transfer of equity or...?

denisec60

Wonder if anyone can help please though I strongly suspect things aren't as straightforward as I'd like to think..

kingstreet

Have you asked your current lender what customer retention products it has available for when your current product ends?

These are often provided with no further credit or status checks.

Going through a TofE seems a long-winded and potentially expensive way to get a new deal.

denisec60

Thanks for your reply. No, I've not approached them on that basis; I'd kind of assumed that I'd just be qutoed the mortgage products that are currently appearing on their web site. I'd also, perhaps incorrectly it would seem, assumed that any remortgage even with the same lender would involve credit checks.

Dilemma is, how do I approach them on that without asking whether they might proceed with credit checks on a new mortgage.

zzzLazyDaisy

I don't know if this is standard practice, but my cousin got a letter a few weeks before his fixed term expired offering him a new deal that was not on the website. He accepted it over the phone, it was done in a couple of clicks with no checks (his hours had been cut dramatically, and although he has never missed a payment, there is no way he would have met the criteria in a new mortgage application).

It is difficult to sit on your hands and do nothing, but that is what I would suggest. Right now, in January, they won't know what deals they are likely to have when your current deal ends in May.

BTW I would strongly advise against transfer of equity. You will be giving away your share in the house to your partner. If anything goes wrong, you will have no financial claim on the house and no right to remain in the house. No matter how good your relationship is, no-one has a crystal ball. If you were married, the courts have the power to adjust ownership so the spouse not named on the deeds can be given a share of the property. This does not apply to co-habiting couples. Please think carefully about this.

Goldiegirl

Generally, most lenders require the mortgage and the property to be held in the same names.

So if you get you name transferred off the mortgage, you'd also have your name taken off the property, so you would no longer be part owner of the property.

Personally, I'd rather remain co-owner of the property, I'd stick with the current lender and see what mortgage products they have for current customers.

They wouldn't do credit checks - it's still the same mortgage, it would just have a new mortgage deal attached to it

kingstreet

denisec60 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. No, I've not approached them on that basis; I'd kind of assumed that I'd just be qutoed the mortgage products that are currently appearing on their web site. I'd also, perhaps incorrectly it would seem, assumed that any remortgage even with the same lender would involve credit checks.

Dilemma is, how do I approach them on that without asking whether they might proceed with credit checks on a new mortgage.

A remortgage is a transfer of a mortgage from one lender to another, not a new product for an existing borrower. Chances are, your lender's remortgage products are for new borrowers and aren't open to you because you aren't remortgaging.

Product transfers, or customer retention products, are what is offered to existing borrowers coming to the end of a product and these are often not shown on lender websites. You need to call them and ask.

As I said, it would be VERY unusual for further checks to be needed for a customer retention product. TBH if they do carry out checks, it won't matter because they are as stuck with you, as you are with them. They can't make you repay your mortgage or charge you more because your credit history is worse now.

JimmyTheWig

denisec60 wrote: »

I'd kind of assumed that I'd just be qutoed the mortgage products that are currently appearing on their web site.

That's certainly not been the case with any mortgage that I've had in the past. Those deals are for new customers only.

I'd also, perhaps incorrectly it would seem, assumed that any remortgage even with the same lender would involve credit checks.

You are just changing product, rather than remortgaging (assuming that you aren't taking out more money against the value of the house!). Which is why they wouldn't necessarily need to do a credit check. You owe them this money whatever happens. You've paid your mortgage payments on time every month so far.

Dilemma is, how do I approach them on that without asking whether they might proceed with credit checks on a new mortgage.

Again, it's not a "new mortgage", just changing product, but this is a good question. Any ideas, anyone?

kingstreet

Ask them their procedure for a change to a new product with no increase in the mortgage amount?

JimmyTheWig

denisec60 wrote: »

I'll sit on my hands, see what's on offer with our current lender at that time

Would the deals be better or worse than what you are on at the moment? If they'd be better, it might be worth phoning them now.
With one of my mortgages they wrote to me a few months before my deal was going to end and offered to switch me to a new deal with no penalty early. Was a better deal, so I switched.
On other times they have done nothing when the deal ran out. So it's worth contacting them a month before it runs out if you haven't heard, in any case.

Thrugelmir

denisec60 wrote: »

house value approx £165K, mortgage is £61K.

With a balance of that size you may find the saving not that great after costs of remortgaging are taken into account.

JimmyTheWig

Thrugelmir wrote: »

With a balance of that size you may find the saving not that great after costs of remortgaging are taken into account.

No reason why they can't go for a fee-free deal. Obviously won't get the best rates this way but even saving 0.5% on the interest rate would be £25 a month cheaper. Worth a phonecall, I'd say...