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I would go for fixed for as long as you can the way that I look at it if you can peg it at a price that you can afford for the foreseeable future you may have to pay extra but that has to be better than loosing everything if interest rates shoot up as they should I for one am getting well peed off getting only 1 or 2 % on my modest savings so that other people can buy houses on the cheep not that they are cheep just over priced on cheep money.

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Guest topshot_2k

Variable, most fixed are only 2-5 years and there is no sign of interest rates going up. given the state of the EU the last thing the BoE can do is squeeze households by upping rates. Im reaping the benefits having come off a fixed rate just as it all hit the fan.

Edited by topshot_2k
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Variable, most fixed are only 2-5 years and there is no sign of interest rates going up. given the state of the EU the last thing the BoE can do is squeeze households by upping rates. Im reaping the benefits having come off a fixed rate just as it all hit the fan.

 

Our fixed rated ended 3 years ago, and after a lot of research we moved to the std variable (C&G 1.9%, we are also over paying by about £400 pm.

 

When you factored in the fees to go to a fixed deal, even if rates had gone up 0.25 per quater we are still be better off now than the best fixed rate of 3 or 5 year + we have now over payed :good:

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I will be looking into all this in March when our deal ends....paying 5.99% at the moment due to the only scheme we could get

 

Your payments should come down quite a bit :) its also worth trying to pay more than the minimum monthly, get as much equity in whilst rates are low :good:

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Your payments should come down quite a bit :) its also worth trying to pay more than the minimum monthly, get as much equity in whilst rates are low :good:

 

 

I'm on 6.25% and stuck there as my property has no equity (it's square with the mortgage at the minute) so I can't get another mortgage! :rolleyes:

 

If I had the choice I'd go variable, but try not to get a deal which is too long as we really don't know what is going to happen. I'm in the middle of selling a house at the minute and the four estate agents we have spoken to all have differing opinions on what the next 18months - 2 years will bring :yes:

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with the standard variable you can switch it at pretty much any time if rates look like they are going up. Most fixed rates are pretty expensive when you consider the rate you are paying and bot application and redemption fees. But you are covered if rates were to go up, at the moment there is no sign of that at all, personally I'm on a tracker but an old one the current ones are a bad idea simply as you start reasonably high and they only have one way to move. If I was looking for another at the moment it would definitely be standard variable

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I must admit I don't have much luck with money, however just as I came out of my fixed period a little while ago I continued to recieve letters from my lender (C&G) stating that I had moved to the standard variable rate and it continued to drop month after month. I have stayed at std variable above base rate for a long time.

I do keep a listening ear out on the news and as soon as the rate starts to rise I will move to a 3 yr fixed rate so that I can plan accordingly.

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Variable, most fixed are only 2-5 years and there is no sign of interest rates going up. given the state of the EU the last thing the BoE can do is squeeze households by upping rates. Im reaping the benefits having come off a fixed rate just as it all hit the fan.

 

Agree, no sign of intertest rates going up at all, bank of England are considering another round of QE, in theory they would have to unwind at least some of that before they hike rates. The only reason they could hike is if inflation really got out of hand, and given it has tested 5 percent already and looks like it is coming off now (which make sense given the way it's calculated, if prices have gone up a lot already it's hard to sustain the move in percentage terms). Also, mervyn king said back when it was at the highs that in order to bring inflation down to target lvl, they would have to really strangle the domestic economy as most of the inflation is due to imports - hence they didn't. They have effectively abandoned the 2 per cent target for now. They just can't hike rates when we are having all this austerity (most of which is to come).

 

Sorry getting carried away, but I just can't see rate hike unless there is some huge inflationary event like war in the middle east sending the oil px through the roof, and maybe not even then. Market does not px any hikes for 2 years at least no matter what they might tell you when trying to flog mortgages.

 

So personally I would go variable if the diff in the monthly payment is enough to make a difference to you, the risk is small and worth it in my book. If you still worried I think you can get stuff with an option to fix later, or go for a shorter period in which you can't switch to another mortgage elsewhere.

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Guest topshot_2k

I must admit I don't have much luck with money, however just as I came out of my fixed period a little while ago I continued to recieve letters from my lender (C&G) stating that I had moved to the standard variable rate and it continued to drop month after month. I have stayed at std variable above base rate for a long time.

I do keep a listening ear out on the news and as soon as the rate starts to rise I will move to a 3 yr fixed rate so that I can plan accordingly.

 

Dont panic into a fixed rate, even if the rate goes up it will take a while to reach the levels of your old fixed rate. Plus the £900 fixed rate arrangement fee is better spent on reducing the actual mortgage. :good:

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whats also worth doing is rather than paying any excess you have off the mortgage pay it into a decent savings account. The interest you receive can be similar to the rate you are paying on the mortgage and you build up a buffer fund in case the worst happens and rates go up or you loose your job etc. It can be paid off the mortgage at any time but it means you have a fall back plan if rates increase.

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whats also worth doing is rather than paying any excess you have off the mortgage pay it into a decent savings account. The interest you receive can be similar to the rate you are paying on the mortgage and you build up a buffer fund in case the worst happens and rates go up or you loose your job etc. It can be paid off the mortgage at any time but it means you have a fall back plan if rates increase.

 

 

Could you point out the savings account you're using. Unless it's a cash ISA you'll be taxed on any interest and other market accounts won't guarantee your funds (the value of your investments may go up or down and they always seem to go down ). Plus your pot is getting steadily eroded by inflation. It's good to have (probably essential) a rainy day pot of money but I don't think it works if you are trying to beat interest rates.

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Best deal i had was an offsett mortage from the woolwich (now defunct as part of barclays) but I hear they are not as good a deal as they were, also overpay as much as you can saved us loads of years.

 

Sodit

I believe Barclays offer a good offset product which you can also use your ISA's against.

 

You'll find it hard to beat overpaying with saving unless you're willing to gamble on the markets. Check with the lender first but you should be able withdraw overpayments and they may calculate interest on a daily basis thus offering further benefits over saving as you'll pay less interest over the term.

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