Mortgage Stuff

How Low Is Your Mortgage Interest Rate?

18 Apr 2009 / Mortgage Stuff / 5 Comments

At the peak of the property boom back in November 2007, when every penniless fucker was snapping up unrealistically priced properties like they were Donald Trump, the Bank Of England base rate was at 5.75%. In the space of a little over 2 years, the rate has dropped by 5.25%, and tumbled to a low [...]

Which Lenders Are Passing On The 0.5% Interest Rate Cut?

06 Feb 2009 / Mortgage Stuff / 3 Comments

Yes, yes, yes, as many had predicted, the UK Base rate cut their base rate by 0.5%, which means it now stands at 1%. Consequently, there are a handful of very, very, very lucky borrowers out there at the moment that are reaping the rewards of 0% interest rate on their loans. Those people got [...]

Northern Rock Has Passed On A 0.25% Cut To Their Standard Variable Rate

29 Jan 2009 / Mortgage Stuff / 7 Comments

I know a lot of my readers take particular interest in Northern Rock and their standard variable rates, so I thought i’d just give you folks a quick update. I received a letter a few days ago from Northern Rock, informing me that they are going to pass on a 0.25% cut to their standard [...]

My Savings On Mortgage Payments Since Interest Rates Have Fallen

17 Jan 2009 / Mortgage Stuff / 2 Comments

I suspect a lot of homeowners on tracker and variable rate mortgages have made significant savings over the previous months as interest rates have been tumbling. I have definitely saved a lot of money on a monthly basis. However, in real terms, I’m probably losing more money than I’m saving, as house prices are taking [...]

Which Lenders Are Going To Pass On The 0.5% Interest Rate Cut?

09 Jan 2009 / Mortgage Stuff / 2 Comments

So, the latest is that “The Bank of England cut interest rates to the lowest level in its 315-year history yesterday as it attempts to prevent the UK recession deepening into a depression.” Blah blah blah. But let’s face it, that’s pretty useless to borrowers if they’re not going to get the benefits passed on. [...]

Northern Rock Seem Desperate To Get Me To Remortgage

17 Dec 2008 / Mortgage Stuff / 2 Comments

Ever since Northern Rock butt-fucked their entire company, resulting in them being nationalised, they have been sending me letters every month advising me to remortgage. As already mentioned in numerous articles, they want to recover as much money as possible, hence the need to sell their debt. I started getting the letters approximately 4 months [...]

Switching To A Repayment Mortgage From Interest-Only While Debt is Cheap

15 Dec 2008 / Mortgage Stuff / 2 Comments

A few days ago I wrote an article on why I think Making Mortgage Overpayments While Debt Is Cheap is a sound idea. A few moments after publishing the article I remembered that switching to a repayment mortgage (for those on interest-only plans) may also be a good option. At the time I was too [...]

Making Overpayments While Debt Is Cheap

11 Dec 2008 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

For the last few years I’ve been repaying my mortgage while borrowing has been uncomfortably expensive. I imagine it’s been the same for most people. However, now that interest rates have come tumbling down, like your Nan’s breasts on her 60th Birthday, debt is starting to get a little bit cheaper. Example The interest rate [...]

Which Lenders Are Passing On The 1% Interest Rate Cut?

05 Dec 2008 / Mortgage Stuff / 3 Comments

There’s a lot of speculation; a lot of anxious people, and I imagine many frustrated people scratching their heads wondering if they’re going to benefit from the 1% interest rate cut announced yesterday. I’m eagerly, with an aggressive swagger, scraping through the web trying to dig out as much information as possible. Currently, my Birmigham [...]

Northern Rock Lowered Thier Standard Variable Rate (SVR), Which Saved Me A Small Fortune

23 Nov 2008 / Mortgage Stuff / 24 Comments

Oh man, the huge 1.5% base rate In November has been a blessing, very much like the existence of Sarah Beeny’s breasts. I’ve recently been discussing the impact of the 1.5% cut has had on my Birmingham Midshire mortgage, but I’ve yet to mention anything about my Northern Rock Mortgage. So, here goes… When Northern [...]

Birmingham Midshire Are 2 Months Behind Passing On Interest Rate Cuts

19 Nov 2008 / Mortgage Stuff / 29 Comments

The other day I was pleading to my readers, asking the question, Are Birmingham Midshire Cutting Their Rates? This question was instigated after the massive 1.5% baserate cut was announced by the Bank of England earlier this month. Thanks to a reader I was informed that they actually were going to pass on the entire [...]

