Anyone know mortgages?

Originally Posted by Specialone

This.
I used to sort my own deals but now use one at every time my current deal runs out, his rate isn't that much, he gets access to deals that aren't advertised by the lenders, he chases everything up, collates all the info needed etc, I hardly have to do anything.

The mortgage advisors I went to couldn't match the price I'm paying at abbey national.

If you want to do any of these shared scheme things that's one thing but if you just want a straight mortgage I recommend you do a bit of the old internet legwork and get some comparison site quotes first, It'll give you an idea how good the advisor's prices are.

Get an Advisor. I have a recommendation from the upstairs neighbours for one in south west london. Probably better off to ask people at work if any of them can recommend one, as they'll be fairly local.

Also, your first time buy will be a stretch in London unfortunately, the bubble will burst, but I don't think it will for in the next couple of years. The advisor will be able to explain the different types, but to cover against the increase in inflation you'd just want to get a fixed mortgage, though technically the difference between the fixed rate and floating rate will reflect the markets (read lender's) views on the chances of the rates rising, so will certainly appear high initially.

Another recommendation, once you have a safety net of savings (3-6 months repayments and necessary outgoings) put everything you can into repaying, don't keep building up savings, check how much you can repay, most will let you overpay by 5% to 10% a year.

I did the calcs on a £300k, 25 year mortgage at 5% once. Overpaying by £100 a month took like a year and a half off the mortgage, £200 a month was about 4 years. The monthly payments were £1250 a month normally, overpaying by £600 (half the requested payments) brought just over 12 years off the mortgage. It really makes an enormous difference.

Originally Posted by Spank86

The mortgage advisors I went to couldn't match the price I'm paying at abbey national.

If you want to do any of these shared scheme things that's one thing but if you just want a straight mortgage I recommend you do a bit of the old internet legwork and get some comparison site quotes first, It'll give you an idea how good the advisor's prices are.

That might be your advisor mate but I know for a fact his firm gets rates that are simply not offered to customers who contact them off their own backs.

I'm pretty clued up on the mortgage area, I've had one over 18 years and lots of moving and remortgaging etc etc, my guy earns his money and saves me a lot of hassle, I 100% recommend using one if a first time buyer, they will have lots of good advice and make the whole thing much easier, leaving you time to enjoy life and not stress so much over it

Originally Posted by Specialone

That might be your advisor mate but I know for a fact his firm gets rates that are simply not offered to customers who contact them off their own backs.

I'm pretty clued up on the mortgage area, I've had one over 18 years and lots of moving and remortgaging etc etc, my guy earns his money and saves me a lot of hassle, I 100% recommend using one if a first time buyer, they will have lots of good advice and make the whole thing much easier, leaving you time to enjoy life and not stress so much over it

I'm not saying don't use an advisor, I'm saying do some prep first.

I went to an advisor when taking my mortgage and when renewing, they couldn't beat what I could get direct. As we don't know what advisor the OP will use there's no way to tell how good he'll be.

A search of the market first will give him a better chance to determine that and with comparison sites is pretty quick and easy.

[Dave20046]

The advisors I went to Plus London & country mortgages (who get raved about) couldn't beat the deal I got with First Direct.
I went to an advisor I know and he showed me his trade sheet and pointed out the ones they don't get commission on/can't advise - First direct was one of them

[Dave20046]

Abbey national, then Abbey, Now Santander & First direct are the big banks that I repeatedly hear people saying are cheap

[L3nny]

Advisors aren't that great, I used one for my current house but always found my own deals before which have always been as good as what the advisor can find.

I used the help to buy scheme when I bought my house. It's not as good as it first appears when they offer it to you but it was the only hope I had of buying in the area I'm in.

I wouldn't touch shared ownership with a bargepole, I have heard a lot of horror stories about people not being able to sell due to the inept management companies.

If you are buying leasehold be very careful about how much you have to pay and check out the management company. I was stuck with a £700 bill one month on my old flat when a small hole was discovered in the roof, there were 12 flats and I'm sure it didin't cost £8400 to fix and because the contract was in such a mess there was nothing we could do, someone had a nice holiday that year I'm sure.

A lot of people will try and sell you rubbish trying to make out that buying a house is complicated when really it isn't I might even try and do without a solicitor next time as I ended up doing most of theur work for them anyway.

You guys are using the wrong advisors...

Perhaps but since my non advisor interest rate is 3.2%, I can live with it.

Mine is lower than that I think, 5 year fixed too.