Mortgage Express - Too good to be true?

mickholloway

grb1975 wrote: »

Hi all....
Need a bit of advice. I have a mortgage with ME on a fixed rate until August 2010 at 5.99%. Couple of years ago i changed to an interest only mortgage as my job wasn't exactly safe. I am still on interest only and am £200 (two hundred) in arrears.
They sent me a letter this morning about paying my mortgage off early and that they will be offering no new mortgages.
Thing is, i want to pay off the arrears and change back to a repayment mortgage. Will they allow me to do this? And also, when my mortgage does come up for renewal, what options do i have? As i think with my credit history i would struggle to get a mortgage elsewhere.

Any help would be very grateful. As i am very worried.

Ring them, I have recently moved (early) onto a new fixed rate BTL at 3.99% no fee's/costs for 2 years with ME my old one was 5.09% also with ME. As they are no longer charging for settling early I was able to move early. Incidently them best deal London and Country could find me was 5.45% with a £2500 fee for moving. Had I not rung ME and checked their variable rate and found out that they could offer me the 3.99% fixed for 2 years it would have cost me approx £4600 extra over the two years (this includes the fees to move). I had paperwork from them within 2 days no hassel.

I would call them and ask.:money:

GREGMAY

Hi, I have many btl mortgages with MEX and wondered how you managed to move early to their fixed with no erc. How early? I asked if this could be done and they said no. Perhaps I just need to phone until a customer service person says "yes"! Many thanks

pizzed-monkey

GREGMAY wrote: »

Hi, I have many btl mortgages with MEX and wondered how you managed to move early to their fixed with no erc. How early? I asked if this could be done and they said no. Perhaps I just need to phone until a customer service person says "yes"! Many thanks

...interesting. Personally Im currently on a self-cert tracker, which is 0.49 above base rate untill the end of September, then 2.00 above base rate. Also Im interest only because GF had a baby and can no longer work..... obviously at the moment we are paying practically nothing, which is really helping us keep our heads above water!:j

....but she will hopefully be back in work late summer so I'm looking into options. For a 90% on a self cert this doesn't seem like a bad deal - and we obviously cant get a new deal ANYWHERE else right now, but the headache is we are going to need to move out of London this year as well

---

anyone have any thoughts on wether MEX are likely to still be ok about porting our mortgage to a new property? We would only be looking to buy at the same or less of the value of our current place so that *should* be ok, but will they take this oppurtunity to refuse and hope to get rid of another mortgage?

Essex-girl_2

pizzed-monkey wrote: »

...interesting. Personally Im currently on a self-cert tracker, which is 0.49 above base rate untill the end of September, then 2.00 above base rate. Also Im interest only because GF had a baby and can no longer work..... obviously at the moment we are paying practically nothing, which is really helping us keep our heads above water!:j

....but she will hopefully be back in work late summer so I'm looking into options. For a 90% on a self cert this doesn't seem like a bad deal - and we obviously cant get a new deal ANYWHERE else right now, but the headache is we are going to need to move out of London this year as well

---

anyone have any thoughts on wether MEX are likely to still be ok about porting our mortgage to a new property? We would only be looking to buy at the same or less of the value of our current place so that *should* be ok, but will they take this oppurtunity to refuse and hope to get rid of another mortgage?

Hiya

Dont normaly post on this board but was having a surf today (work avoidance) & came across this. My letter states that you can still move your mortgage to another property as long as it is the same amount or less.

samandmillie

I have received a leter from Mortgage Express too stating that at the end of my current term they may not be able to offer me a re-mortgage/new rate.

My rate is due to end this June (then I switch onto the variable I think, need to dig out the agreement) but the "term" of my mortgage is about 23yrs.

Do you think they mean in June they might not let me have a new rate or in 23yrs?

Many thanks

samandmillie

I have just re-read the letter, it actually says:

"unfortunately, following nationalisation we are no longer able to offer new morgtgages, re-mortgages or further advances. Also, from this point on we may not necessarily be able to offer you a new interest rate deal when the term of your existing deal ends".

