check the interest rate thresholds !

Herman_Hessian

i'm sure this is old news to seasoned campaigners on here, but might come in useful for some folk:

when applying for a loan, check at which point (ie at which loan value) the cut-off points are set for transitions to different interest rates

example: with RBS today i was offered a loan of £15,000.00 at 10.1%, but was able with a bit of prompting to secure a deal for £14,900.00 at 7.9%, with 15k obviously being the cut off point (approximate rates - can't be arsed to check the exact figures)

borrowing £100.00 less saved us just over £2800.00 in repayments !

so - check whether a small decrease in loan value will save you loads, your loan advisor will tut at having to recalculate the figures, but it could well be worth your while !

ChrisEvanson

Usually its the other way around... the lower rate the more you borrow.

Herman_Hessian

ChrisEvanson wrote: »

Usually its the other way around... the lower rate the more you borrow.

hi chris - yup - it's entirely counter-intuitive to expect this to be the case, but I can assure you that this was exactly how our deal worked out today - i asked the question having seen it mentioned on here, and it was so favourable to us, i thought it deserved it's own thread

dylanuk

The loan rate bands tend to favour a mid point - which is why both of you are correct.

Loan rates are highest at £1000 to around £7500k, then the mid point sets in, the "advertised APR" - the lowest rate, and then from about £15k to £20k-£25k it goes back up a bit again.