To go FA or not for mortgage renewal time.

B0bbyEwing

nic_c said:

What's the deal with your broker? Mine charged for the first, but doesn't for remortgage - advice was similar to you, product switch.

I must be the same as I was never billed last time round. I thought we would be but was surprised when at the end of the meeting it was like ok that's it all done. 

Altior

B0bbyEwing said:

Altior said:

The OPs fixed rate deal is ending toward the end of a significant rate hike. This is almost the worst outcome. 

They could perhaps have paid a modest ERC and secured a much better rate when it was obvious what the direction of travel was going to be last year.

Could've. £1,600-£1,700 I believe it was.
But there's lots of could'ves. I could've gone variable at the start & saved myself a load of money over the time. I didn't because I wanted to know for sure what'd be coming out each month. Each time we locked in we thought - rates can't get much lower. We were wrong.
No point in bothering with could'ves, only what can be done from now forward.

"Obvious" - yep around the time Truss was PM I remember the rates shooting up & up. Then she left & they settled/reduced a bit so to then keep shooting up might've been obvious to you but not me. I don't keep tabs on these things daily. I lock in on a 5 year deal & that's basically it for 5 years for me.

But yep, it's not an ideal scenario as you say. Still, it's the one I have to deal with.

Aside from who to go with, the other question is 2/5/10, variable/fixed. Who knows.

The reason why I mentioned this is that financial professionals don't have any special insight into the future that lay people don't.

Fixing is an insurance policy effectively, fixing for five years gives you certainty for five years, but the price of that certainty is that you don't know what the financial climate will be at the time of renewing the deal. This is something we can calculate for ourselves (our risk appetite).

That's what you are balancing with now. 

I would definitely argue that if you ignored the noise, and looked at the facts, a huge spike in inflation across the western economies was inevitable once economies opened up after lockdowns. This did not require specialist knowledge either, a massive, record increase in fiat money supply and a manufactured increased in demand after it was constricted for two years. It's just like we can anticipate queues on motorways on a sunny bank holiday. We don't need to be travel experts to forecast that.  People love to go abroad on holiday, they effectively weren't allowed for two years, saved the money, when they were finally allowed to go on holiday again unrestricted they weren't exactly going to be price sensitive (just one example). 

Truss had nothing to do with the direction of travel, we were already heading here. There was a perfect storm at that time, and powerful/influential people manipulating the situation to create maximum damage for political gain. That was just the savagery of politics though and it couldn't be influenced long term, it just expedited the inevitable. It is very convenient for people to attribute economic issues to Truss, of course it's nothing to do with her and none of her plans were implemented aside from domestic energy stuff. Which any government would have done (or a similar scheme).

B0bbyEwing

Altior said:
The reason why I mentioned this is that financial professionals don't have any special insight into the future that lay people don't.

Fixing is an insurance policy effectively, fixing for five years gives you certainty for five years, but the price of that certainty is that you don't know what the financial climate will be at the time of renewing the deal. This is something we can calculate for ourselves (our risk appetite).

That's what you are balancing with now. 

I'm with you there.

Altior said:
I would definitely argue that if you ignored the noise, and looked at the facts, a huge spike in inflation across the western economies was inevitable once economies opened up after lockdowns. This did not require specialist knowledge either, a massive, record increase in fiat money supply and a manufactured increased in demand after it was constricted for two years. 

The thing is, I don't/have never paid attention in that matter.
For me ... stuff happens. I go to the store today & the snacks I get for the cinema are £1.65. They were £1.25 what felt like 5mins ago and £1.00 not all that long before that.
I've never seen all that as because of X or Y or Z, it's just stuff that happens - prices have gone up, that's all I ever needed to know. It is what it is kind of thing. 
I go fill up my car, I don't pay attention to whatever these barrels are costing. I look at the price on the big board outside the station. If it's more than last time then I may grumble but I pay it or go to the next station because I need to fill the car. I don't look in to the whys and why nots, I never have. 

I know some do & I also appreciate the environment of this forum - many here will do just that but it's not something I've ever done. Not an active decision, just something I've never done.

So when you say "inevitable". It probably was. But as I say, looking at X & Y and then saying well this is what Z is probably going to do now ... I've never done that. I just accept X is doing X, Y is doing Y and Z is whatever it is.

