A & L - advice please

jrs101

Hi,

My fixed rate mortgage deal ends on 31 Aug, currently 5.79% with alliance and Leicester. Been with them for 3 years. Their current SVR is 4.99. Owe about £155000.

I called them and advise there are ONLY 2 products available to me (both fixed) as the LTV is high (about 80%). They told me they use halifax valuing system and I think its too low a valuation. They said I could pay a valuation of £100 and see if its worth more. Is this worth doing?

The deals are:
3 yr fixed 4.99% £399 fee
5 yr fixed 5.99% £399 fee

I'm tempted to go with another lender - whats the likelyhood of remortgaging with another lender and getting a deal? For intance first direct offer low fixed rates.

Any advice from anyone?

_Andy_

Any other lender is also going to want a valuation, which you may or may not have to pay for.

Fliss_M

Are you sure it goes onto SVR? With A+L it could be a tracker

worto03

I'm in a similar posotion with A&L, I'm on 88% LTV though and was offered :-

do nothing and end up on SVR of 4.99%
or
3 yr fixed 4.99% £399 fee
5 yr fixed 5.49% £399 fee

I've been looking around to find something better but am going for the 5 year 5.49% at the mo, nothing else seems to come close with the poor LTV. I have 6 days left of my cooling off period to find something else then I'm stuck with it.

Not sure why you would be offered 5.99% with a better LTV than me unless thier rates have changed in the last few days.

worto

jrs101

My mistake.

The 5 year deal is the same rate as you quote.

My main concern is how easy it will be to switch to another lender with about ltv 80%.

Is there Halifax price index accurate?? Seems to be very low.

jrs101

What is the liklehood of being suuccesful in "switching" to another lender being that I'm in this current position with Alliance and Leicester?

owe £162000
house value 185000 (or so the A & L tell me as they use halifax price index)
High LTV (88%)

Fliss_M

Slim. You could if you found a 90% mortgage, but I wouldnt like to see the rate

worto03

I'm taking the same 5year deal as you have been offered then by the sounds of it, I've been looking around for about 2 weeks on 88% LTV and havn't been offered much at all.

So sticking with the A&L seems to be my only option until my LTV is better. If you do manage to find anything let me know!

worto.

jrs101

worto03 wrote: »

I'm taking the same 5year deal as you have been offered then by the sounds of it, I've been looking around for about 2 weeks on 88% LTV and havn't been offered much at all.

So sticking with the A&L seems to be my only option until my LTV is better. If you do manage to find anything let me know!

worto.

But surely this "halifax price index" isnt a valuation across the board? Is it a standard valuation of all proces? Is it gospel?

worto03

But surely this "halifax price index" isnt a valuation across the board? Is it a standard valuation of all proces? Is it gospel?

You can pay a fee for them to come and re-evaluate your house but it's unlikely that they are going to evaluate it so much higher than the price index that it makes a diference to your rates.

I spoke to my old IFA who said he would look around and see if anyone would do a better deal instead of using the halifax prices as not all lenders use them but he's not called me back so I assume he hasn't managed to find anything.

Unless you've done a lot of work on your house so you think it's been very undervalued I don't see how it's worth it.

We're building an extension soon (well in 4 years) so will get the house re-evaluated after that.

Bear in mind when reading my ramblings that I'm no expert at all on this & only started looking into these things about a month ago when I started to come towards the end of my fixed term so feel free to disagree with me!

worto.

jrs101

worto03 wrote: »

You can pay a fee for them to come and re-evaluate your house but it's unlikely that they are going to evaluate it so much higher than the price index that it makes a diference to your rates.

I spoke to my old IFA who said he would look around and see if anyone would do a better deal instead of using the halifax prices as not all lenders use them but he's not called me back so I assume he hasn't managed to find anything.

Unless you've done a lot of work on your house so you think it's been very undervalued I don't see how it's worth it.

We're building an extension soon (well in 4 years) so will get the house re-evaluated after that.

Bear in mind when reading my ramblings that I'm no expert at all on this & only started looking into these things about a month ago when I started to come towards the end of my fixed term so feel free to disagree with me!

worto.

When I spoke to A & L a few days ago they said they use an independant valuation service called eserve or esense?? I beleive it is £95 to get a valuation.

Its frustrating then as there are some great deals out there, fixed, trackers etc but 4.99% for 3 yrs doesnt seem particularly great!

They said they offer a tracker of 3.29% (including Bank of england rate of .5%) for 3 years but can only get that if your LTV is 80%.