Are Birmingham Midshire Cutting Their Rates?

10 Nov 2008 / Mortgage Stuff / 6 Comments

Since the huge 1.5% drop in the base rate last week I’ve been getting a lot of traffic about Birmingham Midshire- to be specific, whether they’re going to pass on the cut to their variable rate borrowers. I honestly have no idea, but it’s a question I’d love to know the answer to. I have [...]

Who’s Shitting Themselves About Remortgaging?

31 Jul 2008 / Mortgage Stuff / 4 Comments

I’m just wondering who is worried about remortgaging? In March 2009 I’m due to come off 2 fixed rate mortgages, and onto an estimated 7.8% standard variable rate. Of course, I’m hoping to remortgage and get a better rate than going onto the standard variable rate with my current lenders. Mind you, how things are [...]

Adding Someone To Your Mortgage

14 Jul 2008 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

The process of adding someone to a mortgage is quite common. The most common scenario is adding a long-term partner. The actual process is actually pretty straight forward, it’s just the consequences of the process which I think most people should be most cautious about. How to add someone to your mortgage If you want [...]

Saving Vs Make Mortgage Overpayments, And Negative Equity

08 Jul 2008 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

It’s a no-brainer; now is the time to start making overpayments and reduce the bain of the average homeowners life, the mortgage. This especially applies to those still in their initial fixed rate period (honeymoon period). Unfortunately, there are no real signs of the credit crunch improving anytime soon, and there’s certainly no sign of [...]

Coming To The End Of Your Fixed Rate Mortgage Period?

13 May 2008 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

More than one million people in the UK are going to face a sharp jump in their mortgage payments when they’re thrown out of their honeymoon fixed rate period, and put onto a standard variable rate. The average fixed rate mortgage last year was 5.5%, the average standard variable rate is 8-9% at the moment. [...]

Northern Rock Want Their Borrowers To Remortgage

13 Apr 2008 / Mortgage Stuff / 3 Comments

I already mentioned in a previous blog article that Northern Rock weren’t going to be offering their customers a competitive new deal when it comes to the end of their existing product term. However, it was all a tad wishy-washy because I was told by a competitor of Northern Rock, The Halifax. Well, a few [...]

Different Ways Of Paying Interest On A Mortgage

09 Jan 2008 / Mortgage Stuff / 1 Comment

In theory, mortgages should be simple. You borrow money from a lender to buy a property, and you pay the lender back over a period of time with interest. If only it were that simple. It doesn’t take long to work out that mortgages aren’t that simple, and with lenders continually updating their mortgage ranges, [...]

How To Avoid The Mortgage Struggle

04 Jan 2008 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

Millions of homeowners have been feeling the burn with rising interest rates and the overall cost of living. Repossession levels are creeping up as more and more people are struggling to make their mortgage payments. There are a lot of options available to anyone struggling with mortgage payments as shown in my previous article I [...]

Mortgage Overpayment Calculator

10 Dec 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 2 Comments

After writing the Mortgage Overpayments article, I decided to put together an overpayment mortgage calculator, so you easily work out how much you can save by making overpayments. The tool calculates how much you can save, along with how much time you will be shaving off your mortgage. Most lenders allow at least 10% penalty-free [...]

Mortgage Overpayments

09 Dec 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 8 Comments

This is an extension to a previous article I wrote on ‘The Benefits Of Paying Your Mortgage Off Early‘. Making overpayments on your mortgage is a great way of reducing your mortgage, consequently providing the opportunity to paying off your mortgage earlier than due. Overpayments is usually suited for those that want to reduce their [...]

The Basics Of Interest Rates

04 Dec 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again (until I’m blue(r) in the face), a mortgage can ultimately determine the success or failure of a property investment. My point being? It’s imperative that you understand how mortgages work so you are able to get the best deal available on the market, without getting wool [...]

The Importance Of Remortgaging

22 Nov 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

I personally believe that the quality and suitability of a homeowner’s mortgage is the second biggest factor that will ultimately determine the success of a property investment, especially with buy to let investors; the biggest factor being the market condition. However, you alone can’t control the market condition, but you alone can play a key [...]

I Can’t Afford My Mortgage Payments

30 Oct 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 2 Comments

Coming to terms with the fact that mortgage payments are no longer realistically possible to maintain is an extremely important step to take. People see it as “defeat”, and it’s never easy to admit defeat, especially when you have a fighting spirit. But don’t think of it as “defeat”, think of it as “surviving” Giving [...]

