So confused

crel2000

Hoping you guys can help an idiot out with an idiots guide to my next steps!

Purchased a house in October 2007 at £162,000 with a 5% deposit - so took a mortgage out for £153,900 on a 3 year Fixed Term (repayment) at 5.68 for 30 years. The mortgage was with Giraffe which is now Bank of Ireland.

So a few questions -

1. Is there a way of calculation out how much of the £153,900 we have paid off already (the statement is due in a few months but would be handy to know now)

2. When the fixed term ends will I drop to Bank of Irelands SVR? How do I know what this is, when I look at the site it displays multiple options depending on my Loan to Value ratio - how do I know what that is, is it based on my current balance or what I took out originally?

3. When I'm shopping around am I looking for remortgage offers, or is that just when you want to increase the amount of the mortgage?

4. I've not started doing my research into the mortgage offers out there, ideally we want to drop the mortgage payments by £150 a month - is a tracker a suitable one?

Thanks for your help people.

_Andy_

1/2 - give them a call
3 - remortgage
4 - not if you need/want payment stability/security

Theogirl_2

You could struggle to find another deal in the current market. You won't have paid much off in 3 years and you probably bought at the top-ish of the market. Any chance you bought a total wreak and have added value? What do you think it could be worth now?

crel2000

Theogirl wrote: »

You could struggle to find another deal in the current market. You won't have paid much off in 3 years and you probably bought at the top-ish of the market. Any chance you bought a total wreak and have added value? What do you think it could be worth now?

I know, it was literally the month after that the dip started .

It wasn't a wreck but was very dated - we have renovated every room, not that that will have much influence on the value. Not looking forward to October if we will struggle to get a deal! Going to get a few valuations soon, Thanks Theogirl

phlash

crel2000 wrote: »

Hoping you guys can help an idiot out with an idiots guide to my next steps!

Purchased a house in October 2007 at £162,000 with a 5% deposit - so took a mortgage out for £153,900 on a 3 year Fixed Term (repayment) at 5.68 for 30 years. The mortgage was with Giraffe which is now Bank of Ireland.

So a few questions -

1. Is there a way of calculation out how much of the £153,900 we have paid off already (the statement is due in a few months but would be handy to know now)

2. When the fixed term ends will I drop to Bank of Irelands SVR? How do I know what this is, when I look at the site it displays multiple options depending on my Loan to Value ratio - how do I know what that is, is it based on my current balance or what I took out originally?

3. When I'm shopping around am I looking for remortgage offers, or is that just when you want to increase the amount of the mortgage?

4. I've not started doing my research into the mortgage offers out there, ideally we want to drop the mortgage payments by £150 a month - is a tracker a suitable one?

Thanks for your help people.

1) From MSE's very own mortgage calculator:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/9558913583,86389

It says, your balance will be £147,525.60

2) Your new loan to value will depend on your property valuation at the date the fixed term ends. You bought in October 2007, so prudence would suggest a valuation of 85-90% of this value. Current value may well be somewhere in the region of £138k - £146k. I would suggest you are therefore in negative equity, where your house value is less than the mortgage secured on it. At best you may get a valuation of £155k, which would give you 95% LTV, but do not think this helps in getting a suitable mortgage, as if you can secure a 5% deposit mortgage, the rates will be high.

3) Remortgaging is not just for increasing your mortgage, it is for signing up to new ones. I am not aware of any mortgages available at 100%+ LTV, therefore shopping around may be difficult. In this case, I think you will have no choice but to be on your lenders SVR.

4) As 3 states, don't think you have much choice. There may be some other posters who have specific information regarding negative equity situations.

crel2000

Many thanks for the detailed reply phlash - very helpful.