Halifax Mortgage exit fees - please help

curlyboy

Good evening

We are about to sell our house I have £96,000. was selling the house pay off mortgage i owe and live with inlaws to save some money

and my fixed rate runs out in January 2014

I took this fixed rate out 5 years ago ( 5.75)
now i have had a letter saying they are going to charge my £2,600 exit fee because I have 16 months to run on my fixed rate

Im horrified I thought the exit fees were scraped

please help

ACG

Nothing you can do, they havnt been scraped and theyre part of most motgages.

You can ask them but if they say no there is nothing that can be done, sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

curlyboy

jesus bad news my rate drop to variable in 16 months 3.99 from 5.75 i cannto wait payments drop £100 a month

I can look around then cant i for the best deal what advise would you give

to stay on the varible ?? i know its a while away

we havent agreed to sell 100% yet

dunstonh

Im horrified I thought the exit fees were scraped

No neither exit fees or early repayment charges have been scrapped. Indeed, it would be impossible to scrap ERCs without killing off mortgage deals at the same time.

to stay on the varible ?? i know its a while away

To move to variable rate would require you to buy yourself out of your current contract. So, you would pay the ERC there as well.

ACG

Im not able to advise on here, please dont take any of my posts as advice.

If you want to move out to save money you could ask halifax for consent to let and then rent the property out until your out of the deal and on the SVR?

That way you dont pay the fees and your able to save...you might even earn a bit extra, but you have the hassle of being a landlord.

Other than that its a simple choice, to pay the fees to sell up or dont - i know thats a bit blunt but its down to personal preference.

opinions4u

Im horrified

That they're applying an early repayment charge for exactly the amount you signed up to? Ok.

ACG

_Andy_ wrote: »

PS why would anyone 'scrape' a fee?

Really? How old are we?

kingstreet

Some lenders have moved final exit fees to the beginning of a mortgage; Halifax, Nationwide and C&G to name three. The fees agreed to at the outset of a mortgage remain valid and payable.

However, this is referring to an early repayment penalty which is charged on the early settlement of a mortgage where the lender would be penalised by the party providing the rate-swap to provide your fix.

This is valid and an alternative route should be sought to avoid it.

curlyboy

ive decided not to sell

Thrugelmir

curlyboy wrote: »

ive decided not to sell

You'll recoup the £2600 in six months if you redeem the mortgage.

Sometimes its best to bite the bullet and take the hit.

Much depends on your future plans and view of the property market.

Finding a buyer in itself is proving a challenge for many people.

curlyboy

the problem I cant find a buyer the house was up for £119,950
dropped to £114,950
had one of of £105,000 I cant take that offer plus the exit fees and estate agent fees might as well sit out the 16 months and wait to go on the SVR

thanks anyway