Getting very confused.....need advice! best fixed rate & mortgage cover available

Failte

Need an experts advice as getting very confused.........

Looking for our second house and researching mortgages at the moment. We plan to buy for £260,000 and fingers crossed we will have £80000 in equity from the sale of our current house.

This is the best deal we have found so far:
NatWest 4.39% 36mths £499 product fee, 25yr

Is this the best rate available to me?

Should I be looking for 2/3 yr fixes or even longer?

Are NatWest a good company to take out a mortgage with? Currently with northern rock as previous mortgage was 95% plus 5% unsecured loan.

How much should I be paying for mortgage cover?
Currently have a policy with Scottish Widows
Sum assured 166,500, 30yrs, life assurance cover?critical illness cover included £77.53 monthly.
What would be the best deal available with a new mortgage? When we purchased our firts house we went through an advisor and to be honest I am not sure that this cover is very competative.

If I get a mortgage in principle how long will the rate remain available? could NatWest for example pull the rate off the market? Our house has not sold at the moment and we have not yet found a house that we would like to make an offer on. When we do find 'The House......' will the estate agent require a deposit to secure our offer or will the equity we get from the sale of our current property act as the deposit.

Thank you in advance for your advice..........

jamesperrett

You can get a rough idea of how much you should be paying for insurance by using a comparison website like Moneysupermarket.com although the exact amount will depend on your specific circumstances.

Assuming you are in England, you don't have to pay a deposit until you exchange contracts which will happen after your mortgage has been arranged and all the searches carried out.

I seem to remember that our mortgage offer was valid for 6 months although different lenders will have different policies.

Cheers

James.