BabyB wants to be mortgage free (or at least have more equity!)

babyb06

:mad: My survey results came in today and they have only valued it at £200,000. Now, whilst I was hoping for £220k, I expected around £210-215k. My mortgage advisor said surveyors are being more careful at the moment and they are getting a lot of low valuations but that they can't change it. Now, considering a 2 bed flat with 1 bathroom and no balcony in my block sold for £197k a couple of months ago, surely my 3 bed, 2 bath with a 20 foot long balcony (and moat:rotfl:!!!) is worth more than £200k........

So, that means I do not have the required 75% LTV for the offset mortgage. Annoyingly, a few months ago (just before my 2 year fix ended) the LTV requirement for offset was 80% - if it was still this I would be accepted, but the bank says it is non-moveable.

Most other banks are 75% too, although have asked a mortgage broker to look if there are any 80% LTV offsets on the market, but this would of course mean moving all my banking to take full advantage of the offset, but that will involve A LOT of hassle - many clients pay me directly by BACS payment and it would mean moving all DDs etc - I am not very organised, so this thought is scary and I am likely to make a mistake ending up in costly charges!

I basically need to find £13k to stick with my current mortgage provider - I have a couple of thousand in my savings (not emergency fund) I could use, I could borrow a few thousand from my tax account, and then maybe look into getting the rest on a credit card and paying that off for the next 12 months rather than O/Ping my mortgage (having made the 13k upfront payment).

Problems with this........
1) I hate being in debt, it worries me and if interest rates were to shoot up next year and my mortgage went sky high I may have problems paying the credit card in full in a year (I think I worry a lot becuase I am self employed, whilst I know I can earn as much as I want and there is no risk of work drying up, if I am ill i earn nothing)

2) i don't really know how to borrow money on credit cards - it appears that stoozing is not as simple/cheap as it used to be - advice on best way to do it much appreciated!

A very confused BabyB.........

wynnvegas

Iris_Blue wrote: »

I don't think anyone's been sarcastic here. If you mean me Billy then it certainly wasn't my intention. Maybe it's my hormones and I've read your comments wrong.

Hi Iris,

Apologies - just catching up here. That barbed comment was meant for Gallygirl! The MP with the moat comment had me on the floor. I meant it only in a good way! Facetious may have been a better term to have used!

Cheers,

Billy

LilacPixie

gotta love some sarcasm. Seriously this has had me rolling about on the sofa.

BabyB - not sure about the whole borrowing to get access to an offset deal. Would you not be better throwing any non emergency savings at a lower rate than mortgage to mortgage and overpaying any spare funds to that too with a view to hitting the magic 75% mark in 6-8 months rather than risking interest charges etc.

gallygirl

wynnvegas wrote: »

Hi Iris,

Apologies - just catching up here. That barbed comment was meant for Gallygirl! The MP with the moat comment had me on the floor. I meant it only in a good way! Facetious may have been a better term to have used!

Cheers,

Billy

Anything over two syllables confuses me Billy so all over my head anyway

Don't know what to advise on mortgage bb

babyb06

:mad:Rant time - need to get it out even - sorry if it is boring!

So, I contacted a mortgage broker yesterday to see if there were any other options for offset mortgages I could have with 80% LTV - we wnet through the options and then we discussed surveys and he asked if I had a copy of the one done last week, I told him Natwest wouldn't disclose it as they had paid for it, so I'd have to get my own done with a new lender - he suggested calling company I had used as I might get it cheaper as they'd already been out to my flat - I said 'OK, I'll give E-Surv a call' at which point he said no, don't - use anyone but them. Apparently they are known for undervaluing properties and carry out poor surveys (the guy was in my 3 bedroom property for approx 2 minutes).

I have done a bit of research into them and sure enough the name E-Surv is synonymous with complaints! So, in fact my flat might be worth more!

Rang Natwest and asked if I could pay for my own survey, they said they would take no account of it, but would speak to E-Surv - they have called back and said if I can find 3 comaprable properties that sold in the last 3 months at a higher price they will re-consider. Now correct me if I am wrong, but surely that is their job - they should have looked at recent sales. However, the problem I have is that there aren't many 3 bedroom flats in the area - there has been one sold in the last 3 months, but it was above a chinese takeaway in a terraced row of shops, with one of the bedrooms being a single (all 3 of mine are doubles), one bathroom (i have two), no outdoor space (I have a 20 foot long balcony) and no parking (I have allocated space in a car park). That cannot be used as a comparator. Most of the other sales are 2 bed flats and so obviously going for less.

