Please help, first time remortgaging!

heranaway

Hello everybody,

Me and my wife are new to remortgaging so it would be great to get some advice on a couple of things.

Our current mortgage (FTB) 2 year deal is ending in September, we have a rate of 2.89% and its with the Halifax.

Home Value we think is 440k and balance is 255k LTV is roughly 57%

My first question is, I have looked at the Halifax website and their best rate I would get as an existing customer is a 2 Year fix at 2.69% with a 995.00 product fee. I have seen better deals with higher fees like 1.74% 2 Year fix but with a 1595.00 fee and that is with Chelsea BS.

Can the Halifax offer me a better deal if I threaten to switch to a another lender (Kind of like a mobile phone contract lol)

Secondly, do I have to pay for valuation fee's if I switch to another lender, are there an other fee's I may have to pay upfront?he

Shall I go to a broker? How do I know if the broker is giving me a better deal then banks that do not use brokers?

Thanks in advance

Thrugelmir

heranaway wrote: »

Can the Halifax offer me a better deal if I threaten to switch to a another lender (Kind of like a mobile phone contract lol)

Simple answer is no. Lenders hold all the aces.

Why are you looking for a 2 year fix?

As well as the interest rate on the fixed term product. You may need to factor in costs of remortgaging if you switch lender, also the follow on interest rate. In order to make a meaningful comparison.

In 2 years time you may incur costs to switch lenders again. So chasing the lowest rate isn't always the answer.

heranaway

I am not looking at a 2 year fixed in particular, but your right I did not realise that I will have to switch again and pay more fees...

Do you think the Post office 5 year fix @ 2.69% with a 1495 fee is any good? I have to pay the valuation and legal fees however.

Thrugelmir

Ideally sit down and cost the options out. To leave the Halifax you'll incur a mortgage redemption exit fee, legal fees to remortgage, a valuation fee for the new lender and possibly a new product fee.

TheGame21

I would recommend looking at longer fixed deals than 2 year otherwise you will be in the same situation again after the fixed period with more costs to incur.