Using Credit Cards To Pay Your Mortgage

29 Oct 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 1 Comment

I recently read a report on The Guardian, which said that more than a million householders have been using credit cards to pay their mortgage or rent. The data was gathered by a new survey published by ROOF, Shelter’s housing and homelessness magazine. For many people trying to keep a roof over their head is [...]

Changing Mortgage Repayment Method

22 Oct 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

Most mortgage lenders allow a borrower to change between interest-only and repayment methods at any point during an exiting policy. For example, if you have an existing mortgage policy that is interest-only, you can change it to repayment and visa versa. The actual process of switching is pretty straightforward; it’s not like completely remortgaging. You’ll [...]

Benefits Of Paying Your Mortgage Off Early

01 Oct 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

A mortgage is probably the biggest financial expenditure for the average person. A mortgage can be a lifetime commitment. That’s a real bitter pill to swallow- knowing you’ll be paying off a single debt for the majority of your life. Have you ever thought what life would be like without having to make that monthly [...]

Mortgage Calculator

30 Sep 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 3 Comments

Here’s a useful tool that calculates how much a monthly mortgage would cost if you enter real or hypothetical scenerios- useful for planning if you’re thinking of getting a mortgage or remortgaging. It takes into considering the amount you’re borrowing, and the life-span of your loan. This calculator is also particularly useful for those on [...]

Shit, I Have A Mortgage With Northern Rock!!!!

17 Sep 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 11 Comments

A million fucking mortgage lenders out there, and I end up with the one that lands into financial difficulties; what are the chances? For those who have been living under a rock for the past few days, please allow me to give you a quick update. Northern Rock declared that they have been going through [...]

Tracker Mortgages

31 Aug 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

Trackers mortgages are also known as rate tracker mortgages, because essentially, they track the movement of a rate, usually the bank of England base rate. For example, you could get a tracker mortgage that will always be 0.25% above the UK base rate. So, if the base rate is 5.75%, you will pay 6% interest [...]

Offset Mortgages

29 Aug 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

Offset mortgages are fairly new in the UK; the idea was launched in 1994 after they gained popularity in Australia. Theyâ€™ve been becoming increasingly popular to homeowners in the UK. The key feature of an offset mortgage is the ability to reduce the interest charged by offsetting a credit balance (such as savings account and [...]

Declaring A Buy-To-Let Property As Residential

15 Aug 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

It’s common practice for landlords to let their property out without informing their mortgage lender. Basically, landlords declare their buy-to-let property as residential. Why do they do it? Generally because residential mortgages have a lower interest rate than buy-to-let mortgages, consequently there’s an opportunity to save thousands over the period of the mortgage. It’s a [...]

Facts About Interest Rates

14 Jun 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

Who determines interest rates? The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decides the fate of interest rates. They meet up every month and decide what the rates will be in the foreseen future. Who forms the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)? The MPC is made up of the governor of the Bank, two deputy governors, [...]

Top Tips On How To Reduce Your Mortgage Payments

18 May 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

1] Remortgage with existing lender Most mortgages offer an introductory offer with a better rate of interest; it’s more like an advertising ploy to get people to sign on the dotted line. When this introductory fixed rate ends you will revert to the Standard Variable Interest rate, which is usually a lot higher than the [...]

How To Improve Your Credit Rating

20 Feb 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

A good credit history has never been as important as it is today, especially when applying for a loan like a mortgage. Different companies and institutions measure credit ratings based on different variables, so it’s not an exact science. However, there are known practises that definitely do help build your credit rating. Steps you can [...]

Risks involved with Mortgages

14 Jan 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

The important question is, are you comfortable with the risks involved with Mortgages? It’s important that you’re aware of the risks, and it’s even more important that you’re prepared for the worst possible outcome. Mortgages have high risks and penalties if you fail keep up on top of them. Interest Rates can and most likely [...]

Interest-only Vs Repayment Mortgages

13 Jan 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 2 Comments

There are two methods of repaying the amount you have borrowed from your Mortgage lender- the “repayment” option, and the “Interest-only” option. Repayment Mortgage: With this option your monthly payments gradually pay off the amount you borrowed, as well as paying the interest on the loan. If you stick to every payment, you would have [...]

Not happy with your Mortgage Offer?

13 Jan 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments

Is your Mortgage offer not to your likings? Well, don’t worry, same thing happened to me. I waited 2 months for my Mortgage offer to get accepted, then when it eventually got approved, I was indecisive, and decided I didn’t like the offer I was given. In my case, all I wanted to do was [...]