Standard Life Fixed Period Ending...

stinky985

Hi all, My Standard Life Fixed rate (6.15%) is ending 31/3/10. i was looking forward to a fairly good reduction in monthly repayments until i found the SVR is 5.34%. Shockingly high i thought considering the Base Rate is 0.5%.
Anyway, i bank with Barclays (and they now own Standard Life) so was looking at something like their lifetime tracker at a more reasonable 3% ish rate. I digress.
I am looking at all options-selling and renting etc but lowering mortgage with the option to port the mortgage to a potential new property in the future will lower monthly outgoings to a less than renting amount.
I digress again sorry!
My question is how soon should i actively start to look around for a new mortgage? e.g. contact advisors,lenders etc to think about applying. I am not going to actually redeem existing mortgage before the 31/3 as i dont want to pay the stupid redemption fee.
TIA

herbiesjp

Best to start looking now.

As some lenders are particularly slow, and may take that long to get things sorted.

Whether a re-mortgage is possible at good rates, or even at all, will depend on what the property value is, and what mortgage balance is outstanding - can you supply these?

stinky985

thanks Herbie.
Cant provide all at the moment. the property value is about £125k but i had to re-register on the website to look at my mortgage balance/account ands they post passwords out. I will phone them up after lunch and see if i can get it as of today.
i should have approx £30k equity though depending on valuation accuracy above!

herbiesjp

That looks like 76% LTV

If you can get to 75% LTV or under you should be able to get some good deals - better than 5.34% anyway.

stinky985

Thanks again Herbie. As of March 2009 i had outstanding just shy of 95k. So i hopefully will be under the 75% LTV now/by the time fixed period ends in March. Currently on a repayment for info too.

herbiesjp

That definitely helps.

You need the property valuation to stack up as well. Have any properties sold recently in your road?

stinky985

herbiesjp wrote: »

That definitely helps.

You need the property valuation to stack up as well. Have any properties sold recently in your road?

I just looked on Rightmove and there are 2 the same as mine (5 yr old houses) and they were both on for 135k so i guess they sold for around 130k.

i must say that i am contemplating selling and renting but if i can get a portable mortgage to allow me to move later (i'm divorced with 2 kids - 1 of each and the eldest is nearly 10 and they need their own rooms), then it may all not be necessary! Wish i could afford to move soon as would be easier !

herbiesjp

Get in contact with a good whole of market adviser and let them know what you are looking for.

They should be able to help you find something.

Please remember though, there are NO guarantees with portability.

It is subject to meeting the T&Cs at the time of needing to port, and they may well have changed since the time you took out the mortgage initially.

stinky985

Herbie thanks for all your help.
I will do that. Just noticed an offer on a new build house locally whilst looking so gonna check it out!

samsgr

Hi
We spoke to SL yesterday to be told that they are doing no new remortgages - we are on the variable now (yes high compared to most) - but the main worry is if no new remortgages are being offered with them, we need a self cert mortgage - noone is doing them! HELP

herbiesjp

What is your property value?
What is the mortgage amount?

Why self cert?