Our 5 year fixed mortgage ends on the 28th Feb.

I can’t remember the rate we’ve been on off-hand (3.44% rings a bell) but the default is to go on Nationwide’s variable rate which I think I read as 4.2%ish. Obviously that’s higher than we’ve been paying and I need to do some research and arrange a meeting with them, but with all the uncertainty ATM I wondered what people thought about tying into something mid/long term as opposed to going with the flow with interest rates potentially going to shite over the next few years…we can’t be the only ones facing this dilemma 😉

Last time I heard there are some amazing 10 year deals to be had. We are currently one year into a five year fixed rate (2.85% IIRC) and I’d happily sign another 10 year deal to have peace of mind.

We’ve remortgaged recently on about 1.8% for 3 years, I think. I thought better to fix what is a material expense rather than risk a movement against me. London and Country mortgage brokers were excellent if you don’t have a good broker. It can take time to get a new mortgage in place, so you may be on the variable rate for a few months.

Why do a deal at all? There are plenty of low interest standard variable rate deals around and while interest rates can only go up, the question is when…they could be held low for some time to come yet depending upon how Brexit pans out. I’ve been on a variable rate for the last few years now once my previous 5 year deal expired and it’s been fine…virtually interest free. Taken years off my terms compared to if i’d fixed into another fixed rate deal at the time which were all higher interest rates with fees. My current mortgage runs just like an overdrawn bank account so can over pay as much as I like with no early repayment penalties at all, flex my monthly payment, zero fees.

I just don’t see the point in fixing into a fixed rate deal right now…rates will remain low for a few years yet…even if they start rising it will be by tiny amounts so you can stomach a few quarter or half percent rate rises before it would be beneficial to fix in…and in all likelihood we wont see any or many rises in the next 5 years.

Interest rates are so low at the moment the impact of a half percent or so can easily be wiped out by any fees you might pay to fix into a fixed rate deal. Don’t be so fixated on the interest rate…calculate what you’re actually going to pay including fees and other costs.

Have just been through this as I thought our deal was about to end. Turns out ‘5 year fixed’ meant 5 years and 4 months fixed. Who knew (well I would if I read the small print 5 years ago, or maybe I did and forgot). I was seriously considering a 10 year fixed at 2.5%. Yes, given that they are offering deals like this shows they aren’t expecting rates to go anywhere anytime soon but 10 years will almost see the mortgage gone and at that rate its low enough not to be a concern even if they dropped somehow. Seemed sensible, especially as our economy is about to see some change. I now have to wait until July, hopefully not much will have changed 🙂

I’ve said this before but it’s worth repeating – if you are the sort of person who worries about rates rising a 2.5% fixed for 10 years removes all the worry! Yes of course you’ll pay a bit more back but it’s so low it’s daft.
It wasn’t long ago that general rates were well above 2.5% and people would have stampeded to get that sort of rate even on a short term deal.

Fixed ours for 5 years this week. That should just about see us out. It didn’t get done quite in time so had 1 monthly payment on the variable rate for the old provider, and it was well over £100 per month more.

The new fixed rate has brought it below the old fixed rate monthly payments so all happy.

Figured that with uncertainty in the air, it adds a bit of err certainty!

Rates can’t go down much, but they could go up a fair bit.

I’ve been on a Tracker for the last several years, something like 1.25% above base – although this is not as good as earlier deals I had it’s still as low or lower than most fixed rates, and it doesn’t seem likely for rates to rise sharply any time soon.

I just don’t see the point in fixing into a fixed rate deal right now…rates will remain low for a few years yet…even if they start rising it will be by tiny amounts so you can stomach a few quarter or half percent rate rises before it would be beneficial to fix in…and in all likelihood we wont see any or many rises in the next 5 years.

I’d be wary of taking that view.
BoE rates are expected to increase to 1.25 over the next year and could peak at 5.5% if a mess is made of leaving the EU.

Plenty of 2/3 year deals about which should be less than 2% to fix, which will give you some certainty.

Hmmm

Well, the news is that “mortgage wars” are starting to kick off.  But, the BOE rate may twitch in April.   I too have a nationwide mortgage of which the fixed rate ends next Feb but I could remortgage with them in July.

Personally, I’ll fixing for at least five years, and a month after I’ve fixed will pay off £10k to create a “payment holiday” scenario in case of the worst.

Ive just done a 5 fixed year remo with coventry (My existing) for 2.18% – nuts

What’s your loan to value?

Oh, and I’d fix. We’re a few months into a five year fix at 1.79%, with no fee. Brexit can do what it wants to rates AFAIAC.

Some lenders offer 10 year fixed but only tied for the first 5 years.

