Guest Comment: Beware the 'fix now!' mortgage plea

Former_MSE_Guy

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"'Fix now!' That's the message you'll hear now from many mortgage experts with rates at record lows. But as broker London & Country's David Hollingworth says, none of these commentators have a crystal ball ..."

Read the full story:
Guest Comment: Beware the 'fix now!' mortgage plea

brit1234

I would certainly avoid a 2 year fix, they are a rip off. Your likely to pay a higher rate than you should, have an admin fee and come off just as rates are actually going up.

If you are going to fix 5 - 10 years should be best, 10 years may be advantageous for security.

In a normal market I could under stand fixing however the bank of England is strangely ignoring it's main purpose of keeping inflation down. Whilst it fails in its mission you are better on a tracker or standard variable rate in the short term. There are simply not enough members of theboe voting for interest rate rises to show any threat in the mean time.

I am not a mortgage advisor just a p!ssed off saver watching interest rates closely while my house deposit is being robbed by the BOE.

m00m00

the sub 4% 5 year fixes, look very good (nationwide/YBS)

Senior_Paper_Monitor

5 or 10 year fixed for a young co-habiting couple of breeding, career progression and wider family issues age (with a high percentage of such relationships ending - just read the endless threads on here!) ??

I'm not sure I go with your 'across the board advice' !

Fixing / not fixing, deal term and many other options are a matter of selecting the arrangement that suits the borrower's circumstances best

getmore4less

low cost tracker and overpay is often the best option for a lot of people
(No new fees or business for brokers)

for high LTV fixes can look more attractive because the good tracker rates are not available.

TrickyDicky101

Advisers (who earn either commission or fees from mortgage products) advise borrowers to take them out? Well I never...

sabretoothtigger

I think one home owner said it best on another thread, 'I cant afford to pay higher rates if they do go back up'
One guy pointed out that overpaying on lower interest would half his mortgage term making a fix pointless

If rates do go back to 7% and you realise it wouldnt be affordable then I'd say definitely fix now

10% is not impossible at all, things can change.
My personal view for a while is rates to stay low till end of this year. It will probably all revolve around the 2012 USA elections, it shouldnt but thats politics and they set alot of world rates

SmileyG_2

My 5.1% fix ends next month and I'm being invited to "consider a new product".

In essence, if your mortgage payments are close to what you can afford, a fix might make some sense, but for me moving to the 2.5% rate gives me around £250 pm to save as a contingency against an interest rate rise.

Seems a bit of a no-brainer to me.

SmileyG

plzhelpmesave!

We fixed on a 10 year fix at 5.39% three years ago - was the best rate available at the time and we wanted the security of having a fixed payment (young family, i was a Stay at home mum) and of course, interest rates were definately going to go up ;-)


6 months later - recession hits and our payments would have been halved... however we still have 7 years to go on our rate so hope it will alll balance out...