mortgages - advice needed

[stallyon]

Hi,

is there anyone here that knows quite a bit about mortgages that i can pm for some advice? thanks

Nic

[AdamM]

speak to a mortgage advisor. the Mortgage industry is tightly regulated for very good reason. going to your poker buddies shouldn't really be route one. one bit of advise I'd give is Independant doesn't necessarily mean good. independants' rates are often not as good and it's not unknown for them to recommend who ever is paying the best commision.

[thediceman]

It's been a few years but I use to work as a financial consultant and specialised in mortgages. I'm also currently looking into self cert and buy to let mortgages for myself so may be able to help you. Feel free to pm me.

[stallyon]

thanks diceman pm sent...

Adam, i know i could have gone to a mortgage advisor but i didnt want to be bogged down with all the garbage and i'm really testing the water at the minute. once i get into the nitty gritty then i'll go see the right people. at the moment though i just have this idea and want to see if it is plausible. thanks for your advice though

[Sheriff Fatman]

Charcol Online is a decent site for comparing mortgage products.  You can play around with the scenarios to your hearts content.

http://mortgages.charcolonline.co.uk/

We used them for our re-mortgage last year without any problems.

Sheriff

[thetank]

 going to your poker buddies shouldn't really be route one.

 

I love the smell of dry wit in the morning. 

[rivered]

the magazine 'what mortgage' helped me out a lot as well... be prepared to spend a bit of cash on research, because the slightest improvement in the end product will save you a lot of money over the years!!

[Claw75]

Charcol Online is a decent site for comparing mortgage products.  You can play around with the scenarios to your hearts content.

http://mortgages.charcolonline.co.uk/

We used them for our re-mortgage last year without any problems.

Sheriff

I used to work for them, and would recommend them to anyone

[thediceman]

Info sent.

To be honest the sum you are looking to borrow is such a nominal amount that shopping around is a case of pennies saved rather than pounds or even thousands and certainly not worth paying for specialist advise. Your best bet would be talk to your existing lender.

Your key savings will be to reduce the term of the new mortgage. As you have had your existing endowment for 10 years, and assumming it was originally set up for 25 years you should have your new mortgage for just 15 years rather than the 25 years that most people "all to" frequentantly automatically select. Alternatively you could start another savings plan (i.e. an ISA) to run for a shorter period i.e. 10 years and clear the mortgage even sooner. You then keep the existing endowment running to mature in 15 years and have a nice trip to Vegas, use it for home improvements, childrens education, treat the wife, etc, etc.

[ifm]

An interesting point there, when i remortgaged a few years back my lender automatically kept the term of the new mortgage to what it was i.e. the new mortgage carried on from 18 years.
I have one of these fixed rates and each time it has reached it's fixed term (usually 3 or 5 years) they contact me with a better offer, all been good so far.
When i first went for a mortgage i hadn't got a clue (as with most people) about fees/charges etc. and went to a broker who was going to charge me in the region of £950 (added to loan), i thought this was standard.
When i put an offer in on my house the estate agent told me to have a chat with their inhouse IFA and i reluctantly did this, what a shock!! He would charge me NOTHING, he got his commission from the lender and he was privvy to better mortgage deals than was publically available.
So brokers are the way to go and don't let them charge you.

[madasahatstand]

hi

whatever you do, get a repayment as the endowments dont allow you to reduce youur balance. also, the endownment policies dont make enough money to pay off your mortgage at the end of the period. i dont like going to financial advisors as they sell 'favourite' products that earn them commission. the ones ive looked at recently include halifax and egg.com

good luck and let me know if you find any good deals as id like to re-mortage

cheers

mad

[thediceman]

hi

whatever you do, get a repayment as the endowments dont allow you to reduce youur balance. also, the endownment policies dont make enough money to pay off your mortgage at the end of the period. i dont like going to financial advisors as they sell 'favourite' products that earn them commission. the ones ive looked at recently include halifax and egg.com

good luck and let me know if you find any good deals as id like to re-mortage

cheers

mad

I would love to hear your supportive evidence for your bold statement.   

