Another Remortgaging...

superpup

Hi everyone

I'm really nervous about posting here for some reason so please be gentle with me.

I'm with NR and my 4.79% fixed rate ends in July. I called London and Country and got a quote back from them but I think I've found better rates by myself. I would use a local broker but where I live, it's a bit incestuous, everyone knows everyone else and confidentiality has come into question with a couple of people I know who have used them.

L&C offered me 5.78% with Abbey if I submitted an application today (didn't, as felt uncomfortable rushing it) or 5.88% with Abbey again after that. Both had a £995 fee attached and fixed for 3 years.

I have looked online and found HSBC rate matcher which would obviously match my current rate with a £1,399 fee, fixed for 2 years.

I have also found a Nationwide mortgage at 5.75% with a £599 fee, fixed for 3 years.

I'm having a dilemma as I would imagine most people remortgaging are at the moment. I don't know whether to fix for 2 years (as I have done twice in the last 4 years) or go for a longer term. Part of me wants to have that security for a little longer but it is a lot more than I'm paying now. But no one has a crystal ball and can see what rates are going to be in the future.

I have savings but no pension. I have a small 0% credit card debt of about £3k but I have just over 4 times that in savings. I can pay the fees no problem and I'm on a good salary of £35k with no real dependents but I do help my youngest daughter out where I can as she's on her own with her baby boy.

I'm nervous and probably being an overdramatic wuss because I bought a house for the first time in 1988 with my ex. Before we even moved into the house, our mortgage payment had jumped by quite a bit. He's a builder so his work dried up and he ended up going to work abroad, leaving me with no money, 2 children and the job of posting the keys back to the building society and finding a house to rent. The mortgage had pretty much doubled.

I spent years getting myself out of that mess and it's only been the last couple of years that I've been comfortable with savings and no debts. I do appreciate I'm a lot better off than a lot of people I'm reading about here. My house is worth about £175k and my mortgage is around £105k which I've been paying interest only with small overypayments. I want to go to repayment but don't want to go for a 2 year fixed then find I have to remortgage again and rates have gone up even more.

I'm sorry the post is so long. I think it's even helped just typing it all out. And I guess I'm sick of doing all this on my own and making all the decisions. I do actually like my single life until it comes to quite big decisions like this (and putting the rubbish out).

Okay, let me have it. Should I just flip a coin to decide and stop whining?

_Andy_

Evening

Seems to me you're weighing up the HSBC 2 year ratematcher and Nationwide 3 year fix.

What you're weighing up is lowes initial payments (HSBC) with what may well give you better value over three years (Nationwide, due to the extra year of being fixed and low fees).

I'm personally not a big fan of 2 year fixed rates as they often don't give great value.

If you're happy to tie in for 3 years then I'd say go for Nationwide - they're a great lender to be with in that 1) Their SVR is pretty low and 2) They do give good deals to lenders already with them.

HSBC Ratematcher will be changing soon (fees going up) and I doubt the Nationwide fixed rate will be around much longer as it's so competitive so I'd suggest making a decision ASAP (no pressure!)

Cheers
Andy

superpup

Thank you Andy, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer.

Those 2 seemed the best options for my circumstances. Am I right in thinking I can apply for the nationwide but switch to something else if something better comes up in the short term? (But I'm guessing that is extremely unlikely).

I know the HSBC rate is tempting but I would rather go for the 3 year security. It's not been easy over the last, nearly 20 years, (god that sounds depressing!) and now things are getting easier for me financially, I really can't bear the thought of going back to how things were.

I think I'll go back to Nationwide's website and have another mooch!

thanks again

_Andy_

Hi

No worries.

Yes nothing to stop you applying for something else.

superpup

Well, I applied. The form was a bit confusing as I didn't fully understand all the questions as they didn't all seem to apply to me. When I clicked get decision, it came up with 'there's a problem with your application, one of our advisors will ring you' and I had to choose a time. I'm not viewing that as too negative as I don't see any reason why I should be refused. Probably just me messing the form up a little bit.

Thanks anyway, I feel better now I've made a decision. May get some sleep tonight...

superpup

Update...

They called me back yesterday to make an appointment at the time I requested and I was called at 9.30 this morning by a really nice lady, again exactly at the time they promised. Confirmed I can borrow what I need. Credit search was okay apparently. I have to say I'm impressed with Nationwide so far. Maybe I'm easily pleased because I'm so used to getting sh1te service everywhere else

JF77

Well Done getting it all sorted, It's great when it works out well especially in this scary climate.:D

superpup

Me again

I had the key facts thingy from Nationwide a few days ago saying I'd been approved to borrow what I needed. But...

I've just seen the woolwich lifetime tracker, 5.74 with no fee...

I'm wondering whether this would be a better option for me. I've never considered a tracker before as I'm scared the base rate will go sky high and I'll be in a tight spot. But I would have just under £600 extra in my savings that I would be paying Nationwide's fee with, to cover some of the possible rises.

My head won't work out how much they'd have to rise and for how long to completely wipe out this saving. I'm not asking anyone to do this for me, but do you think it may be a sensible option to go for the tracker rather than the fixed? I'm also thinking about having to remortgage in 3 years time and probably pay another hefty fee.

I've worked out my ltv and I'm bang on 60% with a realistic valuation but I do have some in savings I could use if there was a little discrepancy.

I'm so indecisive I'm annoying myself now

superpup

Also, L&C are chasing me but I'm just going to send them an email and tell them not to bother contacting me again as they can't offer me anything better than I've found already.

Help_Wanted

Personnally if I were you, I'd go for the 3 year fixed term. Sound like this would give you the security you need at the moment. There is always going to be a deal which you think is better but on the other hand if you wait too long you could miss out on the Nationwide deal. Just go for it and have three years of peace and security. Once you've made your decision stick with it and hopefully you'll have the last laugh. I think we're going to have a tough time in the years ahead (sorry for sounding so gloom and doom) so a fixed rate mortgage will give you stability.