Trading up - bridging - portability etc

samizdat

I am currently living in a flat that may be worth £440,000. I have an offset mortgage with First Direct for up to £325,000 at 49 basis points over Bank of England Base Rate, of which only £55,000 is a real debt. I am considering buying a more expensive property (no advice on whether this is a good idea, please, that is off topic in this thread). I would ideally like to stay a bit below 325k in mortgage debt after buying the new place and selling the current place.

Anyhow, my concern is that it may be difficult to sell my existing property in a synchronised way with the purchase of the new property. What I'd like to know is how I can best use the good-value mortgage I already have - can I transfer it to the new property by remortgaging my existing property on a buy-to-let or second home mortgage and using the portable feature of my existing mortgage to move that onto the new property? Can this be done simultaneously on the day of completion on the new property?

I want to do this because I suspect that I will need/want to sell my existing property fairly shortly after buying the new property and I want to end up with the mortgage deal I currently have but on the new property, while minimising bridging finance costs. What is a decent low arrangement fee buy-to-let mortgage? Should I use a broker?

silvercar

can I transfer it to the new property by remortgaging my existing property on a buy-to-let or second home mortgage and using the portable feature of my existing mortgage to move that onto the new property?

Yes.

Can this be done simultaneously on the day of completion on the new property?

Yes. You wait until you have both mortgage offers and then complete on them simultaneously.

Just make sure the mortgage on your current property has no early redemption penalties. Another option may be a bridging loan, though a lot of lenders may require an exit stategy to be in place before agreeing the loan.