Altior said:
Truss had nothing to do with the direction of travel, we were already heading here. There was a perfect storm at that time, and powerful/influential people manipulating the situation to create maximum damage for political gain. That was just the savagery of politics though and it couldn't be influenced long term, it just expedited the inevitable. It is very convenient for people to attribute economic issues to Truss, of course it's nothing to do with her and none of her plans were implemented aside from domestic energy stuff. Which any government would have done (or a similar scheme).

This will now probably come as no surprise to you with what I've just said above your quote, but I wasn't attributing anything to Truss. 
Why? I don't 'do' politics. Yes I know it is linked to many parts of our lives but I don't really 1) understand it 2) pay much attention to it. 
All I do is see what's happening. For example - I see the rates being as they were, I see Truss coming in, I see people getting all in a flap and moaning about her, I see rates shooting up, I see her leaving & then I see rates calming down for a bit.

That's not me saying she caused it, didn't cause it or whatever because I've no idea - like I said, I don't do politics. I don't know what caused it all & I'm not going to pretend I do. 
I just called it as I saw it - they were fine, around the time she came in it started to get a bit volatile, so on & so forth. 
That's all I meant with it, nothing more or less. 

Altior

It's more about the narrative than you personally. I mentioned it on other threads around the topic, it suits many people to have a fall guy (or girl) for the current circumstances (for varying reasons). However, people can hold different opinions on that. 

I accept that many people such as yourself don't pay particular attention to the specifics around the economy in general. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that their judgement is based profiling your risk appetite rather than trying to predict the movements in the economy. So aside from perhaps having access to deals not available to the public, which may be marginally beneficial, if you already have a feel for your appetite to risk then they will most likely just be confirming what you already know. 

MFWannabe

B0bbyEwing said:

MFWannabe said:

What are the rates with current lender? 

23rd June a 5yr fixed was putting me at 5.09% initial rate, £518.65/mo.
Last week I'm sure that was up at £550/£560 but don't quote me on that as I never got the screenshot.
Today the same deal sits at 5.24% initial rate & £525.16/mo.

That's with me making an assumption on house value based on what others in the area are going for and Zoopla.

You need to check this, also rates for 2,3 and 10 if you wanted to consider that long 
Then look on mortgage comparison sites to see what the rates are, probably not much different 

B0bbyEwing

Altior said:

It's more about the narrative than you personally. I mentioned it on other threads around the topic, it suits many people to have a fall guy (or girl) for the current circumstances (for varying reasons). However, people can hold different opinions on that. 

I accept that many people such as yourself don't pay particular attention to the specifics around the economy in general. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that their judgement is based profiling your risk appetite rather than trying to predict the movements in the economy. So aside from perhaps having access to deals not available to the public, which may be marginally beneficial, if you already have a feel for your appetite to risk then they will most likely just be confirming what you already know. 

No problem. 

Also, just wanted to say thanks for not getting the wrong end of the stick as well & calling me out as 'argumentative' or 'not wanting to accept the help given'. Too many times if you don't say yes sir whatever you say sir in your first response, you're (I'm) called out for this when in actual fact you're (I'm) just doing something as simple as having a discussion or trying to better your (my) understanding. 

B0bbyEwing

MFWannabe said:

B0bbyEwing said:

MFWannabe said:

What are the rates with current lender? 

23rd June a 5yr fixed was putting me at 5.09% initial rate, £518.65/mo.
Last week I'm sure that was up at £550/£560 but don't quote me on that as I never got the screenshot.
Today the same deal sits at 5.24% initial rate & £525.16/mo.

That's with me making an assumption on house value based on what others in the area are going for and Zoopla.

You need to check this, also rates for 2,3 and 10 if you wanted to consider that long 
Then look on mortgage comparison sites to see what the rates are, probably not much different 

Just wanted to check what you mean by check this? 

The rate the other week I have on a screenshot on my phone. 
The rate yesterday I went on & specifically got it for the post I put it in. 

Or are you talking about checking the valuation on the house? If it's that then are you saying I need to get someone out rather than seeing what houses in the area are selling for/Zoopla? 

Sorry, what you're saying (with check it) may well be clear but I didn't get it. 

MFWannabe

B0bbyEwing said:

MFWannabe said:

B0bbyEwing said:

MFWannabe said:

What are the rates with current lender? 

