Any mortgage brokers online

MSE_Martin

seikothrill wrote: »

I am also waiting for a reponse from ML as it would appear this thread is the first where I have seen people revolt against ML.

ML - please explain how it would be to my advantage to redeem my fixed rate product now when it has a £10275 early repayment penalty and also taking into account the additional costs of new product?

Yes the new mortgage may reduce monthly outgoing but what about the additional borrowing of approx £11000 (once fees included) and the additonal amount of loan interest on the 11 years I have left remaining.

Short term gain for long term pain.

I would also need to increase protection which is an additional cost

There is a response above as for your point.
"ML - please explain how it would be to my advantage to redeem my fixed rate product now when it has a £10275 early repayment penalty and also taking into account the additional costs of new product?"

I'm confused by the question. Why on earth would I explain its to your advantage when it clearly isn't? I find it difficult to answer a question asking me to explain something I haven't said, and would never countenance. Im guessing you didn't read what I actually wrote.

If its not that, and you just found some of the terms difficult, feel free to ask me what they mean and I will happily clairify.

Kind regards

Martin

MSE_Martin

One apology

I have just noticed that the post at the top is mistitled and came from a slightly earlier draft before proofing.

The actual email sent (see www.moneysavingexpert.com/latesttip) was titled...

Fixed mortgage? Ditch & switch to a low rate deal?

the one here is

Fixed mortgage? Ditch & switch to a low rate deal

If anyone's comment is due to the lack of question mark, then that's just a typo in this version - and I can understand how that may've caused confusion. THe real version sent had the ?

__________

MSE_Martin

Actually looking through this... it was based on a much earlier version and was changed a lot before the send... the actual thing sent was

Fixed mortgage? Can you ditch & switch to a low rate deal?

After a political kick, most mortgage lenders' variable rates have followed the UK 1.5% interest rate CUT, leaving some on tracker or discounted deals paying historic lows. Pundits predict more rate cuts, though lenders won't necessarily pass them on.

Ditch your fix checklist! By definition, those on fixed-rates haven’t gained. Many are asking whether ditching & switching, even with a penalty, will save you cash. Here's the checklist:

• Loan-to-values (LTV). Only those borrowing LESS than 75% of a home’s current value are likely to get competitive deals. Otherwise, saving by switching's unlikely.
• Interest rate. Those who fixed at 5% or less are unlikely to gain; nearer 6% and savings are possible.
• Fix length. Those on short-term deals are most likely to gain. With longer, five or 10 year fixes, it's a balance of rate security vs short term savings.
• The penalty. Most fixed-rate deals have big penalties if you leave early. Yet the sheer rate cut size means even a £1,000+ penalty may be worth paying.
• When it ends. If your deal ends within a few months, it's unlikely to be worth paying the penalty. Yet if you've longer to go, ditching & switching's more attractive.

How to find out: If the checklist makes a ditch, switch & save look possible, contact a whole of market broker to do some detailed comparison numbers, incl. switching fees. Most reputable brokers won’t charge you unless you actually end up getting a new deal through them. More info: Mortgage Broker Guide, Remortgage Guide Discuss: Ditch your fix

Aaagh

olly300 wrote: »

You and others should learn to read the emails properly.

All the emails do state that things do not suit everyone.

I do read the e-mails properly. I wish I had kept the 'emergeny e-mail' that was sent at the end of July telling everyone that if they hadn't fixed their energy prices to do it urgently. Does anyone still have it? If there was some wording in it to say it may not be the best thing for me to do, then
I missed it.

Having said that, it was advice given by an expert and given the situation at the time and all the predictions around then it was the right advice to give. I'm not knocking the advice, just saying that it didn't work out for me that time.

InMyDreams

Aaagh wrote: »

I do read the e-mails properly. I wish I had kept the 'emergeny e-mail' that was sent at the end of July telling everyone that if they hadn't fixed their energy prices to do it urgently. Does anyone still have it? If there was some wording in it to say it may not be the best thing for me to do, then
I missed it.

I still have it. It said...

Is it ALWAYS best to cap?
If prices do rise 60%, as predicted, then everyone should cap. Yet even if this were to be the last round of price rises for a year, most people would still save by capping. The cheapest caps are roughly 10% - 15% more expensive than the cheapest non-capped tariffs. As this round of price rises is likely to be about 20%, most will still save. And even if, in the unlikely event, you do end up paying a few percentage points more, capping is effectively an insurance policy against further rises.

So I would say that yes, it does say that if prices don't rise again, some won't save. But we all expected prices to rise and even Martin didn't tell us they definitely would. Unfortunately we were driving up to a deserted island (no TV let alone Internet) when we heard Martin's R2 slot urging people to fix. It was 2 weeks before we were able to do anything about it, but by then, thanks to Martin's advice, we worked out that we'd probably missed the boat so didn't panic-fix. How fast did you act? (And PM me with your email address if you want me to forward the actual email to you.)

Aaagh

Thanks IMD. I stand corrected. I did fix more or less as soon as the e-mails came through as I didn't want to miss the boat. I'm very careful with my energy use, so I don't think it will make a great difference anyway.

Will PM you for the e-mail, just for interest.

MSE_Martin

Hi folks

Im actually planning to write on the energy fixing scenario and have already explained in the blog.

Whats bizarre is I've taken a lot of flack that i "didnt TELL people to cap as caps always win" MSN money wrote a piece saying just that.

The key to capping as always was timing. When I was suggesting "last chance to cap" it was PRE the last rise of around 30% higher than first thought. So those who capped (and I always did explain there was no guarantee of future price rises) should already be saving as you weren't impacted by the last rise.

Yet its now seen as energy prices may drop 10%-20% in January. This was unthinkable in August (though I did deliberately say anything is possible). And will mean that after the prices cuts take effect, most people will be (and i have to do proper numbers on this yet) on roughly the same tariff as they would've been - hopefully having saved in the mean time or there abouts - yet with the insurance for another six months of no future price rises.

Its also worth noting that many of the caps back then have no lock in anyway and there it was a total no brainer.

Of course here there was a catch on the back of the huge speedy global recession; yet I have always said capping is a way to insure yourself again price rises, and a play for surety. In much the same way as fixed rate mortgages.

martin

Aaagh

I capped but only till February 2009 when the first e-mails came round, then panicked when the 'last chance to cap' came through and capped at a higher rate to 2011, so that it would be fixed for longer. I don't think there are any tie ins though, so I will wait and see what future recommendations are and decide whether I think I will be better off on a different deal.

Aaagh

I decided tohave a look around at tariffs and I have switched to British Gas Click Energy 6, as I THINK it's a better deal for me.

Who knows!

Anyway, this thread has gone off tangent now so I'm probably posting on the wrong forum to discuss this one.

Chez_Guevara

I'm a little worried about how 'rate chasing' is becoming more important than 'risk profile'.

I am a mortgage broker and I ask all my clients the same question - can you still afford your mortgage if it were to go up by 1%?

If the answer is no, they really should be going fixed. If the answer is yes, they can consider a tracker. Remember, even the cheapest trackers are about 1.8% or so above base - which would have meant a mortgage of nearly 7% only a few months ago.

The 'cheap' tracker mortgages available now only look cheap because there's a 4 in front of them. The margin between the rate and the base rate is actually much higher than it was.

If rates go up again - and who knows what the hell is round the corner in the next 2 or 3 years - there's going to be a lot of people squealing, particularly if they had to pay a large penalty to get it in the first place.

Rates are transient - your risk profile is permanent.