I've just looked at my original agreement. It states:

Mortgage Product - 3yr 1.51% discount (which expires June this yr) then tracker plus 2%.

Interest rate type & interest - A variable rate which is 0.49% above the BOE base rate, currently 4.5% for 3yrs, to give a current rate payable of 4.99%.
A variable rate which is 2% above the BOE base rate, currently 4.5% thereafter, to give a current payable rate of 6.5%.
On each anniversary of the loan release date the property value and it's LTV will be reviewd and reset.

Restrictions on this mortgage - The mortgage is available to a max of 90% of the property valuation or purchase price, whichever is lower.

Can someone please translate this into plain english for me please (I'm a simple when it comes to things like this lol).

Do you think they mean that in June they might not offer me a new rate or do you think I'll go onto the rate stated above? If it is what's stated above, what interest rate do you think I'll be on (if you base it on today's BOE rate)?

Many thanks in advance

mickholloway

GREGMAY wrote: »

Hi, I have many btl mortgages with MEX and wondered how you managed to move early to their fixed with no erc. How early? I asked if this could be done and they said no. Perhaps I just need to phone until a customer service person says "yes"! Many thanks

3 months early, they have dropped the early redemption so I was told this has also been posted in other threads.

Husband_of_a_spendaholic

OneDayCloser wrote: »

Hello,

We are in the last 3 months of our current fixed rate deal (5.59%) and about to go to the SVR of 4.84%.

Mortgage Express have offered a new fixed rate of 4.29% for 2 years, available immediately, with no arrangement fees and no early redemption fees if we re-mortgage within the 2 years. In 2 years it goes to B.O.E. rate + 2.74%.

We were concerned this is too good to be true, considering we will save £240 per month, with no apparent charges.

Is this normal when you stay with your existing company?

Regards... O.D.C.

Yes, these rates are true. The primary aim of them is to help people maintain their budgets and prevent them falling into arrears by lowering payments. The reason they have no fees is because Bradford & Bingley Group no longer has profit as an objective and the reason there are no tie ins, is that they ultimately want you to redeem as soon as you are able so that the taxpayer can be repaid.

Their forecasts are that the market will recover in about 2 years and other banks will start offering decent rates, but are hedging their bets incase it recovers earlier.

Husband_of_a_spendaholic

grb1975 wrote: »

Hi all....
Need a bit of advice. I have a mortgage with ME on a fixed rate until August 2010 at 5.99%. Couple of years ago i changed to an interest only mortgage as my job wasn't exactly safe. I am still on interest only and am £200 (two hundred) in arrears.
They sent me a letter this morning about paying my mortgage off early and that they will be offering no new mortgages.
Thing is, i want to pay off the arrears and change back to a repayment mortgage. Will they allow me to do this? And also, when my mortgage does come up for renewal, what options do i have? As i think with my credit history i would struggle to get a mortgage elsewhere.

Any help would be very grateful. As i am very worried.

I work at Bradford & Bingley / MEX and I can advise the following.
When your fixed rate expires, you will go onto the SVR or PVR. Which depends on your product and whether you originally took out the mortgage with MEX, GMAC or Kensington. If you dig out your original mortgage offer it will state what that the reversion rate is. You can change your mortgage back to repayment anytime, just call the contact centre and they should arrange to send you a form to complete.

Husband_of_a_spendaholic

samandmillie wrote: »

I have received a leter from Mortgage Express too stating that at the end of my current term they may not be able to offer me a re-mortgage/new rate.

My rate is due to end this June (then I switch onto the variable I think, need to dig out the agreement) but the "term" of my mortgage is about 23yrs.

Do you think they mean in June they might not let me have a new rate or in 23yrs?

Many thanks

In June, your mortgage will revert to the Standard/Product Variable Rate. (Which will be detailed on your mortgage offer). What the above statement means is that at the end of you deal, there may not be new attractive rates available for you to switch on to. This would mean that you would be paying the variable rate until the end of your term. If your rate ends in June, I would suggest that you call up in March to discuss your options.