So, I am stuck, I can't complain to RICS about bad valuation as I am not the client Natwest is and even if I pay for my own valuation, Natwest say they are tied to the first one, it is company policy.

It is soooo annoying! It isn't like I want more money out of them on remortgage, I just want to move to a different product without the hassle of moving all my banking.

Arrrrgggghhh! OK, rant over - need to take some deep breaths and do some work rather than searching the internet for recent flat sales.

BabyB

Baby_steps_2

Ah sounds like you are having loads of hassle trying to get an offset mortgage.

I thought Lilac Pixie made a really good suggesting of overpaying like mad for the next 6 months to see if you can get enough to qualify to switch then. If you have the couple of K emergency fund your not using (assuming your on the SVR now as looking to remortgage) if you pay that off now it will help reduce the mortage interest a bit & then throw a load of money at it in the short term.

I am currently attempting to stooze some money on a 0% CC. This is interest free on purchases for 12 months so due for repayment in Aug next year, maybe that would help increase the OP in the short term/

babyb06

OK, so all change! My worry in not taking the offset mortgage now was that a few months ago before my fixed rate ended the LTV required was 80%, then it changed to 75% and I guess I was worried it would go to 70%. I am a pessimist. But I could also see that an offset would save me a fortune!

So, I was talking to my mum about the pros and cons and the next day she phoned me back and said she has spoken to my grandma (who has just recently sold her house due to ill health and moved in with my aunt/lives with my mum and dad at weekends) and she offerred to lend me the shortfall I needed...............so, using the money in my savings account (just over £3k) and borrowing a couple of thousand from my tax account and then my grandma giving me the rest - i have hit the £150k target!!!:j

I need to pay the borrowed £10k (from tax account and grandma) back by the start of January 2012, so 14 months - so I need to save £715 a month to repay it. You will see from earlier posts I was hoping to put £725 a month to my mortgage - a challenge but just about achievable most months - well, now it has to be done:eek: - that should focus me more!

On the plus side, the loan from my grandma is almost interest free (I said I would pay her the interest she would lose over the year in not having it in savings - it was only earning 0/5%!!!! - I think I need to advise her on best place to move her money:D) and if it is a month late she won't mind (although I will!).

On the plus, plus side, as the £13k has now been paid off my mortgage the monthly interest will be lower from the start AND as she has said to pay her as a lump sum in January, the money I save each month will sit in my offset account meaning more interest savings - yippee!!!:j

I am forever indebted to my grandma and I cannot believe she has lent me so much! I am a lucky girl!

Also on a separate note OH has gone away for a few days with mates, so have a peaceful house for 5 days, was lovely for first 2 days - but now I miss him and it is only day 3! But I received a lovely card in the post from him this morning - a really, really soppy message that brought a tear to my eye! We'll have been together 3 years next week! A non-MSE celebration meal on the cards I think!

I now have to revise my signature.........

babyb06

New signature.......

Just realised how long my previous posts are! Hopefully now things are settled they will be shorter and simpler!

babyb06

Hae spent the day so far working and intend the afternoon to be more of the same - working on a Saturday - boo! But, as I can charge per hour I really can see the money building up, so is worth it!

Also received a huge, gorgeous bouquet of exotic flowers today from my OH - so far it has been a delivery a day (chocolates, card, flowers) since he has been away - I love how non-MSE he is!!! Good job I never complain about is spend-happy ways - I would look like such a hypocrite now if that were the case :rotfl:!

CathT

What a hassle with the mortgage, life would be sooo much easier without one! You have a very generous family, how fab they are able to help you out. My grandma offered to lend us £1000 when we were buying our first house and the vendor increased the price but as we could afford it without we declined. My grandma is the type to have said 'they couldn't have bought that house without my help!'

I am hoping that when our deal finished March 12 we will be well under the 75% as when we took out the deal 6 months ago we were slightly over! Let's hope house prices don't keep dropping.

Aw at your OH, my DH would be limited by a soppy text I think so you are a lucky lady!