The rules:
1. The lender needs to make a profit
2. Fixed rates will try to reflect this into the future
3. The lender has invested lots into making their predictions profitable
4. If in doubt refer to rule 1

Variable rates are often cheaper for the consumer when averaged out, but you need to be able to absorb a bit of market movement

Just renewed with Santander at 1.89% Fixed for 5yrs. Can’t complain as I’ve just set up my own company and the missus has been poorly for a while. No chance of getting a better deal from scratch given our circumstances.

I’m the sort of person who likes to know where I stand so have just fixed for another 5 years with nationwide (our current one runs out in June). You can get 1.89% with a £999 upfront fee or 2.09 without. There’s about £120 difference over 5 years between the two.
I’m happy with the 2.09%, that’s. Decent drop from the 3.49 I was on.

All personal preference really but I have a young family and am risk averse so like to plan monthly expenditure. I do agree that the peace of mind has cost me a few quid over the years though!

Nationwide tracker 2 year. About 1.44 or something. Renew often, you get £100 each time too. No fee.

No penalties for leaving or over-payment. Swap at anytime.

I’ve been on it for 5 years whilst a lot of people were fixing.

We’ve just fixed at 2.14% for 5 years, with no fee.

We could have just gone for a tracker at about 1.55% but £1000 booking fee, which (from memory) over 2 years would have been about £200 cheaper assuming the rate didn’t change.

We probably could have also saved a couple of hundred quid if we’d spent hours searching elsewhere, but we didn’t even have to leave the house 🙂

I like the fact I know what I’ll be paying for the next 5 years and will look at it again when our LTV should be a fair bit lower, especially as we’re overpaying at the moment. I’m not massively savvy when it comes to finances but it seemed to make sense for us.

Nationwide no longer offer the £100 incentive. Stopped 2 weeks ago.

Thanks for the replies.
Guess I need to establish house value to know our LTV rate, even if we stay with Nationwide.
Mrs Rascal called estate agent yesterday – they charge £250 to send someone out to value the house. Is that the only way to get the value? Would it be very naughty to pretend to be selling, get the valuation done and then not go through with anything? I know it is really but has anyone done this?

Guess I need to establish house value to know our LTV rate, even if we stay with Nationwide.
Mrs Rascal called estate agent yesterday – they charge £250 to send someone out to value the house.

Just look on Zoopla, and sold prices in your area for comparable properties. That’s all the bank will do if they disagree with your valuation (for the purposes of an agreement in principle).

If you re-mortgage with somebody different they might charge you a valuation fee. Makes no sense to get an estate agent to do it beforehand.

I’d ring Nationwide today. They probably have all of that information already, and they may be able to switch you to a new deal straight away.

As you’ve left it to the last minute, switching providers is going to be costly, as it can take a few months to get everything transferred. You’ll end up on the Standard Rate for that period which will cost you £100’s

@rascal Try another estate agent – we are looking at remortgaging atm and spoke to a local estate agent and were up front about not wanting to sell, but they were still happy to come out and value our house for free. The guy didn’t just do a rush job either, he was there about and hour measuring-up. Obviously it’s a loss-leader but we are now on their files and we would now definitely consider using them if/when we ever do sell…

The rules:
1. The lender needs to make a profit

Nope, quite a lot of offers are loss leaders and they only make money when people forget to change and drop back onto SVRs…

Wife works with someone who used to work in an estate agents – quick call and we have a valuation letter FOC in the way! Should pay for increased payments over next few months due to being a slack bastid 🙄

if you’re thinking of sticking with the existing lender just give them a ring. They will normally apply a ‘default’ valuation based on your last valuation multiplied by something (might be regional HPI, or national HPI, or some made up figure, or nothing). If you’re happy with this figure (and their deal) you don’t have to pay for a re-valuation (they won’t take your estate agent valuation anyway), meaning they can bump you onto the new deal same day.

I’ve done this a couple of times, first was in 2010 where my bank nicely decided my house was worth the same as when I bought it (2008) – which it definitely wasn’t, but made a big difference to my deal as I’d only had a 10% deposit to start with.

You can remortgage with Nationwide online without having to speak to an actual person.

Takes about 20-30 min. No need for a new valuation, they calculate it themselves so as said above unless you think it adversely affects the deal you’ll get just go with it.

I did it last Oct. Fixed for 5 years at 2.14% with no fee & £100 cash back.

You can remortgage with Nationwide

Do you know when?  I think its from six months before the current deal end date?

We’d actually gone past end of our last deal by a few months and were on their std mortgage rate.

Nationwide no longer offer the £100 incentive. Stopped 2 weeks ago.

Didn’t know that. Just done it and got my £100 about a couple of weeks ago.

Done it about 5 times. Was originally £250.

Still like the deal.

Yep all on line in about two minutes.

Do you know when? I think its from six months before the current deal end date?

It’s from 5 months before, have just been though the process myself online. Dead quick and easy.
I also played around with house valuations on their online guide to get a variety of LTVs and it’s made no difference for us