Mortgage Advise Please

jimbo77

Hi All

I'm am just about to start to finally get on the property ladder and am just confused with all the different mortgages and deals available. Not sure what sort of mortgage I can get and is best for me. . Been to a lot of webites and used various calculators. They all seem to come up with different quotes.
Have read posts about advisors like 'London & country' where responses have been mixed. Is fixed or variable best?

My situaution is:

Age 28 and living with the folks

Salary is 35k so take home just under 2000 after tax a month

Will Have a deposit of 15 to 20k

Have about 800 outstanding on a credit card but will pay that off very soon

Have about 300 of direct debits every month-mobile,gym etc

Any advise would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

herbiesjp

What house prices are you looking?

As ofr fixed or variable will depend on your attitude to risk in terms of interest rate movements - if you need the certainty of knowing what your mortgage paymenst are each month then go fixed. If you are happy to see how things go, and have enough of a safety buffer in terms of monthly disposable income then a variable rate could be an option for you (be it tracker or discounted rate)

McAzrael

Use a broker. They will give you advice, do all the donkey-work and your eventual mortgage company will foot the bill. https://www.unbiased.co.uk if you don't already have an IFA and don't know anyone who is prepared to recommend one.

jimbo77

I am hoping to buy a property around the 160k mark. Not sure if it's possible though?

tomstickland

I'm a bit older (33) and take home slightly more than you per month. I had an agreement in principle for a mortgage of £145K with a £10K deposit, so I reckon you could obtain a mortgage for around the £145-£150K mark. However, I actually only have a £76K mortgage because I didn't want to overburden myself with mortgage payments.

Most of the mortgage options are actually pretty simple.
Really the main options are:
repayment - pay the capital and interest back
interest only - only pay the interest back (seems daft to me)
offset mortgage - only worth it if you have loads of savings

I've gone for a repayment fixed rate deal. Fixed vs variable is just a gamble and depends on whether you'd be annoyed if rates dropped and you fixed, or rates rose and you were variable.

jimbo77

Thanks for that.

Like you I would properly go for a fixed rapayment deal. I understand what you mean about not wanting to overburden yourself. I want to get the best place I can but not be living on a shoestring at the same time.

Where I Live the best I'm going to manage is a ! bed flat I think!

herbiesjp

Hi Jimbo77

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you

On the basis of purchasing at £160k and putting at least a 10% deposit you will have pretty much the market place to choose from.

You can look at the cheapest deals with high arrangement fees, or look at just slightly higher rates with lower arrangement fees. It's good to see you are clear about what type of rate you want and why you want it - there are planty of fixed rates to go for.

Which one is best for you depends on what balance of features (i.e. flexibility) to fees you rae looking for.

Let me know if you need anything else