Help, any good mortgage deals out there?

[ClareC]

Just received a letter saying our deal finishes 1st May - I thought it was September!

I will do some googling in a minute it has anyone remortgaged / taken out a mortgagee recently and found a great deal?

Are lenders still a nightmare? Last did this 5 years ago at start of credit crunch and it was painful to say the least!!

[ianwstevens]

Hi Clare, I'm a mortgage broker an have arranged numerous mortgages for clients via the East Dulwich forum. We don't charge you a fee and have access to the whole market to obtain the best deals. If you would like to get in touch for an informal chat please do so - [email protected] or mobile 07801 094 606 or 07709 455 257

[The Minkey]

I sourced both my mortgages. If you go with one of those ones with a special rate over a couple of years or so, make sure you work out what that's really going to cost you.

Let's say you like the look of a deal that lasts for 2 years. You need to total up all the extra costs applicable to that deal, arrangement fees etc, then multiply the monthly mortgage repayment by 24 and add the two totals. What may at first glance appear to be a great rate, may not look quite so attractive once you've factored in those additional costs.

I ended up with a standard variable mortgage from Hinckley & Rugby which was set at 0.35% over the bank base rate. The real cost over two years was more or less the same as the 'wonderful' 2 year deal KFH suggested, however, the H&R one ticked every single one of my requirements which the KFH one didn't and I liked the fact I wouldn't be forced to do it all over again in a couple of years time. It was a lucky choice because short of two years later, the financial markets had taken a hit and it was much more difficult to get a mortgage, let alone a good rate, and the fees by then were astronomical.

Get your head round the real cost bit now and you can save yourself a fortune over the long run.

Another thing worth checking is the redemption fee for such time you're able to pay the whole thing off.

[MrBen]

I think you'd have to be insane to take any kind of mortgage advice via an Estate Agent's broker.

I like the ThisisMoney website for general personal finance stuff. Clear, fairly independent and without the usual bs.

http://www.lcplc.co.uk/thirdparties/thisismoney/mortgages2/home/

Note: Fixed rates have only this week just started to rise again, anticipating a rise in interest rates early next year (2015). Today's FT is asking of the end of record low mortgage deals is nigh?this is the time to get a good fixed rate bargain.

[nilo78]

I thought the staff here where quite good and professional

http://www.capricornfinancial.co.uk/

Alex is the name of the broker that helped us and he was very good.

Alternatively there is tons of sites of there with loads of advice and comparison ability too. I would say though that a broker is best because they run searches on more variables than you can see on sites.

Hope this helps.

NILO

[The Minkey]

"I think you'd have to be insane to take any kind of mortgage advice via an Estate Agent's broker."

As illustrated, plus there would have been a fee if I'd gone with their suggestion, however, it gave a very good starting point for comparison.