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Mortgages


Kid Dynamite
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Have the rates dropped in the last 12 months? Just had a quick look at current rates and I could have knocked £100pm of my payments if I'd bought now instead of this time last year. I'm on. 5 year fixed rate too, bummer!

 

I understand this will be terminally boring to most on here, just interested as to why the big drop when the interest rate has been stable for so long

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Competition basically. Prior to this financial year, the big banks were shrinking their balance sheets post financial crisis, so they weren't doing a lot of lending. They've all returned to the market in a big way this year, and everyone is trying to outdo everyone else on rates.

 

Someone was offering a 2 year fix of less than one percent earlier this year!

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I have a lovely tracker. Something like Bank of England base rate plus .25%

 

:)

So did most people whose fixed rate ran out 5 years ago. With a kid on the way and hefty mortgage I couldn't risk staying on a tracker though Edited by StraightEdgeWizard
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You should look into what your early repayment charge is. If it really works out at £100pm cheaper on a current deal, it might be worth you paying it and fixing for another five years at a lower rate. It'll be marginal like and it's a faff to do.

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Mine is a tracker too. 2% above base for the lifetime of the mortgage, means no more fees, which saves a fortune. It was really hard to get though even with 60% ltv. Think deposit and affordability criteria are a block for many people nowadays. Honestly don't understand how anybody buys in London.

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You should look into what your early repayment charge is. If it really works out at £100pm cheaper on a current deal, it might be worth you paying it and fixing for another five years at a lower rate. It'll be marginal like and it's a faff to do.

Do you need your affordability reassessed to change? This was a massive pain in the arse for us.

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Apologies in advance but I have some stupid questions, I have rented since I left home at 18 and my parents are no use in financial matters.

 

I have a decent amount for a deposit and my lease is up in March next year, I am looking at buying then or if needs must rent for another year max.

 

How do I get a mortgage? Do I just go into the lender who looks like they offer what I want and ask? Does where I bank make a difference? Can I get a mortgage in place without a specific place to buy or do I have to find the gaff first and then find a mortgage. Also I heard cos I had cancer that life insurance is gunna be harder to get in place?

 

Feel free to take the piss as I am a 31 year old man asking questions I should probably understand

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I would use a broker cos there's a fuck load of paper to fill in and you'll avoid all that. You'll pay an arrangement fee for them to do it but the paperwork is a real ballache so it's worth it imo.

 

You should have somewhere in mind ideally cos they'll want a figure to work to. It's not essential though if you just want an idea of how much you should be looking at houses for. They'll then run some numbers and get you a decision in principle with a lender. Which basically means, based on the info you've provided, we would lend you x amount.

 

You can do that to get an idea of what you can afford. Once you put an offer in on somewhere you'll want to do a proper mortgage application,which you'd get the adviser to do for you. They'll send a load of info off to the lender, like bank statements, pay slips etc, and they'll assess affordability. This is much more involved than the decision in principle.

 

Once they're happy that you meet their lending criteria, they'll send someone out to value the house you're looking to buy. If they think the house is worth what you've offered for it, they'll issue you with a mortgage offer. Which formally means, we'll lend you this cash when you complete on the house. Offers usually stay valid for a few months.

 

At that stage it's over to the solicitors to do their stuff.

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Definitely worth trying to understand the pros and cons of different mortgage types / offers yourself before using a broker.

 

Plenty of comparison sites to get you started and you need to be careful that a tempting initial interest rate doesn't jump massively when the offer ends.

 

You also should be aware that some brokers are tied to certain companies only so can not give you a full market comparison.

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@@strawb

 

Be very frugal with your money the 3 months prior to getting an offer is my tip. Your mortgage lender will go through your accounts in forensic detail. To give you an idea, we had over 6 hours of meetings to get ours. I was shocked tbh considering we were only looking to borrow x2 joint salary with a pretty massive deposit (btw, the size of your deposit will determine how good a deal you get). Anything you're paying on a car, childcare, credit cards, personal loans, etc will count against you.

 

Got to say, not sure what a broker brings to the table paperwork wise. Your lender will do all that. Regarding life assurance, you may be okay if you have the all clear, but these guys can also be cunts. You don't have to have it.

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Thanks for the help all. I own my car outright, have one credit card that I can pay off with a months wage and an overdraft I never use.

 

Tbf I do spend randomly on daft shite but I can knock that on the head. Anyone any ideas about the life insurance thing?

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Thanks for the help all. I own my car outright, have one credit card that I can pay off with a months wage and an overdraft I never use.

 

Tbf I do spend randomly on daft shite but I can knock that on the head. Anyone any ideas about the life insurance thing?

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/coping-with-cancer/coping-practically/money/life-insurance

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Different now after MMR, apparently.

Aye we had 2 offers before and after that differed by around £40k. It's all a bit daft like,

 

'I see you eat out most nights and just bought a new motorbike?'

 

Well yeah, but if my mortgage is doubling I'm obviously not going to continue living like 1980s CT and I'll cut my cloth accordingly

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