Mortgage broker - ask me anything

cockerhoop47

Hi, currently have a mortgage application in process with Bluestone.  Affordability wise and LTV wise I would say we are good but had some late payments on cards, cards maxed out but now paid and a default some years ago. Our broker told us Bluestone were the only option, just wondering if they really are the lender of last resort ? 

K_S

@cockerhoop47 Without knowing all the facts, it's impossible to second-guess your broker's recommendation unfortunately. I sense that you feel that they may have placed you with a lender of last resort when there may have been less expensive options available. 

Which of Bluestone's 5 credit categories does your product fall under?

Mowgli30

Hi, I’ve recently been approved by a specialist lender on a 2 year fixed for over 5%. I had to go with them as I have one default for £560 from almost 4 years ago! I don’t mind the rate as I wanted to get on the ladder and it’s more than affordable on my current salary. My question is, am I likely to encounter issues when o come to remortgage on a coupe of years time? The default will only have 3 months remaining and I have very little other debt (car payment and 2 CCs that are paid every day! Is there anything stopping me from remortgaging the house after the 2 years and before the default falls off or should i wait until the default falls off. 

My second question is, so I need to remortgage before the fixed term comes to an end or should I let myself  go on the lender SVR (it’s .2 percentage points lower than the current rate so I’ll save money once the term ends.  

kingstreet

Amanda65 said:

Hi
I was widowed last year and sadly my OH fell ill just as a 10 year life insurance policy came to an end so still have a £68k mortgage which is on a variable interest rate as part of an RBS OneAccount.  I can afford to pay it from his pension pot but pensions advisor has said it would be better to keep a mortgage while I am still working and hold on to the pensions, with a view to repaying in the future if I choose to.  The mortgage is about 13% of my property value and my salary would more than cover the loan ratio amount / repayments.  I plan to work for another 10 years so that is the term I will take the mortgage out over to keep repayments lower but with a view of overpaying to pay quicker.

I am a long term Nationwide customer and a quick look at their website shows a 2 year fixed term deal available to me so my questions are please:

• am I better speaking to a broker to get a better deal
• would I get a better deal if I paid my 'overpayments; into an ISA or other savings vehicle and pay a lump sum at the end of the fixed term rather than a deal where I can make overpayments to the mortgage?
  
  TIA

On the matter of the life cover, did you look at the possibility of claiming under a terminal illness bolt-on? Earlier plans had limitations in the final policy year; however later plans offered this without the rider preventing you from claiming in the last twelve months of the life of the policy. If your partner was diagnosed terminal during the life of the policy (or could have been if you had known about this) the terminal illness benefit may have been payable even if the policy expired prior to death.

K_S

@mowgli30 It's impossible to say one way or the other without the specifics, but generally speaking one default of £560, 5+ years old and assuming credit history is clean since then, should not stop you from remortgaging on to a better rate.

To answer to your 2nd question, again generally speaking, is down to how much extra interest would be incurred by delayed a remo for 5-6 months while you wait for the default to drop off completely. As I'm sure you know, a completely clean credit history would make placing your remo much easier, especially if 2 years down the line we are still in similar conditions as today, with lenders being extra wary of risks. I hope that makes sense.

T_J_A_8691

Good morning,
Is it better to have no debts and a smaller deposit when remortgaging ?
We're looking to remortgage in 13months.
Options are to repay 2 x credit cards fully currently 0% or leave £2400 0n each and have that extra £5000 towards the deposit?
Looking to save towards the deposit also but need to know if its better to save into a savings account or overpay the mortgage each month until we remortgage.We have the option to overpay by 10%.
Looking at a 85 LTV Ratio .(£200,000 ish mortgage) 
No other debts good credit history etc £70,000 combined wage 16 year mortgage wanted.
Thank you 

K_S

@T_J_A_8691 Generally speaking, if you are looking to borrow 200k over 16 years on an income of 70k, having the 5k credit card debt or not is by itself unlikely to have any material impact on your chances.

luis1988

Hi, we recently moved house (November) and took out a second mortgage with Santander at a fixed rate for 2 years. However, our first part of the mortgage is coming to to the end of its fixed rate in March/April. We checked on Santander app and the interest rate to remortgage that part is significantly higher than it was originally, a jump from 1.74% to 2.8% I believe. 

We was wondering if it’s possible to remortgage with a different bank on just that part of the old mortgage to find a better deal? All the online calculators assume a better LTV when looking at remortgage and don’t allow you to type in the other part of the mortgage. 

Thanks!

K_S

luis1988 said:

We was wondering if it’s possible to remortgage with a different bank on just that part of the old mortgage to find a better deal?

@luis1988 Unfortunately no. If you currently have a 2 part mortgage with Santander, you are stuck with Santander for now unless you are willing to pay the ERC on the other part.

Tbh your broker or Santander advisor should have explained this to you when you ported with additional borrowing last month.

luis1988

K_S said:

luis1988 said:

We was wondering if it’s possible to remortgage with a different bank on just that part of the old mortgage to find a better deal?

@luis1988 Unfortunately no. If you currently have a 2 part mortgage with Santander, you are stuck with Santander for now unless you are willing to pay the ERC on the other part.

Tbh your broker or Santander advisor should have explained this to you when you ported with additional borrowing last month.

Ah, thought this may be the case as couldn’t find any information anywhere. 

We went direct to Santander when we moved we had to stay with them anyway due to a very high ERC, but I don’t recall anyone mentioning it although I don’t think I asked the specific question. 

So I just checked again and they are offering 2.69%. If we move lenders we will need to re-do our 90% LTV for a £505k mortgage. The ERC is just over £4k. Do you think it’s worth exploring other lenders based on those numbers or will we struggle to get enough saving due to having to pay the ERC? 

Thanks again!