Northern Rock Re-Mortgages - Best out there?

mleonard79

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for remortgage deals at the moment and have spoken to a few brokers - L&C, Chasedevere, moneyextra.com and moneysupermarket.com (who apprently contract out to brokers in your local area). I posted a thread on here a few days ago asking for some advice in which I detailed all my requirements

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=224433

L&C recommended a Nationwide lifetime tracker at 5.08%with £99 fee.

Chasedevere recommended a Woolwich Lifetime tracker at 4.79% with no fee but I'm dubious about this as L&C told me we didn't qualify for this as we were only asking for £35.5K.

Moneyextra didn't recommend anything telling me that I would be better just keeping my existing mortgage as all I would save is pennies which doesn't seem to be true at all.

I then called Northern Rock as I'd seen their deals in a best buy table and found that they came up top for both a tracker and fixed rate deal. The broker I talked with at moneysupermarket also recommended the NR deals saying he found NR to be one of the best to deal with. He also offered to complete it for me. The tracker is a 5 year deal at 4.79% (or 5.08% for a lifetime tracker) and the fixed rate is 5.29%. Due to their fee save facility it will work out as fees free. What I'd like to ask the experts on here is:

1 Do you know these products and are they definitely the best on the market? If anyone's seen anything better please let me know.

2 If it does turn out NR are the best to go with then should I complete with the local broker moneysupermarket put me through to or complete direct with NR? Which is best?

3 What is Northern Rock's reputation in terms of service etc? Are they a good reliable lender to go with? If anyone has experience of having a NR motgage I'd be interested to hear your insights too.

4 The tricky one!! I can't decide whether we should go for the tracker or the fixed. Due to the fact that fixed rates seem to have rocketed up in the last few months that may mean interest rates are going to rise soon but I could be wrong and I know that interest rates haven't risen much here in over 5years. If I go with the tracker I would (so long as rates didn't change) save £6-800 on the fixed but of course the fixed would give me peace of mind. Is it worth just paying the extra £6-800 for that? Any opinions would be most welcome.

Thanks a lot for any help.

Regards,
Michelle

MortgageMamma

Hi Michelle

I'mnot criticising but this is what happens when you instruct so many brokers, all the deals recommended have very different features and I think the best thing you could do in these circumstances is go back to the brokers you mention and ask why they didnt recommend you nothern rocks product. I would always recommend you use the broker you feel the most at ease with, and who you can communicate with best, it does not matter if they are phone based or face to face, but one thing you should bear in mind is that phone based companies are "sales" orientated, whereas with a face to face advisor you are more likely to get "advice orientated". A self employed sole trader is a good option as they don;t have targets!

mleonard79

Hi MM,
Thanks for replying. I see what you mean, I'd just thought that by speaking to different people I would be able to compare and would be more likely to get the best deal out there instead of relying on one person. I'll ring back the L&C and Chasedevere people tomorrow and ask them why they hadn't recommended NR. I don't think there's much point ringing the other one as they didn't recommend anything. How would I go about finding a self-employed sole trader? What do you think about the NR products yourself - Do you think there are any better deals out there for what I need? Thanks again.

Michelle

dwight-van-man

Hi Michelle,
Cant comment on the suitability of NR since I work for them (!) but I can answer some of your questions if that helps..... Firstly, use a broker, dont go direct. A good broker will have experience of dealing with any lender, know their policies and procedures and know who to phone if your application needs pushing along a bit. Mortgage Mammas advice about using a smaller independent is good - the brokers you mentioned are big but not necessarily knowledgable about your specific area. Smaller generally means a more personal service.

NR's processing service for brokers is also better than if you go direct. The processing team who deal with applications from your area (your location is down as Glasgow) will get your application to offer in 6-8 days, as long as your broker packages it properly. On top of this, you have the option to take the rapid remortgage option which does the legal work for you and gives a four week turnaround time guarantee. Issuing funds three weeks after application submission is becoming common.

Tracker v Fixed - its up to you which you feel safest with, but both do give you the option of unlimited overpayments (providing you leave a balance of £1.00) and a borrow back facility so you could either reduce the effect of the higher rate on the fix or more easily absort rate increases on the tracker.

