[Gibbo]

My 5 yr fixed deal has just run out at 4.79% and I am in the market to remortgage. I have reviewed the market and choosen Halifax and spoken to an advisor this afternoon.

I want to go fixed for saftey and am looking between a 3yr and a 5yr deal.

3 yr = 1st at 3.99% yr 2&3 at v5.99% ave rate 5.32% Booking fee £999

5yr rate constant at 5.69%. booking fee £999

I have a fair sized mortgage and gut feeling is to go for the 3yr but the 5yr spreads the booking fee over 60 instead of 36 months and also gives longer term protection.

The affordability of either rate is not an issue but obviously want to pay the least in the long run without running high level of risks.

Booking fees will not go away in the future and I am looking best overall value.

Anyone got any thoughts.

[scotw]

My only thought it don't tie yourself in at this point, with a weak housing market and global economy cuts are likely in the future, so you could get stuck on a bad rate.

[beemerbird]

Gibbo, I think Scot has a fair point, recent interest rate cut here etc. But as you say you have a fair size mortgage so you have to weigh up the options available. Personally, I wouldn't fix for any longer than 3 years.

[Hotcoupe]

Gibbo, would not the £999.00 booking fee wipe out any savings?
I personally would hang on, I think rates have got to come down further yet.

I thought you were minted anyway Gibbo

Lunch is deffo on you now

[Gibbo]

Originally Posted by Hotcoupe

Gibbo, would not the £999.00 booking fee wipe out any savings?
I personally would hang on, I think rates have got to come down further yet.

I thought you were minted anyway Gibbo

Lunch is deffo on you now

I am an accountant mate so never feel minted. I guess they will but the current mortgage company have switched me automatically to 2% above base rate to force my hand to renegotiate with them.

I can stretch to Pizza Hut if you are lucky.

[Hotcoupe]

Accountant + Pizza Hut = makes perfect sense

[Gibbo]

Originally Posted by Hotcoupe

Accountant + Pizza Hut = makes perfect sense

All you can eat buffet. Shamzie!

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Gibbo

My 5 yr fixed deal has just run out at 4.79% and I am in the market to remortgage. I have reviewed the market and choosen Halifax and spoken to an advisor this afternoon.

I want to go fixed for saftey and am looking between a 3yr and a 5yr deal.

3 yr = 1st at 3.99% yr 2&3 at v5.99% ave rate 5.32% Booking fee £999

5yr rate constant at 5.69%. booking fee £999

I have a fair sized mortgage and gut feeling is to go for the 3yr but the 5yr spreads the booking fee over 60 instead of 36 months and also gives longer term protection.

The affordability of either rate is not an issue but obviously want to pay the least in the long run without running high level of risks.

Booking fees will not go away in the future and I am looking best overall value.

Anyone got any thoughts.

I'm in a similar position. I have a 5 year fixed rate of 4.49% which runs out in December.

I've had a look around and the current fixed rates are not that attractive. We have a weird situation at the moment where the banks are doing their best to ignore the bank of england base rate. They obviously feel it should be higher than it is.

The best I can get with my current lendor is a 3 year fix at 5.79% or 5 years at 5.74% with a fee of £399 in each case.

There is a lot of uncertainty at the moment and we are paying for it in these rates. However, I find myself coming back to the information in this graph:



Which reminds me that the rate has been over 6% quite a lot in the last 25 years or so.

I'm pretty risk averse when it comes to mortgages. It's the biggest financial outlay I'll ever have and I have no intention of mucking it up. So I'm pretty sure I'll try to fix for another 3 years if the rate is below 6%. If not, I'll try to ride it out.

[Gibbo]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

I'm in a similar position. I have a 5 year fixed rate of 4.49% which runs out in December.

I've had a look around and the current fixed rates are not that attractive. We have a weird situation at the moment where the banks are doing their best to ignore the bank of england base rate. They obviously feel it should be higher than it is.

The best I can get with my current lendor is a 3 year fix at 5.79% or 5 years at 5.74% with a fee of £399 in each case.

There is a lot of uncertainty at the moment and we are paying for it in these rates. However, I find myself coming back to the information in this graph:



Which reminds me that the rate has been over 6% quite a lot in the last 25 years or so.

I'm pretty risk averse when it comes to mortgages. It's the biggest financial outlay I'll ever have and I have no intention of mucking it up. So I'm pretty sure I'll try to fix for another 3 years if the rate is below 6%. If not, I'll try to ride it out.

I have only had a mortgage for 8 years but I know the history and any rate like you say under 6% is low in reality. The problem is that house prices have gone through the roof, wages have not followed and the income multiples for most people have become huge.

Only time will tell the right choice but the rates I have mentioned are not the best on market - but they seem the best of any of the 'big' banks at the moment. I will think about it over the weekend.

Thanks for the info.

[M3-FAST]

I have just remortgaged with HSBC today - they are doing 1.76% off their base rate fixed for 2 years. This equated to 4.99% yesterday but should be 4.74% today. The advisor said that HSBC have followed the rate change on there discounted mortages the following month after the BOE announce their rate drop
The fee is a little high at £1999 but I am still saving even after taking this into account. My current lender (C & G) could only offer around 5.5 ish % with £995 fees fixed or tracker for 2 years.

