Paying Off The Mortgage - What To Do ???

shilts

Hi , i hope to pay off my Alliance & Leicester mortgage in the very near future and need a little help on the best way to do it . When my fixed rate comes to an end i will have about £2.5k left . What i thought was that when the fixed rate ends and the mortgage reverts to a standard variable rate i would immediately pay off the remaining balance so as to pay the minimum amount of interest without penalty . What would then happen to my deeds as regard to storage and what would be the most cost effective way of doing this , ie , leaving a small balance so as to let the Alliance & Leicester look after my deeds for free ? I really haven't got a clue what is best and would appreciate any advice , cheers .;)

bobbie78

fire proof safe? I *think*, although I'm sure someone who knows better will come correct me, that you don't actually need the deeds any more. Not the actual paper document I have mine already and I only bought my house in 2007 but I think because the mortgage company are also listed with the land registry they don't actually care about the paper deeds any more and it is done electronically now. I don't know if the land registry site would confirm that for you I found this link looking quickly but it isn't from their site.

Hopefully someone can explain the proper version but I wouldn't keep your mortgage going just for that just buy a little fire proof safe, or can you just keep them in the same place your will is?

Welshlassie

All deeds are electronic these days and held with the Land Registry so don't worry about them. Pay off your mortgage if you want to, but remember is can sometimes be worth keeping a v small balance as it is the cheapest way of borrowing money and should you need large sum of money in the future still having a mortgage can help.

shilts

Thanks Bobbie78 & Welshlassie , i will confirm with the land registry & keep them myself then , cheers .;)

Haggis_01

Check the details of your fixed rate deal. The Nationwide allows you to make any amount of repayment in the last month of a fixed rate deal. If this was the case with your lender you would not have to go onto the Standard Variable rate for the £2.5K, infact you could pay it off on day 1, of your last month thus saving a bit of intesest too.

EssexHebridean

Although it's no longer necessary to hang onto paper deeds, I'd urge people to still do so. Nothing to do with the legalities, just an interesting historical document for the future. Some of the old leases etc which may well be included in the bundle relating to your property are fascinating, and should under no circumstance be thrown away!

shilts

Thanks Haggis 01 & EssexHebridean . Good point Haggis 01 about the last month payment , i will check and see if this is the case , if not i will pay it off on day one of the standard variable rate . I still feel a little uneasy about keeping the deeds at home as i have since heard conflicting reports as to whether or not the deeds are of any great importance , and if the worst case scenario happened and they were lost or destroyed this would cause any problems in the future , cheers .;)

m_zafar

My father paid off his mortgage on his second property. He has had it on rent for over 5 years now. The property was under his, wives and daughters name. One off the tenants forged their passports, had the property transferred under their name, took out a secure loan of £200k against the property and did a runner!

So, a lesson learnt here:

leave the deeds with the bank. leave a small balance as already stated for security.

It has cost my dad over £10k so far to get his property back.... the case continues