Bought my first home in december using a personal loan from a family member while I waited for a permanent position at work.
Now got the permanent contract so looking to get a mortgage and pay off my family.

Am I right in thinking this is a ‘remortgage’?

Found a good mortgage with First Direct which is no fee apart from a house valuation at £149…fair enough.

Spoke to them and they will only transfer the funds to a solicitor who then ensures it goes to the right person. But they both quoted £750ish for the privilege! Just to transfer some money!? Madness surely!

Any other options I don’t know about?

Cheers all

I’d start by speaking to the lender. It might be that is how it is normally done but other options are available. When I bought my last property I did it without a lawyer. I had to fill out an ID form and get it certified, I then needed all my finances checked over so as not to fall foul of money laundering rules. It was lot of hoops and lot of box ticking but still better (to me) than paying legal fees. That said more likely it’ll be a their ball their rules situation so either find a cheaper lawyer or find a different lender.

If you don’t already have a mortgage or secured loan (is your family-derived loan secured on the property?), then this will be a new mortgage – not a remortgage.

I’d suggest going via a broker like London & Country and to be clear that your priorities are low fees (although the mortgage rate will then be higher, depending on product).

If you already own the home completely just with a private loan arrangement no lender mortgage at all then this IS classed by 99% of lenders as a capital raising re-mortgage and nearly all lenders will give free valuation and solicitors costs.

As above. Go to a broker, they will charge you around £300, but save you more than that in the first year alone.
I changed last year, he had access to a large database of loans, and got me the best deal.
I suppose I could have sorted that myself, but it woudl take hours/days of searching, his software did it in 3 minutes when he came roudn here.

to clarify…. a ‘remortgage’ is any mortgage you raise when you already own the property. It is not dependent on whether or not you already have a mortgage on the property.

Go to several Brokers, identify the best deal, and then go with the Broker who will wave his fees. They get plenty from commission.

Just to transfer some money!? Madness surely!

No, they are charging you money in exchange for lending you a large sum of money to buy your house.

As has already been noted, the “cost” will always be a balance of the fee and the rates, so find yourself a lower fee and the rate may well be higher. Don’t just assume that the lowest rate you find is the best overall, most online calculators allow you to sort by total cost in the first 5 years or so, so you can see what is actually the cheapest, not what has the headline grabbing rate.

Shop around, maybe go to a broker.

Jekkyl- yes if you own the property mortgage or not nearly all lenders will class as a re-mo and nearly all give free sol’s and val. Pay a broker OR just go on money supermarket!! Nearly all lenders are on there. The exclusive rates that brokers claim and high street banks claim when you go to them direct aren’t strictly true!!!