Mortgages! our fixed rate runs out next May and I am already sh**ing it

[chocolatemummy]

What are people doing?
Were on a fixed 4.95% at the moment and can't see anything lower than 5.65% going up to 7% !!!!!
I think we can cope with other costs and rises accordingly but this is really worrying me

[Pinkjenny]

I can only sympathise. We have had to pay an extra £100 a month as we couldn't find another fixed rate that came close to the one that we had.

It is shit unfortunate.

[chocolatemummy]

yeah thats what i can see happening to us, I am a student nurse and dh earns rubbish money after being made redundant and starting again, he has a secure job and loves it but not much money.
I think I might rent our spare room out to another nursing student or something but dh not keen, case of needs must I think?

[onceinalifetime]

Stop worrying, May's a long way off and interest rates are forecasted to come down by then.

Very timely but got moneysavingexpert newsletter this morning, ashamed to say that I never get around to looking at it properly which I should (ironically too busy working to try and pay everything!) but this looks promising for you - you can fix a deal now:

"Finally mortgages are getting cheaper? To the relief of stretched homeowners, the sun's peeking through the mortgage clouds. In the last week Abbey, HSBC, RBS & Natwest amongst others joined Nationwide, Halifax, First Direct and C&G in offering new cheaper fixed deals. Some pretty decent rates are now around e.g. two years fixed at 5.6% with a £500 fee, substantially lower than a few months ago.

Does your deal end in the next six months? It's possible to search now and reserve the best rate you find for a small fee. While some predict rates are going to keep dropping, if they do shoot back up, this means you're sorted, and if they fall ditch it for a better rate and you only lose the relatively small booking fee.

Find the best deal, use the free broker-plus technique. First ensure you're fully briefed on exactly what to look for, read the free 40 page Remortgage or Mortgage guides. After that find the best specific deal, use a whole-of-market mortgage broker, then check for any direct-only deals brokers can't advise on (read the Free Mortgage Advice article for a full explanation)."

[onceinalifetime]

Sorry, should have put link:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/

[chocolatemummy]

yeah been looking at that, I am with nationwide and went on their site but best deals are still quite a jump from what were on. Hoping that interest rates will drop as you say because people are just going to stop spending and so many companies and jobs are going it cant go on much longer can it?

[ladytophamhatt]

DH, is a whizz with all things mortgage-y.

I think he was a mortgage advisor in a prev life or something...

anyway, our fixed rate runs out in november and DH said we'll go on a viable rate until next year when he says (and is convinced) rates will drop conciderabley.

[onceinalifetime]

Forecast is for 3.5% next year, assuming inflation steadies itself. The gov will be under pressure on rates as there are going to be further house price falls and a lot more redundancies so they'll have to be seen to be doing something.

[ladytophamhatt]

rogue comma after DH....

[chocolatemummy]

Variable?????? wow thats risky isnt it, doesnt that mean it can go up and down with the interest rate

3.5???? thats amazingly low, IMAGINE !!
that would be bliss and I would DSO pissed off if signed up to a fixed rate at 5.9 or something stupid

[ladytophamhatt]

He said to go on fixed rate the arrangment fees are £700+ which if soread out over teh months would equal the deffernece we'll be paying on a viable....or something liek that.

our mortgage is quite small though so I think that makes a differnec

[chocolatemummy]

hmmmm ours is 79,000 which is pretty low I guess for these days, I was wondering about the One Account? sticking mortage and loan in together and seeing if rate DOES drop if we do that mortgage shrinker thing in a couple of years when I finish training and work full time

[onceinalifetime]

Ours is variable and consequently I can't wait for rates to come down as we have a huge mortgage! Personally, I would be wary of fixing just at the moment.

[chocolatemummy]

right, variable from May to poss end of 2009 when Hopefully rates have come right down and then fixed?