To Fix or not to Fix.......

AlistairDarling

Evening All,

Just about to come off a fixed deal (5.9% Ouch) and obviously looking to get a better deal. My thoughts are that interest rates are only going to go one way so I have missed the boat for being on a tracker. Therefore I am considering another fix, but the burning question is how long for.?

I am erring toward the 3.99% by britannia as it is for 5 years and I think that sounds like a good deal. Clearly I could get a slightly better rate over a shorter period but I am not convinced it is economical to keep changing mortgage due to the fees.

For the figures we owe £128000 on a house worth £210000 so we have good LTV. Joint income of £85000.

My gut instinct is that when rates do start to rise, they will go up markedly to cap inflation??!!

Anyone got any thoughts or in a similar position? I am not keen on using a mortgage broker as they don't have access to anything more that you can find yourself with a bit of digging. Plus I am tight!

Would welcome any feedback or thoughts from anyone who has seen a good deal recently.

Thanks

barrymung

In a similar situation to yourself, came off a capped mortgage some time ago, looking for another capped/fixed deal for the next few years.

Charcol online used to have a very good search engine but they seem to have dropped this feature recently.

Anyone know of a good mortgage search engine or any "best buy" deals?

AlistairDarling

Evening Barry,

I too looked at Charcol, but you have to enter your details and bascially get someone to call you I guess, which I simply cannot be bothered with. No one does anything for nothing, and the last mortgage "advisor" I used was a total pr@t.

I think that moneysupermarket and the like pretty much have all the mainstream bases covered. The only time I think you should use a "professional" is when you are unlikely to be offered a mainstream deal by a mainstream lender.

Let me know how you get on.

AD

bullybear

take a 5 year fix I think cheapest ever mortage your get for 5 years and why pay costs twice

if u bank with coop fee £599

hwalkerh

I am just due to come of a fixed rate at the end of june onto a standard variable of 4.74. I was thinking about the Britannia 5 year fixed at 3.99% as it is lower then my variable rate which i only see going up as the bank of England base rate is 0.5% i can't really see it dropping. Also My biggest concern is being able to make over payment. The Britannia seems to let you pay 10% overpayment which seems good to me.

Another think i try to take into account is the fees. I wouldn't want to fix for 2 years and pay £1k for it. I think that the saving i would make on the lower rate would pay for the fee quite quick. Another way i think of it is that in when rates start to rise and i want to fix then at sometime i would be paying that fee anyway.

My only concern is that my partner is about to start working self employed and therefore they probably won't take his income for the mortgage but hopefully they should lend to me.

House £140000
Mortgage £61000 (Ltv approx 43%)
My wage £25k
Partner £15k self emp no accounts

hwalkerh

Just had another look at the fees for Britannia. There is a £999 fee but also i think it would be a £100 arrangement fee and £60-£150 valuation fee plus the fee to pay who i am currently we to leave of £170.
Lots to concider

bullybear

Hi if u bank with coop its only £599 fee

DPJames

Yeah, you've said already.

jamesey

yeah........................