First remortgage

s88

Hi, this is my first time remortgaging, so is rather daunting! Looking for an experienced head to hold my hand.I've been thinking of remortgaging now, rather than waiting.

Current deal: *figures rounded*
5 year fixed [ 3.39% ] ending in October '18.
£286 p/m
Amount = £52k ( £51.8k + £186 account fee )
ERC = 1.5% ( £52,770.63 if my calculations are correct )

The original amount I'm applying for is £53k (over 25 years), just to keep things simple.
Originally pursued Santander (bonus 1% cashback on 123Lite) 2 year fixed at 1.64% , pending valuation (valuation could push me over 60% LTV, disqualifying me), but the mortgage calculator on here recommends switching if I can get 1.53% or better. Spanner in works!

I've now done a comparison on here and found Yorkshire Building Society[ 2year fixed @ 1.24% ]. This seems to be a good match for me on the surface - good interest rate, within the 65% LTV, and fairly small exit fee. From my calculations, the monthly savings outweigh the set up fee's ( £960 vs £640 ).

Another thing to note: ideally me and my partner would like to buy our first house together within the next 1.5 - 2 years ... So I'm really not sure what to do. I feel the Yorkshire Building Society offer is best ( note: I've still to actually apply ) but unsure if I should switch now, or wait until around August / September to look for deals. I'm likely to make overpayments each week, and freeing up the £80 p/m could help put a further dent in loan , as well as savings.

Am I looking at this the right way, or are there other things I have to be aware of? I think I'm correct in my approach, but a second opinion would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Hope I've made this concise.

Edit:
Gotten all the way to end of application and realise legal fee's not included, d'oh! They are offering solicitor for £770. All of a sudden the deal doesn't look as enticing.

Thrugelmir

What retentions products is your current lender offering? That should be your starting point. Switching product is a cheaper option than remortgaging.

s88

Thanks for the reply. How silly of me, would be a logical place to start really! FTR, provider is HBOS.

I've checked online and if I'm reading the document correct, the best I can get would be 2.79% for 2 years, max LTV 60% . I don't know how they would work out the LTV, do they use the home report from when I purchased the house, my purchase price, or do they do a valuation? If so, it would push me above 60% LTV leaving me with: 3.19% for 2 years, LTV 60-80%. What's good with transferring product, is if it's within 3 months of ending, you don't pay a ERC.

Will have to give them a call, but not expecting it to be worth it. Would I compare product fees of Principality mortgage vs interest rate of HBOS?

s88

Not that anyone will care, but I'm having a mare with all this! I've done comparisons for converyancers and managed to get one for £373. All these fees and numbers are beginning to confuse me though, and now seeming like it's not really worth the hassle.

haf1

s88 you have my full commiserations. Same problem here - only it's not October 2018, our interest rate goes up from April. The mind boggles at the countless things to consider. Product fee or not, re-valuation, or stay with the old mortgage provider for less hassle? I'm really just another newbie, but maybe a bit of brainstorming will help.

Yorkshire Bank are an absolute PITA. A friend of mine got a mortgage with them as first time buyer, and I banked with them a couple years ago ... . Yes, they do cheap mortgages, but their customer service is horrendous and it may take ages to get anything done.

Any new mortgage provider to will likely want to do a new valuation. As a newbie to re-mortgaging I'd be grateful for any advice in this regard - according to my bank's mortgage advisor, they (Halifax) do either an online valuation, or they send someone over in person (they pay for the valuation). You're not supposed to simply pay a conveyancer to do your own valuation.

We are in the same predicament, here it is 88% vs 84% LTV. Leeds BS (our current provider) product switch offer is 2.34% 2y fixed, at 88% LTV. We bank with Halifax, who offer 2.7% 2y fixed for 84% LTV (which will hopefully work out). Leeds demand £199 early repayment fee. Halifax offers no application fee, no valuation fee, £500 cashback, and have access to most of our data anyway.

Plus Halifax mortgages are accessible online, making casual overpayments easy (Leeds BS do telephone 8 to 5 pm (!), and written communication only). Staying with Leeds BS would mean saving around £16/month for the next two years, but the Halifax's cashback offer would easily cover both that and the early repayment fee. If the valuation goes through that is.

Yorkshire Bank would probably be a bit cheaper but ... see above.

Maybe calculate how much switching mortgage provider would really save you per month, assuming you don't make 60% LTV?

It may well be worth making that phone call and find out if HBOS require a new validation if you simply switch the product.

YHM

Why don't you just contract a broker to do the worrying for you? Theres a lot of concern about relatively immaterial issues

pennystretcher

haf1 wrote: »

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Yorkshire Bank are an absolute PITA. - - -

YB are different from YBS (Yorkshire Building Society). I have had my last two mortgages with YBS and their service has been great.