London and Country

mb2007

My husband and I are due to remortgage for the first time due to the upcoming end of our 5yr fixed rate deal.

I have read quite a lot about London and Country and plan to contact them and perhaps some others in order to find the best deal. We have a young toddler so would like the security of another fixed deal but also it would be good not to have to pay a huge fee so we have got a lot to think about!

- Has anyone here used London and Country recently and were you pleased with their service?

- also, how long does the process of finding the best mortgage through a broker and then actually finalising a new deal take?

- I have heard that there are some differences in procedures in Scotland (we live in Glasgow), would anyone be able to advise as to what these are?


We are currently with Nationwide and they have been phoning to get us to go into the branch and discuss a loyalty offer with them, but I take it that this is rarely as good as what is on offer for new customers elsewhere?

I had planned on finding the best offer through a broker and then seeing if the Nationwide could match it, has anyone got any tips on how to achieve this?


I am sorry for the massive post, as you can probably tell we are not very clued up on remortgaging! Any advice would be much appreciated.

Dan_Collins_2

Go for it the other way around, Nationwide have a very good 3 year fix at 5.75% and I doubt any broker can beat it.

Its for 3 years and direct only.

Dan_Collins_2

Ps. 75% loan to value or below. I think its 5.95% above which is still very good.

_Andy_

Agreed. No broker will get near that 3 year fixed deal.

mb2007

This is probably a really naive question, but do all of the same fees still apply when you are staying with your own lender or can that be negotiated?

K850iuser

Hi, can't answer your question, but if you want this, get in now, it's going upto 6.05% tomorrow. I called after reading your post to try & get it as my 4.69 deal with them comes to an end in July 08...suspiciously their "systems are down" & they have to ring people back...BUT, if you call tomorrow, you won't get this deal. Hmmm...strokes chin...

Factor25

L&C advised us to stay with Nationwide at the end of our last fixed deal, they couldnt find anything near what they were offering. We did still have to pay the arrangement fee and I got nowhere trying to negotiate it. At the time they did a fee free mortgage but the rate was worse and worked out cheaper overall to pay the £399 fee. They gave us the option of adding it to the mortgage but we put it on a 0% credit card for a year.

mb2007

K850iuser wrote: »

Hi, can't answer your question, but if you want this, get in now, it's going upto 6.05% tomorrow. I called after reading your post to try & get it as my 4.69 deal with them comes to an end in July 08...suspiciously their "systems are down" & they have to ring people back...BUT, if you call tomorrow, you won't get this deal. Hmmm...strokes chin...

Oh no! This is going to be a nightmare. I think I will get on the phone today and see what our options are. Part of me is tempted just to switch to the SVR at the end of July and then see if interest rates come down and there will be better fixed rate deals available. It is just a big risk to take once you have kids etc

K850iuser

Yup, in exactly the same boat (have a 10 yr old who w'ell be having to pay £40.00 bus fairs in addition in Sept' when he goes to secondary school too!) but mine goes up by £100.00 & my wife's part of it by approx £60.00. Can't keep paying that kind of rate for too long...& there were stories about Council tax rebanding in the papers too yesterday...Happy days!

JF77

mb2007 wrote: »

Oh no! This is going to be a nightmare. I think I will get on the phone today and see what our options are. Part of me is tempted just to switch to the SVR at the end of July and then see if interest rates come down and there will be better fixed rate deals available. It is just a big risk to take once you have kids etc

Even if the B.O.E decides to reduce the base rate (decision due this Thu) lenders probably wont reduce their fixed rate deals, in fact most lenders have been increasing them the week leading up to the decision if they believe that the base rate will be reduced so I would defo grab a good deal now.

nspnick

Best fixed Rate I can find is 5.85% from Nationwide.
5.75 fixed for 3 years looks good to me.

Not fair that lenders are now offering best rates direct. What about us poor brokers?