Mortgage confusion

Guildfordmover

Ladies/Gents

I am a First time buyer and am sooooo confused with mortgages....So many options..so many pitfalls. I have found a property for which I have an offer accepted for a LTV of 70%. The best mortgage so far I have found is the HSBC Lifetime Tracker with a rate of 2.49%..It tracks the Bank of England base rate plus 1.99%...

I would like to be able to overpay each month and understand that if interest rates go up, mortgage charges go up...Any guidance on whether this is the best mortgage (tracker) or should I really look at a fixed mortgage.

Appreciate the help.

GMS

To fix or go for a tracker is purely down to your own attitude to risk. If you are happy to gamble with a tracker you may benefit, but if rates rise you could equally lose out.

Keep in mind that when rates rise the fixed rates available will also have risen. With an LTV of 70% you may well have access to good fixed rates too.

Another thing to keep in mind is your desire to overpay. This may seem an affordable option with a low tracker rate but if rates rise you could find your proposed overpayments becoming your contractual payments.

Look at all options before making a decision. Consider speaking to a broker to see what may be available.

Soot2006

We ended up fixing at 4.69% after discussing with a mortgage broker. We could have got better deals (as low as 2.99% at the time!), but after assessing our attitude to risk, our mortgage broker advised a 5-year fix. He was absolutely correct as I cannot cope with change in my monthly budgeting, so the knowledge of outgoings gives me a security of mind that's worth paying for! .. We also wanted overpaymenr facility, even more important if fixing for a long 5 years. We ended up with a NR product that allowed unlimited overpayments without penalty, allowing up to pop in lump sums after tax refund, etc, or just little dribs and drabs when we have them. As long as savings interest rates are lower than mortgage rates this makes sense for us. My husband would have been happy with a tracker because he's not risk adverse at all! But I couldn't cope with it.