interest rates cut-sick as a parott!!!

latecomer

very few people will take out one mortgage and stick to it. As their needs change so will their house and hence mortgage.

We took out a 5 year fixed at 5.39% back in feb with £1000 of fees and a large redemption penatly. Rates would have to drop significantly for it to be worth us changing. But hey, we were happy having a fixed monthly payment and there is no way to know what willl happen to rates in the future so for us thats a price worth paying.

rp8049

Locoblade wrote: »

I'm fairly certain it would have been First Direct's offerings, which have zero fees on the +0.79% deal and a £999 fee on the +0.49% deal. Im on the latter but the former is a good deal if you plan to be on it for a shorter period then jump to a fixed if they drop.

Yep, that's the one:beer:

space_rider

I reserved a tracker the day the Lehman Bros went bust. According to the news the banks are now pulling some of their trackers. Looks like I did it at the right time.

inca_2

Some well-respected posters, including a mortgage adviser (surely, in the wrong job)

If that post was directed at me then no, actually I am not in the wrong job. So I fixed before rates came down, so what? I'm not complaining about it, I was a first time buyer and wanted to be sure that I could afford the payments whatever the base rate did. It didn't concern me that rates may go down, it concerned me that I wanted to guarantee I could afford the payments, I think I advised myself pretty well according to my own needs.

Ian_Griffiths_Halifax

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

It is not surprising that so many people fix at the wrong time. Buying high, selling cheap.

When rates rise people want security and fix but it is often too late. As rates fall, they all want to track - but that 's the time to fix!

Some well-respected posters, including a mortgage adviser (surely, in the wrong job) have fixed when rates were at, or near, the top. Nearly all commentators were suggesting the next move was down for some time.

GG

With all that is going on at the moment, there will be people who took out a Fixed Rate last year, who will be very very gratefull and happy that they did.

A drop on Wednesday doesn't mean that they WILL keep on dropping. They MIGHT, but then again during their Fixed Rate period they MIGHT go up again.

For the majority, stability of knowing what their outgoing might be, outweighs the possibility of a drop and besides, while the base rate has dropped, anybody waiting for the drop before getting a fixed rate are now finding that they have actually gone up!

Only people with VERY VERY secure jobs and easy affordability should consider a variable rate unless they take a tracker over a very short term.

For those wanting to edge their bets, Nationwide allow you to go onto a Tracker but then if you want to at any time, you can switch to their Fixed range without paying a penalty.

woozywendy

Treadmill wrote: »

I fixed for 5 years @ 5.99 in 1998 and saw the base rate fall to 3.5% in that time. I fixed for 10 years last month @ 5.99% and reckon now that the base rate will go to 3.5% or lower... Twice bitten I guess. But I'm happy enough knowing that I can afford my mortgage regardless of what happens to the base rate. Don't beat yourself up about it

I did exactly the same as you in 1999 and we are due to remortgage again next july. If we can get 5.99 again I would be happy.

mummytofour

Im fixed at 6.59 and now the income support payments wont cover my mortgage

Mutton_Geoff

I fixed at 15% (yes, you read that correctly) in 1990 for a five year term on the advice of a pensions advisor. Cost me £10k (about 10% of the loan) to get out of the deal two years later when I realised how dumb this move had been!

CountingPenniesClaire

Hi Panic - Definitely dont beat yourself up over fixing in. There are a lot of people out there who will envy your position. You have very wisely, particularly as a first time mortgager, opted for the certainty of a fix in very uncertain times, and you can certainly make it work for you. Back in 2001, when things were more positive economically, we fixed in at 5.69% for 7 years for our first property and mortgage and missed out on the lower rates that subsequently followed. But we found other ways to make the fix work for us. For starter we haven't had to pay astronomical arrangement fees etc associated with remortgaging AND we have carefully overpayed on the mortgage effectively reducing the interest rate we pay. So please don't beat yourself up. Work out a plan to help reduce the rate and then sit back and enjoy peace of mind (a very rare commodity!) Claire

hethmar

Id rather pay a bit over the odds for a fixed rate that I am comfortably able to repay than be on tenterhooks all the time wondering if the rates will shoot up beyond my means. Stop thinking about it, just enjoy the new house.