And Baby Makes Three....

FunLovinCriminal

Hi RoaringTwenties
Many thanks for your post. Sometimes I feel lonely in ForumLand.
I had a quick look at remortgaging rates today - foolishly as I can't do anything until March 17, anyway at the moment there are several banks where i could be paying the same as I am now and reduce the term by 4 years!!!! Hopefully they will still be around next year.
I have always played it safe and gone fixed rate; however feeling daring and tempted by the tracker rates.....
FLC

FunLovinCriminal

Hi Bexster
Many thanks. How are you getting on yourself?
It seems a slow trudge at the moment.
At present rates i'm paying £700 a month, but £200 is interest. Using the reduction of £500 per month I will be 55 and still have a £32k mortgage. That sent me in to a "this is pointless" depression
I then realised that my interest wont always be £200 - that cheered me up a little.
FLC

turtlemoose

Hi FLC, glad to see you back! Have you calculated your erc vs how much you'd save switching? Sometimes it can be worth it.

FunLovinCriminal

Hi TurtleMoose
Thanks for the post.
I haven't done the figures, but its £3200 to leave current deal.
FLC

RoaringTwenties

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

Hi RoaringTwenties
Many thanks for your post. Sometimes I feel lonely in ForumLand.
I had a quick look at remortgaging rates today - foolishly as I can't do anything until March 17, anyway at the moment there are several banks where i could be paying the same as I am now and reduce the term by 4 years!!!! Hopefully they will still be around next year.
I have always played it safe and gone fixed rate; however feeling daring and tempted by the tracker rates.....
FLC

Hi FLC, don't feel lonely, you only have to look at the number of views on your thread to see people are reading even if like me they don't always find time to post back. I've actually read your diary from the start, you started round about the same time as me, my problem is I always plan to post then things move on & I'm permanently out of date :D

I'm just the same re: interest rates, I've always gone for fixed. My first in 2003 was 3.99% & that was cheap for a 3 year fixed at the time! We opted for a 5.49% in the spring of 2007 as we knew DS was on the way, we finally got out of it in Feb 2014. The ERC would have been high - from memory 5% on a balance of around £140k, so around £7k. I never did the maths as to how long I would have had to be at a lower post-credit crunch rate to make it back, to be honest we were too scared to make the leap anyway! I think someone posted on my thread ages ago saying they were in the same boat - might have been beckyy - she got out of a high fixed rate at the start of the financial crisis & it took her a couple of years to break even but worth it in the end. I think most of our friends who were on deals that were 0.5% above the base rate when the Crunch happened were the ones who did the best <jealous>

Anyway when we took out our new mortgage last Dec we went on a Tracker, at first it felt strange to not be on a fixed, but now I'm really pleased as I don't think rates will rise much for a while & I like the freedom of unlimited overpayments. I suspect that even though it's a year till you can remortgage there will still be some very competitive rates out there. I know H$BC just told me they have a £1k fee product at 1.19% above base rate launching, which is amazing!

I'll keep reading even if I don't post! Good luck with everything

:money:

turtlemoose

another here who always reads your updates FLC, even if I don't reply

Loblolly

Just a quick word about mortgage overpayment limits. My mortgage has the usual 10% overpayment limit with a 3% interest on anything above this. But I had heard from a friend that he had exceeded this and his mortgage company (which is the same as ours) seemed not to pick up on this and did not charge him interest on the excess. So, thought I'd give it a go! This was about 2 years ago. Since then, we have significantly exceeded the 10% each year and have not paid a penny in interest on the excess!!

No names, no pack drill and I'm not prepared to name the mortgage company, and I can't guarantee it would work for anyone else but who knows....

FunLovinCriminal

Hi all
Thanks for your posts.
Not sure where I am exactly. Our current mortgage provider only allows you online checking of outstanding balance between 7am and 7pm. When I am either giving little FLC her breakfast, or I am at work.
I estimate about £91-92k.
We have currently almost £12k in savings. £9k of which will be used when OH goes on to SMP.
The money is split between a couple of accounts to try and make it work as hard as possible.
Phoned the mortgage provider last week. They will only accept debit card payments for OP.
I very much doubt I will get to 10% OP, but thanks Loblolly for the tip.
FLC

bexster1975

Hi FLC

keep smiling, it always looks most grim at the start! You are quite right, interest will not always be £200 a month. Mine is now about £45 a month ( but I cheat as I " earn" £50 a month in savings on the equivalent ). I didn't always only pay that amount tho.

I received my term assurance statement this week saying I am covered for about £45000 more than I actually have outstanding! So I'm guessing that a combination of OPing and lower interest charges make up that difference over the past ten years. Looked at like this, it's well worth the hard work.

I'm doing great thanks. I have a new job so am leaving the carp one this summer ( and a nice wage rise as a bonus! )

Bexster

FunLovinCriminal

HI bexster
Great to hear from you.
When is a tough day/week i get downhearted thinking a £200 OP EVERY month is unattainable.
I suppose I should consider every step a step closer - to be MF with two kids when I am 50 would be fantastic and allow us to do so much more.
You lost me a little with the "covered for £45000 more than you owe" sentence - still a beginner; well relatively.
I think we currently work in the same industry? If i read your carp one correctly.
FLC