How can I reduce my mortgage payments while waiting for the housing market to pick u

RachelD

I came to the end of a 2 year fixed repayment mortgage in December 04 with Portman. They offered me another fix but at the time I was approaching 60 and wanted to retire and sell my house and buy a smaller one. I figured I could stand the variable rate for a few months until I retired in April- mortgage is about £38000.

The housing market is currently very slow, verging on the dead, here so I didn't put the house on the market. I have continued working part time as I can only afford to pay the mortgage while I work. My state pension and occupational pension come to about £550 a month.

I would still like to sell up and move and finish work at some point when the housing market is more buoyant - I need the equity as my pension and lump sum were not that large.
Because this is an unknown time factor, I wonder if there is some way of reducing my mortgage payments in the meantime. Most fixes seem to be for 2 years minimum. I do have 'extra' money in the form of the state pension and i could possibly use that to make additional payments.

Any thoughts?

Rachel

[Deleted User]

If you are are happy to put up with a variable rate for a while, I suggest contacting a broker to see if they can search the market for the best variable rate remortgage which involves no fees to switch and no penalties later on if/when you want to change or pay it off etc...


You may then be able to alter the term of the new mortgage to run for longer, giving you lower monthly payments until you have sold your house.

I have used London & Country (who are fee free brokers) - their service is excellent - (I have no link to them other than being a satisfied client).

They are on

0800 953 0304