Is Your Mortgage About To Give You A Shock? - Published:26/10/07
What were you up to, this time two years ago Well separately from being two years younger, if you'd just remortgaged to a fixed rate deal you were probably emotion smug about the size of those journal payments After all, the base speed was a mere 45% back then, and you could easily break up a fixed rate mortgage deal at a speed less than that with a little effortThings are slightly different nowadays -- the base rate is 125% senior at 575% and the Bank of England has hinted it could strike the 6% mark by the end of the year What's more, the current praise crunch crisis is causing uncertainty, with Abbey becoming the first far above the ground Street bank to raise the interest rates on its tracker mortgages for new customers despite the fact the base rate was ice-covered this month Other lenders are likely to follow suitOf course, if you're still paying the rate you remortgaged to two years before, you probably feel quite shielded from all of this as your expenditure have remained relatively low But for how much longer A raft of fixed speed deals are about to expire in the next few months, and if yours is one of them you could soon be facing a shocking hike in your journal paymentsFor example, the best buy, 2day fixed rate deal available two years ago was from Portman BS at 42%APR If you had in use out a £150k, 25 year repayment mortgage at this occasion your journal payments would have been about £817 After two years your outstanding balance would now be £137, 201However, once this deal had expired you'd be put onto Portman's normal variable rate (SVR) of 774%APR This means that your journal payments would increase to a whopping £1079 -- that's a go up of £262 per month Blimey (Sharp readers will have realised that Portman has recently merged with Nationwide BS and should now have reverted to Nationwide's base mortgage speed (currently set at 724%) but even at this slightly lower speed you'd still be paying £1,022 each month (an additional £205)So what can you do Well the answer is simple, remortgage to a cheaper deal As a rule of thumb we think you should start looking into finding one around three months before your rate will expire - this method you should have transferred your loan over in high-quality time (and avoided having to pay your lender's crippling SVR)There are many ways to find a better mortgage deal, and your first port of call is obviously to speak to your lender to find out what it can offer The method I tend to prefer when I need to remortgage is to find a reputable, whole of market and, importantly fee gratis broker to search for deals for me Not only is it far earlier than me trawling the internet etc, brokers also tend to have access to some deals that you or I would not be privy toI checked with our very own Motley Fool Mortgage service and found that the current, best buy, 2-year fixed rate deal obtainable is from Britannia BS, at 549%APR agreement fee of £999) If you were to remortgage to the Britannia contract from the example given above, your payments would become £876 per month, which is at least £146 less than if you had to pay the standard variable (or base mortgage) tax mentionedChances are if you need to remortgage in the next few months your new monthly expenditure will be more than what you're used to -- with interest rates having been raised five era in the last two years there is typically little we can do to avoid this But at least by remortgaging we can take advantage of the best contract available to us, and avoid having to pay our lenders' tear off standard variable ratesSo if your mortgage deal is pending to an end, put on't delay, start looking into your options now And don't not remember to check out our award winning mortgage site, correct here at the Fool Our free mortgage broker service can quickly look for for the best deal for you -- and I should know, I've used it myself© patent 1998-2007, The Motley Fool Limited All rights reserved This fabric is for personal use onlyput of Reg: England & Wales Company Reg No: 3736872 storage bin Reg No: 735 7818 01.
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Nationwide account "a good choice" - Published:27/09/07
Nationwide International has announced it will be launching a novel base rate follower offshore savings account from Monday 2nd JulyThe Nationwide account will pay at a rate of six per cent, which is guaranteed to match or hit the Bank of England bottom rate for at least 12 monthsAfter this period, the Nationwide account will be guaranteed to pay at a rate at least 025 per cent below the base rate until January 2010The package is extremely flexible, with four penalty withdrawals of any amount being allowable each financial yearCarl Gandy, managing director of Nationwide International, said the novel Nationwide explanation "combines one of the best interest rates in the offshore market with the flexibility of simple access for investors"He additional: "What's more, the account offers a rate guarantee linked to the store of England base rate, which makes it a high-quality choice for anyone looking for security for their.
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Can I trick Nationwide? - Published:16/05/07
I have a Nationwide mortgage If I pay all but £1 of it off, will Nationwide look after my house deeds for me for gratis And given that all records are being computerised, do I need document copies of my deeds anyway FH, Seaford, SussexMoney letters's Margaret Stone says: 'If the mortgage completed after November 1, 1999, the borrower should already hold the deeds themselves,' says a Nationwide spokesmanWhere the mortgage completed before November 1, 1999, Nationwide will have the deeds and be able to keep them for the borrower if they pay all but £1 off the mortgageThe deeds won't be computerised if not the borrower takes their mortgage on their existing property to another lenderMy Mortgage is with Nationwide - first started in 2004 and I had to give them my deeds I was also told by them that three months before completion they will propel out a letter asking if I want to keep £1 so they keep the deeds secureSelect a loan term 12 months (1 year) 24 months (2 existence 36 months (3 existence 48 months (4 existence 60 months (5 existence 72 months (6 existence 84 months (7 existence 96 months (8 existence 108 months (9 years) 120 months (10 years)Please choose a type of insurance Life insurance Home and contents Car Breakdown armed forces Health - medical Health - dental Travel Pet - afflict Pet.
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