Mortgage providers are currently in a frenzy to offer mortgage rates with record low interest rates and are all battling it out to provide the best rates.
This is great for people looking to get onto the property ladder, looking to move home or re-mortgage.
So what’s been happening….
Halifax has recently released a two-year fixed mortgage with an extremely eye watering low interest rate of 0.83%, for which it has received a lot of positive media exposure https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/aug/08/halifax-latest-to-slash-mortgage-rate-amid-flurry-of-rate-cutting this product is available for first time buyers and those looking to move homes.
This bold move by Halifax appears to have started a mortgage rate war and encouraged a lot of lenders to release new mortgage products, including for five-year fixed rate mortgages too.
How could this be a positive for me?
This is all exciting news for property owners or those looking to get onto the property ladder, as previously the mortgage market always comprised of higher interest rates and lets face it nobody likes to pay high amounts for their mortgage.
Getting your mortgage payments down is always something to strive for and a plus when you can make a saving on this one big expenditure that most people have every month.
Have you been financially hit by COVID-19?
With the financial difficulties the pandemic is likely to have brought for a lot of people who unexpectedly found themselves in a very different financial situation within months, paying for a mortgage must have been one thing that constantly played heavy on someone’s mind. Especially for someone who may have found that their income drastically dropped within the space of a few weeks or months.
So, keeping on top of your mortgage product is always key, especially if you’re looking to fix for up to five years. The lower you can get your interest rate, the lower you can get your monthly mortgage payment locked in for. This truly sounds like music to my ears.
I’m not a mortgage expert or a financial advisor but love a saving wherever I can find one, so here are some of my top tips on trying to help you save on your mortgage.
My suggested top tips:
- Check when your current mortgage plan is due to expire. If you’re on a fixed plan check when it’s due to expire so you can start carrying out comparisons to search for a better mortgage package to switch to.
- Start looking around for a new mortgage package at least three to six months before your current package is due to end as due to COVID-19 there are delays with remortgaging.
- Ensure you don’t exit your existing mortgage plan before it expires as there are hefty fees involved if you exit too early.
- Always check to see what the new mortgage package fees are and compare the overall costs of changing.
- Decide what type of deal is best for you i.e. Fixed or Variable, Two Year Fixed or Five Year Fixed.
- Use a mortgage calculator like the one I have linked https://www.mortgagecalculator.uk/ to carry out a comparison of mortgage packages
- There are lots of very useful resources and calculators out there that will allow you to enter your own personal mortgage figures so you get a realistic breakdown of what kind of monthly repayments you will be paying. This will help you to assess the affordability of any new mortgage package you are considering. I have linked a useful calculator which allows you to do this https://www.mortgagecalculator.uk/affordability/
- For information on how you can also save on estate agent fees, take a look at the following article https://www.memoremoney.com/estate-agent-fees
Good luck in your search for your all new mortgage package, wishing you lots of savings ahead.