mortgage rate to expire in 6 months

eastmidsaver

Hello everyone,

I have a question about my mortgage, and I'm hoping to get some advice. My current mortgage is set to expire on April 30, and it currently has a low rate of 1.95%. I recently contacted my existing lender, but they mentioned that I can't lock in a rate until just 4 months before the expiration date.

I'm considering the possibility of locking in a rate with a different lender, specifically HSBC, as a kind of insurance policy. The idea is that if rates don't improve and HSBC offers a good rate, I can go with them. But if rates get even better, I can choose not to accept their offer.

My concern is whether there are any costs involved in doing this. Specifically, if the rates improve and I decide not to go with HSBC, can I do so without any penalty?

I'd also like to ask if anyone else has had a similar scenario, what they did, and how they went about the process. Your experiences and insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help.

ACG

I dont have access to HSBC so cant speak about them specifically but I have done what you describe for a few clients (one completed at around 3.6% last month and saved them over £4k! compared to rates available last month). So it can be well worth doing. 

eastmidsaver

thanks for the response.
not fixated on hsbc,   just it said you can apply directly to them.
i would consider going to a broker,   but i don't want to pay them a fee when they get a commission from the lenders.
are they worth going to,  and are their any out there which are fee free to the client?

penners324

You may well get conveyancing costs if if you pull out too late from the deal.

ACG

eastmidsaver said:

thanks for the response.
not fixated on hsbc,   just it said you can apply directly to them.
i would consider going to a broker,   but i don't want to pay them a fee when they get a commission from the lenders.
are they worth going to,  and are their any out there which are fee free to the client?

Sorry, I wasnt trying to suggest you use a broker. Thats not what I am on here for. 

I would say though that the commission we get is rarely enough to cover the work involved unless it is a large mortgage. Im not suggesting you should pay for a broker, but we have an office, insurance, regulatory costs, compliance costs, IT, marketing, admin - and then we need to be paid for our time and experience... 

But back to your post, it can be done with some lenders but not all. 

eastmidsaver

thanks for your input.

Strummer22

penners324 said:

You may well get conveyancing costs if if you pull out too late from the deal.

Seems unlikely for a remortgage!