Which lenders are the best...!!!

DavB93

I was just from everybodies experience which lenders are the best for keeping there existing customers. I've got a friend who was looking to re-mortgage and was with Chelsea Building Society (Got the interest rate when it was quite low) at the time. He rang them and they offered him a new deal that was still equal to the best on the market.
The reason I ask is I'm looking to re-mortgage and want a fixed term, idea for at least 3 years but all the good deals seem to be only for 2 years. So my thinking was take up one of the 2 year deals and then after the 2 years see what the exisiting lender offers me.
Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

MortgageMamma

Do you mean you want a fixed rate mortgage ? If so then the likes of Nationwide and Royal Bank of Scotland are good at keeping their existing customers. Nationwide are very competitive for a 2 year fixed at 4.79% with a 699 application fee, free legals and free valuation at the moment. Whether this is right for you of course depends on your circumstances. Avoid lenders such as Abbey and Halifax as I think their customer retention products are bad.

Bear in mind also even if you do choose to stay with the same lender it is quite likely they will still charge you an application fee to move you onto another scheme as they would with a new customer, therefore it can be a false ecomony.

One option for you could be something like a bank of england lifetime tracker (you can keep it indefinately), 0.25% above base rate with an application fee of 599. If you took something like this and stuck it out for a long time it would save you on fee's. Of course you do need to consider if you could cope if rates rise. A lot of these products have no early repayment charges so you could move without penalty at any point

DavB93

Thanks MM, I'm really after a fixed rate mortgage for the safety of mind of knowing what I'm going to have to pay each month. Do you know much about Yorkshire Building, Britannia and Portland as these are three I'm also considering.

MortgageMamma

Yes I know lots about them. Britannia has good products but the customer service could be better and there's not a huge amount of Branches. I have a friend who works at Yorkshire who would be happy to tell you all about their products and services, but I don't really place much business with Yorkshire. As for Portman Building Society, good products, good service, but watch for early repayment overhang on some of their products. Last time I checked they would only lend up to 75% loan to value but things might have changed.

How long are you thinking of fixing for? what is your mortgage amount? what is your property value?

TangentMan

There are several lenders that offer their existing customers the same deals as "brand new customers" - the Woolwich is one that springs to mind. Halifax and A&L don't offer great deal to existing customers.

The thing is, in two years time this might be different and any lender that is competitive now might not be in that time.

Therefore it might be worth looking at what the rate will be after the fixed term ends (so for example, some lenders will put you on their SVR and others onto a tracker rate). At least that way you know what the picture is whilst you are seeking out the next best deal.

Joe_Bloggs

Halifax say they now offer the same rates to their existing customers as their new customers. I feel sorry for all parties. This tiered tracker is a joke for those owing less than £125K. Their SVR 0f 6.50% is bad too.
J_B.

DavB93

Hi MM,

I'm looking at a fixed rate between 3-5 ideally but would consider longer.

My mortgage is for £125,000 (this includes £6000 early redemption as paying over £900 a month at the moment, don't ask (American Interest Rates).

My house is between £150,000-£155,000 as recently had it revalued.

Joe_Bloggs

You say don't ask, American interest rates ? What kind of mortgage and with whom do you have it?
J_B. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Greenspan)

DavB93

It's with Accord and is a LIBOR 3 MONTH(get's fixed for 3 months then changed to new interest rate, and it's just been fixed this month for 3 months), it's still got 41 months remaining. The lowest the early redemption figure will get is 5% in January 2007, it's currently 6%.
As you can see stuck in abit of limbo as paying over £900 a month at the moment but need to pay the redemption fee to get out. From what I've been reading too the interest rate over there is just going to continue to rise.
I've had alook around and found mortgages for around £750 a month which is a saving of £150 a month which over the 41 months is £6150.

The amount remaining on the mortgage is around £119,000 at the moment that's why I'm basing my new mortgage to get around £125,000.

Alot of info I know, hopefully enough for you lot to help.

Joe_Bloggs

LIBOR stands for London Inter Bank Offered Exchange. This does influence swap rates and hence fixed rate for mortgages in the UK. It is very volatile at present. Why did you go with Accord ? Have your circumstances changed to attract another lender.

J_B. (My waffling will just put this post higher than others.)

MortgageMamma

Hi

Yes you do have a situation. do you feel that you cannot afford your mortgage presently and will struggle if rates rise? I'm sorry but I really cannot advise you what to do on a forum. This requires in depth consideration and a lot of number crunching, also a chat about your finances generally. Please don't take what is said on this board by ANYBODY as professional indemnified advice, no matter how well meaning. No point going from the frying pan into the furness.