Remortgage Tips

Remortgage, mortgage & finance advice

Can Anyone Remortgage?

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There are often recommendations that people remortgage to save money. The mortgage can be one of the biggest chunks of money that we spend each month and so by trying to cut down the amount that we are spending on it, we can make some significant savings. It can seem like something that is very easy to do, but it is not something that everyone has the option of.

Although many do successfully remortgage, it is worth being aware that it is not something that everyone can do. Some people have trouble with remortgaging for various reasons. If you have a bad credit record, if you are tied in to a mortgage or if you are in negative equity you may have trouble remortgaging.

The new lender will want to check your credit record before they lend you any money. If you have a history of not paying back your debts on time or not paying bills when they are due, then you could find that they will not want to take you on. Some may be happy to lend money, but you may find that they will not be able to offer you such competitive interest rates and you may be better off staying where you are. It is worth asking around though as you should not give up before you start. You may also find that your current lender might have something that they can offer you which is better than the deal you are currently on. It is always worth asking as you have nothing to lose.

You may find that if you choose a fixed rate for a mortgage, then you will be tied in for a certain time period. It may be that you can get out of this by paying a fee. It is worth investigating how much this fee might be worth, as you may find that it is better for you to pay the fee and move as you might be able to save significantly more money than the value of the fee.

If you are in negative equity then you may not find anyone willing to lend to you. This is where the value of your house has dropped below the amount of money you borrowed to buy it. This tends to happen when only a small or no deposit is paid and house prices fall. This tends to only effect people who have not had their houses for long and so hopefully would have found a good mortgage deal to start with and so hopefully there will not be many people in this situation looking to remortgage.

Finding a good Remortgage Deal

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There are a lot of companies out there offering mortgages at the moment. It can all seem rather daunting when you decide that you will take a look at what is available to you. However, it can be a lot simpler than you think.

It can be a good idea to start off by using a price comparison website. These are not necessarily the best way of finding a good deal, but they are good way of finding out the sorts of things that are available. If you take a look, you will see that there are fixed rate deals, low standard variable rates and things like that. You will be able to start thinking about what might be better for you. Once you decide what type of mortgage you want, then you will be able to start having a proper look at what is available to suit your needs. This will reduce your options a lot and enable you to tailor your searching better.

Once you have an idea of some companies that offer what you want, then you can put together a short list. You should have about half a dozen possibilities in the list and you can start looking at each one in detail. You want to check things like any fees you have to pay, what the customer service is like and how much money you will be able to save. Check out the terms and conditions and see if you are committed to being tied in for a certain time period or whether you have to pay to switch. There is more than just the interest rate to look at. You need to consider the total cost, including fees as well as value for money with regards to customer service.

You may decide to go through a broker. This could help you to get a good deal as sometimes brokers can find deals that are not available to individuals. However, it is important to remember that a broker will want to get commission from the deal and so they may be more likely to offer you something that benefits them rather than you. Therefore, even if you do use a broker, it is a good idea to do some research yourself.

It can take some time to find the best deal, but it is worth the work because you could save a significant amount of money and in this economic climate, every bit of extra money is very valuable indeed.

How to Make Remortgaging Pay

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There are a few risks with remortgaging. Unless you have managed to secure a fixxed rate for the remaining term of your mortgage, which would be very unusual, you will find that your lender will change their mortgage rate from time to time. If you have signed up for a fixed rate deal, you will find that after a certain time you will move on to the standard variable rate. This means that your deal may no longer be competitive.

This means that to do well from your remortgage deal, you need to keep checking it, to make sure that it really is a good deal. This is not a difficult as it seems as rates do not change that often. However, if the base rate changes, then this could be a good time to hunt around and see who has the best deal.

You may find that you are tied in for a certain time period. This is a risk that you take when you are taking out a fixed rate deal and so you need to be sure that it really is the best deal for you. Take a look at what everyone is offering and also look at how long you are tied in. There will be a degree of guess work involved, as you will need to decide what you think interest rates might do over that period and whether the rate you have is a good one that will pay off for you. It can be difficult to predict what might happen, but it can be worth bearing in mind that banks can often put their rates up even if the base rate does not change or by more than the base rate increase and so this can have a big impact on future prices. On the other hand, you need to remember that the financial institution wants to make a profit out of you and so they will not give you such a good deal, that they will lose out.

It can be a risk, but the best thing that you can do is to do a lot of research. Look around at what is on offer and also look at money websites to find out what people are recommending. Think yourself about the current economic situation and what you expect interest rates to do in the future and this should help you to make a great decision that will make your remortgage really worthwhile.

Why Remortgage

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There are quite a few different reasons why people might decide to remortgage. The main one is probably price, but there are others as well.

You may feel that you are not getting the best service from your mortgage provider for some reason. Maybe you feel the customer service is not good enough, they have not treated you well enough or you want to deal with a company that works online. It may be that you local branch has closed down or that the staff are not very good. It can be a big shame if you do not get good service from a company, but it is important to feel like you a re valued and that they are listening to you and addressing any concerns that you have. Therefore, it is important to make sure that you are happy and changing company can be the best way of showing your displeasure.

Most people do remortgage because it will save them money. There are many places offering mortgages and the chances are that yo will be able to find somewhere cheaper. It is worth checking out  the rates available and comparing them with what you are paying.

You will need to check out what the fees will be of changing over. It is likely that you will charged an administration fee for opening a new mortgage account and they may need to do searches and things which could cost more. You may also have to pay a fee if you are locked in with your current lender, this is most likely if you are on a fixed rate.

You may feel that these fees will make it nor worth changing, but they can actually be quite small compared with the cost of staying with the company. Many websites have mortgage calculators. Use one to work out how much you will pay back in interest with the mortgage you have and then how much you will pay with a different lender. It is very easy to do as you just have to type in the amount you are borrowing and how long for and then put in the interest rate. You will then see what a difference it could make. You might be surprised at how much you could save as only a small difference in interest rate can be very significant over the long term of a mortgage.

What is remortgaging

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Remortgaging simply means changing your mortgage without moving house. Years ago, people would just stick to the same mortgage all of the time, but these days many more people are changing. It is something which is quite simple to do.

You could choose to take a different mortgage with your current lender. They may have one that suits you better or that can save you money. Alternatively, you may decide to change to a different lender. You may feel that they can provide a better service or that they have something which will be cheaper for you in the long run.

There are many reasons why people might do it, the main one being that it can save money. It may seem like hard work to look around for a new deal and you may worry that another company may not want to take you on. The thing is that it does not need to take that long and you could end up being a lot better off in a selection of ways. It can be well worth while taking a look at what you are getting from your mortgage and what you are paying for that and seeing whether you are getting the best deal around.

With the Internet, it is very easy to have a look around and see what other companies are offering with regards to mortgages. You can easily see whether what you have is offering good value for money or not and decide whether you think that you might be better off switching to another one. There are a lot out there, but try not to be daunted by the choice, feel happy that you are more likely to find a good one.

If you change mortgage companies then you may have to pay administration charges and if you are tied in to your company you may have to pay a fee as well. However, it is worth calculating whether you will still be better off if you change mortgages.

It may feel like a lot of administration, but it is only one form to fill in and often yo can do it online, so you do not even have to write anything, you may even be able to do it over the phone and then just sign something that comes in the post to you. It need not be a lot of hard work and it can make a big difference to you.