a funny feeling that one of the websites I used did a comparison
on the full 20 year term.

 

Out of interest, what's to stop such people using a pencil and paper to
do the same calcualtions?

 

We've made sure that they are convinced that the bumpf they get is
impenetrable enough so they'd have to trust the salesweasel?

 

Oh, I see. You're saying it's the regulatory bodies responsibility to
assist the stupid, rather than to ensure an industry is simply legal and
follows an acceptable code of ethics.

Blimey.

 

Not really no. As per the other part of the thread, you seem to be
advocating the lowest common denominator approach to regulation.