"the endownment policies dont make enough money to pay off your mortgage at the end of the period"

Is this a statement of fact or just your personal view re: mortgages presented in the form of a factual statement. Please feel free to qualify your statement because I believe it to be at worst incorrect but more importantly misleading to people who are uncertain re: mortgages. There are cases inwhich an endownment have failed to live upto their projected growth and hence a shortfall occurs but this has largely resulted when a savings plans has been sold with a highly unrealistic projected annual growth of 12% plus. Oh for the joy of the yuppie years. Current saving plans are sold based on illustrations of a more consentive annual growth of 6%.

Are you also aware of the benefits ot an endownment vs a repayment mortgage. A repayment is not a suitable product for all people such as people who move on a frequent basis eg once every 7 years.

[madasahatstand]

hi

whatever you do, get a repayment as the endowments dont allow you to reduce youur balance. also, the endownment policies dont make enough money to pay off your mortgage at the end of the period. i dont like going to financial advisors as they sell 'favourite' products that earn them commission. the ones ive looked at recently include halifax and egg.com

good luck and let me know if you find any good deals as id like to re-mortage

cheers

mad

I would love to hear your supportive evidence for your bold statement.   

"the endownment policies dont make enough money to pay off your mortgage at the end of the period"

Is this a statement of fact or just your personal view re: mortgages presented in the form of a factual statement. Please feel free to qualify your statement because I believe it to be at worst incorrect but more importantly misleading to people who are uncertain re: mortgages. There are cases inwhich an endownment have failed to live upto their projected growth and hence a shortfall occurs but this has largely resulted when a savings plans has been sold with a highly unrealistic projected annual growth of 12% plus. Oh for the joy of the yuppie years. Current saving plans are sold based on illustrations of a more consentive annual growth of 6%.

Are you also aware of the benefits ot an endownment vs a repayment mortgage. A repayment is not a suitable product for all people such as people who move on a frequent basis eg once every 7 years.

handbags!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[thetank]

There are cases inwhich an endownment have failed to live upto their projected growth and hence a shortfall occurs but this has largely resulted when a savings plans has been sold with a highly unrealistic projected annual growth of 12% plus. Oh for the joy of the yuppie years. Current saving plans are sold based on illustrations of a more consentive annual growth of 6%.
 

12%, or so I'm told, didn't seem highly unrealistic at the time.

Just like 6% seems conservative just now. In 20 years, after a worldwide fuel crisis/World War 3 or some similar jazz, 6% may seem, in hindsight, to have been highly unrealistic too.

People have been burned with all types of mortgages, not just endownments. But I wouldn't blame someone for being skeptical as to an endownments benefits if they knew someone for whom a shortfall has caused them serious problems.

[doubleup]

Is this a statement of fact or just your personal view re: mortgages presented in the form of a factual statement. Please feel free to qualify your statement because I believe it to be at worst incorrect but more importantly misleading to people who are uncertain re: mortgages. There are cases inwhich an endownment have failed to live upto their projected growth and hence a shortfall occurs but this has largely resulted when a savings plans has been sold with a highly unrealistic projected annual growth of 12% plus. Oh for the joy of the yuppie years. Current saving plans are sold based on illustrations of a more consentive annual growth of 6%.

Are you also aware of the benefits ot an endownment vs a repayment mortgage. A repayment is not a suitable product for all people such as people who move on a frequent basis eg once every 7 years.

For an endowment to be more advantageous than repayment, the underlying investment must grow at a higher rate than the interest paid on the loan.  While this was reasonable prospect in times of higher inflation and tax relief, it simply isn't worth the risk under present economic conditions.  The other consideration in the heyday of the endowment was that much higher pay rises reduced the cost of payments, so a shortfall wasn't likely to be a problem - but nowadays shortfalls could be a significant problem if they occur, increasing risk.