Remortgage from NR to Halifax?

c'est_moi

Hi - looking for some advice as I am getting really bogged down in all the comparison sites!!

I have a mortgage with NR - owe them £36K with 6 year till the end of mortgage. House is worth about £120K. I have been making overpayments of £600 for about a year. My fixed rate came to an end a couple of months ago and I am now on their SVR at 4.54%.

In the Halifax today I made an appt to see their advisor as I know I can get a better deal elsewhere.

My question is - would I be better looking elsewhere? I want to be mortgage free asap - ideally in 3 years or so. I think I may be better of staying on SVR. Also, I have a feeling that Halifax may try to persuade me to take out their insurance - bad idea? Currently do not have my insurance with my mortgage lender.

Any advice please?:)

VIGILANT22

NR mortgage is very flexible in the respect you can make overpayments without any penalty, this applies regardless of whether you're on a fixed/tracker/svr rate........You can also borrow back....
To leave NR you will have an exit fee, for closing down account.
Halifax will either offer you a product with an arrangement fee and a lower rate or a higher rate and no arrangement fee
You can't go on their svr so you will be tied to a product for x amount of years
Possible restrictions on overpayments
Then when you close down the account you will have another exit fee
Re' insurance.. you can leave it with yr current provider as long as it is adequate

c'est_moi

hmmm thanks for that.

I just think that 4.54% is higher than I could get elsewhere. As I am not tied in to any product I think my only fee to NR would be the £250 discharge of mortgage fee. I do like the fact that I can make repayments as high as I like currently - though at this rate I will be looking to repay 3 years early. If I stay put do I have to keep a niminal amount owing to avoid the early repayment fee - or is that just daft for the sake of £250?

Treied reading the Halifax website for more info on fees, rates etc, but must be dim because I just can't work it out. Hopefully a chat with a real person will make it clearer!

opinions4u

c'est_moi wrote: »

I have a mortgage with NR - owe them £36K with 6 year till the end of mortgage. House is worth about £120K. I have been making overpayments of £600 for about a year. My fixed rate came to an end a couple of months ago and I am now on their SVR at 4.54%.

That will probably be as flexible as you'll get. You might get a cheaper rate elsewhere, but not the flexibility to overpay.

My question is - would I be better looking elsewhere?

If you owed more, I'd say yes. If you are genuinely convinced that being mortgage free within 3 years is an option though, remortgaging and paying £1000 in product fees might not be the best route.

Also, I have a feeling that Halifax may try to persuade me to take out their insurance - bad idea?

The cover is usually good quality. If the price is competitive it's a good idea. If it's not, use the magic words "no thanks".

c'est_moi

yes - am beginning to woder if it's worth the hassle. However, I suppose I could change the term of the mortgae to 3 years when I move it - therefore will have no need to make overpayments.

VIGILANT22

I doubt if any lender would offer you a new deal on 3 years, most lenders only take on clients with a minimum tern of 5 years....You would have to tell them the term was 6 years and take a 3 yr deal..You would have to wait until you finished your 3yr deal and went on to SVR before you could close mortgage account without penalties.
If you reduced the term, your monthly payment will change considerably, overpaying at the moment is an option..However by reducing yr term you're committing yourself to that amount each month, do you have an emergency fund/savings/insurance to fall back on in the event of illness or redundancy that would support the level of payment a decreased term would be.
Re' insurance again no problem requesting a quote and comparing...and then you can make an informed decision.........
Quote: If I stay put do I have to keep a niminal amount owing to avoid the early repayment fee - or is that just daft for the sake of £250?
You are confusing exit fees with ERC's (Early Repayment Charge)....You are on the SVR so no ERC's apply............The fee is a Mortgage Exit Fee for closing down the account/discharging the deeds etc

c'est_moi

thanks again - you are being very patient with me!!

Putting up my payments by £600 per month is (thank God!) not really a problem - I do have ISAs etc 'just in case'.

It did occur to me that no lender is going to fall over themselves to offer me a deal - just not enough profit left in my mortgage for them. Have taken another look at the halifax site. Looking at the 3 year deals I do think that that any savings I could make would be pretty trivial by the time the fees are taken into account. It looks like NR will keep my custom - the flexibility of the overpayments is clincher - it does allow for the unexpected.