Accord "tracker to fixed" - views?

Abatement

Looking at a 5 year mortgage on 25% deposit with Accord, which is BR+1.69% for two years (this is a collar rate, so can't fall below 2.19% even if BR is reduced) and then three years fixed at a guaranteed 3.39%. Fee is admittedly quite high at 1995, but we're looking to borrow the best part of £400,000, which makes the higher fee deals more viable.

Seems like a great option - best of both worlds, but what am I missing? And how on earth do I compare this to standard rates?

For comparison, the best 5 year fix I can find is 3.69%, and the best lifetime tracker I can find is BR+2.39%.

dimbo61

Is accord part of YBS as they do a deal which is a tracker for 2 years at 2.29% then fixed at 3.39% for three years fee £995. Dont know if this is better ?
They also have (2) five year fixes at 3.39% fee £995 or 3.59% fee £95 plus remortgage costs.
You need to put the figures into "whatthecost" to work out whats the best deal for you.
And yes you cant compare a tracker with a fix

Abatement

Ah, that's a good point, thanks. Accord is part of YBS, but I guess YBS themselves must not be part of London and Country's portfolio? The YBS version does look to be slightly better for us overall (about £600 cheaper over the first 2 years), although I wonder if it's worth paying the extra to go through L&C and have them do our application. ho hum...

Abatement

Do people think the deal in general is good though? I've never seen one structured like this before, so it's hard to draw a comparison. Seems like best of both worlds...

Abatement

sorry to bump, but would appreciate any views on this. It looks like a great deal to me, but I'm worried I'm missing something...

gordylad

yes think its a good deal but went for the ybs tracker to fixed 5yr 2.29 and then 3.39 with a 995 fee [195 upfront and 800 added to the mortgage] if you wanted to go down that route

re-mortgage was relatively painless. Asked for the remortgage to complete on the 3rd October so have a small interest payment to pay on the 16th October and then normal monthly payments kick in on the 1st November

best of both worlds was exactly what I thought and if the base rate rises between now and oct 2013 you will have paid a number of payments so shouldnt see much of a difference to you monthly payment

good luck

Abatement

Thanks gordylad.

Yes, tempted by the YBS version, but I don't think I can get that through London and Country. Would I be better to go for the Accord version in order to have a broker process my application? Just thinking they might be able to help the process run more smoothly. I think the difference between the Accord and the YBS versions works out at about £500 over the first 2 years for us, so a reasonable sum but not the end of the world.

Thoughts welcomed...?

gordylad

personally i have never used a broker so would advise you to go direct to YBS you can apply over the internet or in branch

we did ours over the internet but the final application form was dealt by the local branch

gordylad

forgot to mention the ybs fee is 995 and i think this fee is expensive enough so i wouldnt consider a fee of nearly 2k...........

Meeper

From a professional point of view, I like the product and agree with other sentiment that it is better to have a lower rate at higher loan amounts rather than a lower fee. I think the product that you are looking at is pretty solid.

Regarding using L&C or applying directly to YBS, well......I'm always one to advocate the use of an adviser which can assist in the process. You should make sure, however, that you are getting a good one. London and Country is a massive mortgage outfit, and when you get an outfit like that doing mortgages, you are not an individual with needs and concerns, but a number on a file. You could argue that their size is a good thing, shows that they are popular and do a lot of business, or you could conclude that this is from partnership agreements with websites such as this one, who claim to not advertise any company's services (!!!).

Either way, if you get a good adviser, the extra £1000 will be well-spent (that deal isn't exclusive to L&C, by the way, it's part of Accord's standard range available to most advisers).

getmore4less

Follow on rates.

You have to consider that you may be stuck on that after 5 years.