Mortgage - to fix or not to fix, that is the question

[al4x]

we can ignore the first bit Vipa as we'll never agree, I know too many people paid in stacks who have then found the small print on claiming means they really wished they had never bothered. Thats before you enter the relms of claims for mis selling In the current climate I just objected to the hard sell purely being commission driven and not in our interests which really is technically not allowed. But its done carefully to circumvent the rules, as for the latter we're in agreement up to a point its a case of comparing the standard variable rate you would be on to the cost of the fix including fees then making an educated decision, that also needs to factor in your financial position bearing in mind you can always move or fix at a later date, if there is a sizable difference then it may be worthwhile. A fair few people are effectively stuck with their current provider as they can't move so in certain cases it can be less clear cut.

[Muddy Funker]

My head hurts!!!

 

My 2 year variable ran out a few months ago and at the time I wasn't able to do any better than just letting it go to the standard variable (halifax) this was 3.5% I think.

Then after a month or so I got the delightful news it was moving up to 4%.

 

I haven't looked around to be honest but might there be something better out there at the moment?

 

I don't expect anyone to search for me, but a few lines of advice and a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!!

[leeds chimp]

OK good example here and I took VIPA advise months ago... (just waiting for a transfer of equity to be done)

 

When I first started looking i got offered

 

5 years 4.09 Fixed

5 years 3.89 tracker

 

This has now gone to

5 years 3.59%

3 years +2.99% 3.49% <<<tracker

 

On my payments that would make a differeance of £4.93 a month or £295.80 over the course of 5 years....to me I would rather go for the fixed rate and have that security of knowing what I am paying

[Muddy Funker]

OK good example here and I took VIPA advise months ago... (just waiting for a transfer of equity to be done)

 

When I first started looking i got offered

 

5 years 4.09 Fixed

5 years 3.89 tracker

 

This has now gone to

5 years 3.59%

3 years +2.99% 3.49% <<<tracker

 

On my payments that would make a differeance of £4.93 a month or £295.80 over the course of 5 years....to me I would rather go for the fixed rate and have that security of knowing what I am paying

 

Cheers LC, what company was this with?

 

Thanks.

[Laird Lugton]

Just resurrecting this thread.

 

I opted for a 3 year fix as no 5 year fixes with my lender. I got a good rate of 2.74% for 3 years although I had to pay a fee.

 

At the end of 3 years our mortgage will be negligible so interest rates can do what they like.

 

One happy bunny.

[Vipa]

Just resurrecting this thread.

 

I opted for a 3 year fix as no 5 year fixes with my lender. I got a good rate of 2.74% for 3 years although I had to pay a fee.

 

At the end of 3 years our mortgage will be negligible so interest rates can do what they like.

 

One happy bunny.

 

good move and a good rate... well done

[ferguson_tom]

If helps anyone when thinking about there mortgage i just got what i think is a good deal with skipton, we have had the house for 2 years and original put down 10% deposit. 4.69% on 5 year fixed rate with no set up fee. Loan to value is 85%. Best variable i could find was 4.2ish but had set up fee of £1000. This means a difference of about £30.00 a month over the 5 year term when take into account the set up fee on the variable rate and with the mrs not going back to work and a baby on the way that will be the best £30.00 a month i can spend not having to worry what interest rates are doing for 5years

 

Just another note about set up fees that i found, we looked at a better interest rate on a 80% loan to value deal (with a bit of optimistic house valuation) but this again had a £1000.00 set up fee. I am not sure but over the 30 year term its something like £1.80 you pay back for every pound you borrow so this 1000 becomes 1800, this 1800 meant we were better of with the 85% loan as in the long run would cost us less and also actually pay off our house rather than set up fees.

 

Went through a mortgage adviser who has helped me out a lot with this and is worth every penny of the £600 commission he is getting from the mortgage company. Your mortgage policy tells you how much commission your adviser gets if anyone is bothered about it.

[Fisherman Mike]

RENT !!

[al4x]

what forever? and pay someone elses mortgage?

[pimpkiller]

I rent, i wouldnt by choice but you cant pick anything up these days for less than 100K so thats that really. Ive got to say its not as bad as you may think, you have mega flexibility when it comes to moving on if you need to swop jobs and there arnt any maintenance problems to think about.

[Psyxologos]

When we bought our house almost three years ago we opted for a 7 year fixed rate of 4.8% after puting 40% of the property's value as a deposit. We did so because we wanted to know how much we would be paying and for how long. I know that, looking back, we could have done better with a tracker, but security is what we were after.