Better mortgage deal since bereavement

kenzie123

Hello
My father recently passed away and we are now looking at all his finances to make sure my Mother is able to survive solely with her pension income.
While they are / were of retirement age, they purchased a property late in life and still have 2 years to pay on the mortgage for their home. I was never across these payments but now I'm looking into it I've seen they have never changed deals / lenders and are paying a base rate of 5.99%.
I've called the building society involved and they don't lend anymore, so cannot offer a better deal. What's the best thing to do now with just 2 years left to pay? If I could make any different to my Mum's outgoing's and potentially save something I'd prefer that. Shall I look into another lender now? Is is likely they've give my 70 year old mother a mortgage for 24 months?
Any advice appreciated.
thank you.

Thrugelmir

Any savings to clear/reduce the debt with? 

Whats_your_forte

Sorry to hear about your father but your mum should be fine. You may be looking at a later life mortgage but the only issue may be the term. Many will want a minimum of 5 years for a new mortgage but you could go for a deal with no exit fees and overpay if still able to. All of this however is dependent on how much of an income mum will get on her own

kenzie123

Not really unfortunately. My dad was quite ill so a lot of savings were spent on his care.
I'm also not sure what the rules are on overpayments. I can find out but last time I asked the building society said we'd be better off just to continue as we are so close to completion.

kenzie123

Whats_your_forte said:

Sorry to hear about your father but your mum should be fine. You may be looking at a later life mortgage but the only issue may be the term. Many will want a minimum of 5 years for a new mortgage but you could go for a deal with no exit fees and overpay if still able to. All of this however is dependent on how much of an income mum will get on her own

Thank you - we are just working out my mother's sole income - it looks like she can continue with the payments as they are, but I'm just thinking if we can save any money in the long run it would be beneficial - even a short amount at this late stage in the mortgage lifespan.
Do you know of any reputable lenders with later life mortgage deals?
thank you 

Whats_your_forte

No idea of the balance but even at 5.99% with no exit fees might be better than going to another lender which will result in costs. Let's say there are £500 of fees with the new mortgage, add that into the APR and the 5.99% with no repayment fees 'might' still be the better option

MovingForwards

How much is the outstanding mortgage?

With 2 years left it's it's mainly the capital being paid off with each payment as the mortgage would have been top heavy with interest to start with.

kenzie123

MovingForwards said:

How much is the outstanding mortgage?

With 2 years left it's it's mainly the capital being paid off with each payment as the mortgage would have been top heavy with interest to start with.

It's still capital and interest - but very low, just under £10k.
I've asked the question of if we were to repay early would it become capital only and therefore some of the payment would decrease but they were unable to answer and asked me to email in asking for a redemption quote and go from there. Was surprised they couldn't just tell me over the phone.
I think staying put is the best option now at this point but would be good to know if that interest can be removed if we paid back early.

Thrugelmir

kenzie123 said:

MovingForwards said:

How much is the outstanding mortgage?

With 2 years left it's it's mainly the capital being paid off with each payment as the mortgage would have been top heavy with interest to start with.

It's still capital and interest - but very low, just under £10k.
I've asked the question of if we were to repay early would it become capital only and therefore some of the payment would decrease but they were unable to answer and asked me to email in asking for a redemption quote and go from there. Was surprised they couldn't just tell me over the phone.
I think staying put is the best option now at this point but would be good to know if that interest can be removed if we paid back early.

Interest is only charged on the outstanding balance. Compare the balance that is owed. To the amount that will be repaid over the remaining term of the mortgage ( number of months times monthly repayment). This will provide an indication of the saving by repaying early. There'll be an unavoidable mortgage fee to pay whatever you decide to do.

MovingForwards

If you pay the outstanding mortgage off now, then you will save 2 years of interest, but need to include mortgage redemption fee.

Options are (1) carry on for the next 2 years (2) take a bank loan to pay it off.

Redemption figures are normally sent through the post.