The advisor on the phone today said that this offer was scheduled on his computer to run all of Feb, but since the BOE announced the drop yesterday, the offer now finishes on Sunday.

May be worth a look - I used the web site calculator and it worked OK for me....everyones case is a little different

cheers, Paul

[squeezebm]

[QUOTE=redE93cab;2117796]I have just remortgaged with HSBC today - they are doing 1.76% off their base rate fixed for 2 years. This equated to 4.99% yesterday but should be 4.74% today. The advisor said that HSBC have followed the rate change on there discounted mortages the following month after the BOE announce their rate drop
The fee is a little high at £1999 but I am still saving even after taking this into account. My current lender (C & G) could only offer around 5.5 ish % with £995 fees fixed or tracker for 2 years.

The advisor on the phone today said that this offer was scheduled on his computer to run all of Feb, but since the BOE announced the drop yesterday, the offer now finishes on Sunday.

May be worth a look - I used the web site calculator and it worked OK for me....everyones case is a little different


Red,after reading your info i have just come off the phone to my bank (Hsbc) and changed my mortgage to the same deal,as i was in a similar situation to you cheers pal i've just SAVED some money

[Gibbo]

[QUOTE=squeezebm;2119338]

Originally Posted by redE93cab

I have just remortgaged with HSBC today - they are doing 1.76% off their base rate fixed for 2 years. This equated to 4.99% yesterday but should be 4.74% today. The advisor said that HSBC have followed the rate change on there discounted mortages the following month after the BOE announce their rate drop
The fee is a little high at £1999 but I am still saving even after taking this into account. My current lender (C & G) could only offer around 5.5 ish % with £995 fees fixed or tracker for 2 years.

The advisor on the phone today said that this offer was scheduled on his computer to run all of Feb, but since the BOE announced the drop yesterday, the offer now finishes on Sunday.

May be worth a look - I used the web site calculator and it worked OK for me....everyones case is a little different


Red,after reading your info i have just come off the phone to my bank (Hsbc) and changed my mortgage to the same deal,as i was in a similar situation to you cheers pal i've just SAVED some money

Squeeze go and buy that 911 with the money you have saved.

[scotw]

[QUOTE=Gibbo;2119516]

Originally Posted by squeezebm

Squeeze go and buy that 911 with the money you have saved.

[M3-FAST]

Originally Posted by squeezebm

Red,after reading your info i have just come off the phone to my bank (Hsbc) and changed my mortgage to the same deal,as i was in a similar situation to you cheers pal i've just SAVED some money

superb pleased your sorted!! High initial fee but what a rate!!

[networkguy]

The important thing to remember with fixed rate deals is that sure the rate may drop AFTER you fix your rate but so what?

None of us can see into the future and on a big mortgage it's a lot of money at risk.

If you set the rate at a rate you can afford and then the rates go down a little more (and lets be honest they are not going to fall that much more) you can still afford to meet the repayments.

If you don't set the rate and suddenly their is a rate hike, you may no longer be able to afford the payments and then you are stuffed.

So do you hold out for that extra £30 a month saving at the risk of your payments going up £100 or do you bite the bullet, fix the rate and not have to worry for the next 3/4/5 years?

[booforty]

I think thats a very good point networkguy and I share your view. I would rather pay a little extra for certainty than to take gambles against interest rate fluctuations.

[SDRX]

Hi gibbo, as others have said, i think paying a premium for certainty is not a bad thing. There are very uncertain times ahead: credit control is being rapidly tightened and will be be refused to applicants requesting 4x/5x their income. Add to that an overdue slowdown in the UK property market and the apparent cooling down of the economy, and you begin to see the turbulence ahead.

If i was in your position, get the 5yr fixed deal and pay as much of it off as you can. After that period, your mortgage balance could be so low, you need not care what interest rates are!

[scottjd1]

You might want to consider a 'penalty free' tracker (The one account are quite good)......they have a fee free remortgage (no fees upfront...arragement fee added) and you can switch out at any time, so if you are confident rates will drop then sit on this and in 3-6m time you can change if an appropiate rate appears. Just to consider all your options.


Alos beware re five ear fixed rates...if you are thinking of moving in that time, kenders will let you transfer the rate to a new property but often they wont lend people what they want and therefore penalties are quite often paid on these deals.

Scott

[Steve A]

My advice is stop being a pondy, earn more money and pay the damn thing off!!

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Steve A

My advice is stop being a pondy, earn more money and pay the damn thing off!!

What is a 'pondy'

[jwbmw]

Originally Posted by Steve A

My advice is stop being a pondy, earn more money and pay the damn thing off!!

Agreed, pay it off and then bemoan the crap interest rates we get on our savings. Banks are the real stealer's when it comes to interest on savings accounts and then they have the audacity to use the term high interest!

[Fatbloke]

Looking at NFS's handy graph reminded me that my first mortgage was taken out in the heady heights of 1989 (13%) and then went up a bit more.
Since then we have enjoyed a nice time at the lower end (6%) for some time.
Given that over this 20 year period, the mid point is around 9-10%, any deal which fixes the rate at around or below 6% for a considerable time has got to be worth looking at.
Don't forget that your payment now will not seem as painful in five years time, and in 10 years, you'll probably wonder what all the fuss was about.

Probably.

But don't ask me, i'm skint.