Nationwide Mortgage - 4 year fixed rate special offer

Boro22

Hi peeps, I am noob here, so take it easy on me

Anyway, I am basically looking to find a mortgage to fund my first property, and I am very interested in the 4 year fixed rate term offered by Nationwide.

The offer is very tempting, as it gives stabllity in terms of budgeting over the next 4 years, but it also has the following incentives:

£99 product fee (substantially lower than competitors)
Basic legal cover
Basic valuation report.



I will give Nationwide a call tommorow/Monday, but what do you think of the legal fees. Does this imply it will cover all the services that a high street solicitor would provide say? ie searches, conveyancing, final completion fees. or would using the Nationwide legal service have some drawbacks that I am not currently aware of.

What does Nationwide mean by "standard" legal service.?

Per Nationwide press release

"
Nationwide launches market-leading 4 year fixed rate

Another example of rewarding relationships for main FlexAccount customers

24 May 2012
Nationwide today introduces a new four year Flexclusive fixed rate mortgage for both homebuyers and remortgage customers who hold a FlexAccount with the society as their main current account - with a market leading rate of 3.89% for loans up to 70% LTV.
To complete the offer there is no product fee as well as a free valuation and standard legal work. The offer is also extended to Save to Buy customers holding a main FlexAccount, who have been saving for at least six months to accrue a deposit in a Save to Buy savings account.
Tracie Pearce, head of group mortgages, products and pricing, said "Being on your side and rewarding customer loyalty isn't a short term measure for Nationwide; it's at the heart of everything we do. The introduction of this new market-leading mortgage offer is yet another example of this, and is particularly welcome as many customers consider measures to future-proof their payments.
"Often the best deals come with high upfront costs which can be a real barrier to many wanting to enjoy the security of fixed rate payments - that's why, with no product, valuation or standard legal fees, this is a great all-round solution."
New rates include:
Four year fixed rate available at 3.89% up to 70% LTV

• £0 product fee
• £99 upfront non-refundable booking fee
• Free standard valuation and legal service for both home movers and remortgage customers"

Any thoughts appreciated on the actual product offered by Nationwide and what do people think of the offer at hand? (ie legal and valuation fees covered - this is a £1k easily right there?)

dimbo61

You will still end up paying some legals IE searches, chaps fees, etc
It seems a good fix and security for 4 years BUT we know nothing about you !!! deposit, job and job security, income, sevings, ability to overpay or pay interest rate increases ( tracker deals !!)
Does the fix allow overpayments ? can you afford overpayments ?
If you were paying a 25% deposit and had money in the bank to cover all the costs then there maybe better deals available
I dont know and only a chat with a "whole of market mortgage broker" who went through ALL you details could answer that

Boro22

Hi thanks for the reply.

Mortage payments we set is less than 25% of joint income, we are looking for less than a 20 year term. We would like help where we can to pay upfront costs, as we have put this in the deposit but we can pay ourselves if there is a better deal out there over the longer term.

I am planning to put a 25% deposit down with my partner (giving us a fixed rate of 4.19%). Yes, we could survive hikes in interest rates, obviously depending on the length of the term, but based on the term we have set, I feel we could manage a rate increase (including lenders) up to 8%. (we have chosen a modest mortgage you see)

But for budgeting purposes, I would like the fixed security of knowing what my mortgage payments will be over the medium term (e.g. 4 years), but this approach depends on what interest rates will do in the next 4 years. The million dollar question....

On that note, I see Nationwide are also offering a 5 year flex deal, whereby you go on a tracker rate of 3.09 above base, but have the ability to switch deals (penatly free) at any time. This sounds attractive, as we can keep it on the tracker whilst base rates are low, and when the BoE does raise rates by a quarter to half a percent say, we can then look to fix - albeit by that time the fixed rate deals would have also increased. The beauty with this one is that you can do unllimited overpayments without charge, whilst the first deal I mentioned is limited to £500 a month (which cocidentally is the overpayments we are planning to make).

Thoughts?