KTF

When you say 'fee free' do you mean no product fee or no fees at all - legal, etc. - because on the NR website it only mentions that you can have the product fee added to the amount (which almost all lenders will give you the option of doing):

http://www.northernrock.co.uk/mortgages/saveFees.asp

Interest would then be charged on this fee as it would be part of the total borrowed amount.

dwight-van-man

The fee situ is as follows - NR have two product ranges, those with a Product fee and the Product Fee Save Option. The first charges £695 which can be added to the loan, the second charges a slightly higher rate but does not carry the fee. On the 5 year deals this differential is 0.1%. HOWEVER - both ranges carry a £75 application fee and a £220 valuation commission fee. In England these are collected along with the val fee, in Scotland they are added to the loan and the val is arranged via the broker. So under the Fee Save Option, there are fees of £295 added plus the option of the Rapid Remortgage which costs £350 (in Scotland) plus the val at say £150 (don't know the property value so guessing) so total fees charged of £795. Help With Costs offers a £750 cashback with a two year tie in (for r/m only), thus making the total fees charged of £45

mleonard79

Hi Dwight and KFT,
As far as the fees go when I said 'fees free' that was probably a bit confusing. I meant that with the help with costs payment I would end up with no fees to pay at all. The two mortgages I'm talking about are fee saver options so there is no arrangement fee. As far as I've been told the valuation fees including NR's facilitation fee would come to £455 and the legal fees approx. £200 which makes £655 so taking into account the help with costs of £750 that leaves me with them paying me £95. However as I'm not asking for a straight balance transfer and am adding a little onto the mortgage I will be charged a fee of £95 for this making the sum total in my case £0. Hope that explains it KFT.

Thanks a lot for your insights Dwight. I will definitely go through a broker then. The one I talked to from Moneysupermarket was a local broker (I think they contract out to brokers within your postcode area when you request a call back) so I may go with him. The company's called One Solution if anyone in Glasgow knows it?? I don't know if it's a big company or small independent but he sounded quite on the ball. When you say the rapid remortgage costs £350 what do you mean - I thought this was a free service?

I'm still undecided on tracker or fixed - I can't make my mind up whether I think interest rates will rise more than one percent!! I guess I'm edging toward the fixed but I know I'll kick myself if rates don't go up - at least I won't need to worry about them if they do though. If anyone has any ideas about my other questions please let me know! I'm really interested in whether the experts on here think these are the best deals out there for my circumstances - just want reassurance really that I'm not missing out on something better! Plus if anyone has an NR mortgage I'd be interested in your insights in to their service. Thanks a lot.

Michelle

arnie&caseysma!

hi there! I have used three different mortgage companies in the past, royl bank of scotland, nationwide, and northern rock, and Northern rock is the only one that I've gone back to.
each time I go to them I get their Together mortgage which consists of part secured loan and part unsecured loan which is at the same interest rates as the mortgage. this one also allows you to borrow up to 125% of the value of your home. The advantage of the unsecured loan part is, depending on how much you need, the money is always there in the background approved for when you need to draw down the cash (very useful for when you discover you need new windows/central heating etc).
The last time I went for the three year fixed rate, and the £1000 help with costs payment made all the difference. Them handing me money instead of me handing them!
At the end of the day, the decision is yours. I always use an independent mortgage advisor and find that they are able to supply the information in 'laymans terms' instead of bamboozling you like some companies can!
Good luck!

mleonard79

Hi a&c,
Thanks for your post. I've only heard good things so far about NR but its always good to get more opinions, such a bid thing you want to make sure you're going to the right place! Re the Together mortgages, the advisor talked to me about this on the phone y-day but I was under the impression that the unsecured part was at a different rate to the mortgage hence I didn't consider it?! If it's the same as the mortgage I'd definitely consider having that with my mortgage - do you get charged extra for it at all?

Michelle

mleonard79

Oh i just had a look at the NR website and I see that you do get the together mortgage at the same rate as the unsecured loan but its a higher rate than the normal mortgages. Guess that's fair for offering that kind of reserve but don't think it's worth it in my particular situation. Good to know though.

MortgageMamma

HI Michelle,

how did you get on with the other brokers have they told you why they didnt recommend NR?