23rd June a 5yr fixed was putting me at 5.09% initial rate, £518.65/mo.
Last week I'm sure that was up at £550/£560 but don't quote me on that as I never got the screenshot.
Today the same deal sits at 5.24% initial rate & £525.16/mo.

That's with me making an assumption on house value based on what others in the area are going for and Zoopla.

You need to check this, also rates for 2,3 and 10 if you wanted to consider that long 
Then look on mortgage comparison sites to see what the rates are, probably not much different 

Just wanted to check what you mean by check this? 

The rate the other week I have on a screenshot on my phone. 
The rate yesterday I went on & specifically got it for the post I put it in. 

Or are you talking about checking the valuation on the house? If it's that then are you saying I need to get someone out rather than seeing what houses in the area are selling for/Zoopla? 

Sorry, what you're saying (with check it) may well be clear but I didn't get it. 

I meant check the rates now (as you said you weren’t sure as you didn’t get a screenshot); also the rates for 2,3 and 10 year 

B0bbyEwing

MFWannabe said:

B0bbyEwing said:

MFWannabe said:

B0bbyEwing said:

MFWannabe said:

What are the rates with current lender? 

23rd June a 5yr fixed was putting me at 5.09% initial rate, £518.65/mo.
Last week I'm sure that was up at £550/£560 but don't quote me on that as I never got the screenshot.
Today the same deal sits at 5.24% initial rate & £525.16/mo.

That's with me making an assumption on house value based on what others in the area are going for and Zoopla.

You need to check this, also rates for 2,3 and 10 if you wanted to consider that long 
Then look on mortgage comparison sites to see what the rates are, probably not much different 

Just wanted to check what you mean by check this? 

The rate the other week I have on a screenshot on my phone. 
The rate yesterday I went on & specifically got it for the post I put it in. 

Or are you talking about checking the valuation on the house? If it's that then are you saying I need to get someone out rather than seeing what houses in the area are selling for/Zoopla? 

Sorry, what you're saying (with check it) may well be clear but I didn't get it. 

I meant check the rates now (as you said you weren’t sure as you didn’t get a screenshot); also the rates for 2,3 and 10 year 

Ah my fault for not being clear then. 

What I didn't get a screenshot of was the rates like a few days ago, just to see the progression of change. 

What I do have is a shot from a few weeks ago and I can also obviously see today. 

I noted that the difference between 5 & 10 years was not really a lot at all which made me think maybe 10yr would be worth a consideration. Though knowing my luck, the rates will drop the day after I lock in & I'll be worse off than what I could've been. A decision needs making regardless, obviously. 

I'll check the rates when I get home from work. 

B0bbyEwing

MFWannabe said:

B0bbyEwing said:

MFWannabe said:

B0bbyEwing said:

MFWannabe said:

What are the rates with current lender? 

23rd June a 5yr fixed was putting me at 5.09% initial rate, £518.65/mo.
Last week I'm sure that was up at £550/£560 but don't quote me on that as I never got the screenshot.
Today the same deal sits at 5.24% initial rate & £525.16/mo.

That's with me making an assumption on house value based on what others in the area are going for and Zoopla.

You need to check this, also rates for 2,3 and 10 if you wanted to consider that long 
Then look on mortgage comparison sites to see what the rates are, probably not much different 

Just wanted to check what you mean by check this? 

The rate the other week I have on a screenshot on my phone. 
The rate yesterday I went on & specifically got it for the post I put it in. 

Or are you talking about checking the valuation on the house? If it's that then are you saying I need to get someone out rather than seeing what houses in the area are selling for/Zoopla? 

Sorry, what you're saying (with check it) may well be clear but I didn't get it. 

I meant check the rates now (as you said you weren’t sure as you didn’t get a screenshot); also the rates for 2,3 and 10 year 

5 year fixed:

£525.16/mo, 5.24% initial. 6.8% APRC

10 year fixed:

£505.76, 4.79%, 5.7%APRC

3yr: £547.18, 5.74%, 7.5% APRC
2yr: £551.64, 5.84%, 7.7% APRC.

Going to fire off an email to the FA. Right now I'm looking at that 10yr deal. Have done an online comparison and Nationwide is up there with cheapest.