Onwards and the debt goes downwards!

beanielou

Hope you can get in!! 

EssexHebridean

Oh heck - now I'm really concerned that we've not heard back! L - are you there? Or frozen into a little block of ice on the patio?! 

lucielle

I’ve defrosted and got over my grump with the boys. Had another productive day at work, which was great. 

A work colleague was talking to DD1 about her mortgage and told her to go back to the broker to get him to check for better rates (I didn’t know you could do this). She did and a new rate has knocked £50 off the repayment, so if she sticks to the original repayment which she could afford she’s already going to be over paying. She immediately messaged her sister to do the same thing. I haven’t heard from her yet. 

Just sat waiting for OH to finish his sports massage then I’m in. Can’t wait. Then off to badders with the old crew.   They don’t know we’re coming, hopefully they’ll have a couple of spare rackets as we didn’t bring ours. 

L

savingholmes

Hope you have fun. 

Great news on the mortgage rates reducing.

EssexHebridean

Cracking advice on checking whether a reduced mortgage rate is possible L - glad she got a good outcome on that! 

lucielle

I am so naive about these things. The other debate is whether to fox hit 2 or 5 years. Currently thought 2 but wavering over 5. 

L

savingholmes

I think on fixing - you have to go with your gut. What could you financially sustain as a rate and how much do you need cost certainty? It all depends on size of EF etc. Fixes can work out or not.

Blackcats

I've just caught up on about 2 week's worth of your posts and I'm glad the locked out with hypothermia cliffhanger was resolved during my catch up!  We are on holiday and still in short sleeves smothered in sun block so it will be a shock to the system when we return home.  We once came back late at night after a winter holiday and our memory foam mattress felt like it had frozen into a solid cold lump - we were moving hot water bottles around it at 2am to defrost it. 

EssexHebridean

I think the decisions around mortgages right now are incredibly tricky - not least as I imagine your DDs are of the age group that couldn't imagine ever seeing mortgage rates as "high" as they are currently - whereas those of us a little older are still thinking of current rates  as being relatively speaking "average". we were lucky - well "ish" when we applied for ours as we sneaked in on 4.03% for a 5 year fix - and I say we sneaked in, it was pulled the morning after we applied! it does now look like rates are going to potentially fall a little from where they are right now, but I think you'd need a crystal ball to predict where they might be in 2 or 5 years. If I was applying now, with rates being a little higher and the financial picture being less clear I'd be hoping for the best but planning for the worst - so looking at the comparative rates and monthly payments, and then looking at the "worst case scenario" of where they could be when each fix ends, with a view to affordability then all things being equal. We did exactly this when we were taking ours out - in fact we did forecasts right the way up to 10% interest, although we'd certainly be hoping never to see those rates again!  Then I'd decide how long I wanted certainty for - so if I knew I could afford the repayments at 5% comfortably, and it would be rather squeaky if things increased, I'd be fixing for 5 years but accepting the fact that there was a risk that rates could fall in the interim and leave me effectively overpaying. If I knew that I could still afford an increased payment with a margin for safety there, then I'd perhaps look at 2 year deals but look at overpaying as much as possible in those two years to give more options when it came to time to get a new deal.



That may not be as coherant as it would ideally be, but hopefully you get the idea of what our thought processes were! 

beanielou

I remember 15.4 rate!!