Remortgaging Minefield

[1234change4321]

We have been offered a 7.2 follow on rate, I'm looking at remortgaging with a different bank for a better rate but there are costs to doing this.
I can only find 2 year fixes too.
It's the first time I've remortgaged and I'm the first person in my family and friends circle to buy so nobody has any advice.

Does anyone know what's normal and what is best to do? Fees are looking between 1000-1200 pounds to switch which would be about a quarter of our savings.

Has anyone remortgaged recently?
I really don't know how to go about it all. I am quite the wet lettuce when it comes to these things as I don't fully understand it all 😂

Get a mortgage advisor

Have a look at money saving every, they have good guidance.

Find yourself an independent mortgage advisor, they will do all the leg work for you. L&C are nationwide and very good.

Go on money supermarket and compare products like you'd do for insurance etc.
Ask current lender their fixed availability as may be more straight forward.

Hello, what's your loan to value rate? Are you looking to take on additional borrowing or just straight product switch? That interest rate seems high and your bot getting a wide range of products, who is your current provider? As your not getting much scope with doing it yourself I'd suggest a mortgage brokers assistance

Mortgage advisor!

Agree with finding an independent mortgage adviser - they won't typically cost you money as they receive a commission from the mortgage company that you go with. You can search for mortgage advisers (also called mortgage brokers) here https://www.unbiased.co.uk/

Also, not sure if it's common/normal, but when we have remortgaged we've added the fee to the mortgage rather than paid it upfront.

Good luck!

OK mortgage advisor
we owe around £100k have paid off around 25k
this is our first time remortgaging.
We have knocked off a couple of grand to try to get the mortgage down but COL blah blah.

We're currently with santander

how do I go about getting a mortgage adviser then? is it through the bank? independent?

We aren't adding any onto the mortgage, trying to pay it off as quickly as possible !

Is 7.2 the standard variable rate of your current provider? They may well be able to offer you a further fixed rate or tracker if you contact them. If you do decide to remortgage with another provider you will be reassessed as a remortgage. Any fees can be added to the loan rather than paid upfront. A mortgage broker can help you navigate what’s on offer and what works best for your circumstances

Look for an independent one in your area.

You need a mortgage advisor.

L&C (London and Country) cover the whole of the market and are completely free, it will not cost you a penny for them to arrange your mortgage. Still recommended by MoneySavingExpert. You can look at their best deals on their website but also phone them for advice too.

I would start with your current lender. What 2/3/5 year fixed rate can they offer if you remortgage with them? I would phone them to ask if you can’t find the information online.

Ring santander or go on online banking. They're great. Just changed mine over to a fix with a phone call.

https://www.landc.co.uk/best-mortgage-rates

Definitely a mortgage advisor- they search the market for you and come back to you with the best deals for your situation, and then you choose which you want to go with. It shouldn’t come at a cost to you as a previous poster has mentioned, they will get commission from whoever you choose to go with.

try London and country as previously mentioned, and there’s also Trinity financial. Don’t try and sort it out yourself - you’ll get overwhelmed. Call in the experts!

right this has made my day a little less bad!
you've answered questions I didn't know to ask yet thank you

Have you looked at the products Santander have? They will always put you on a high rate at the end of your fixed term, but you don't have to stick with that. Usually they offer you alternative details. Have they given you a portal to log into or similar? Sometimes I have done an easy switch picking a new product online. The advantage of staying with the same company is less paperwork.

Often the lowest % rates have a fee. They are worth it for large mortgages, less so for smaller ones. You might be better off with a slightly higher % with no/minimal fee. You can often add the fee to the mortgage if you don't want to pay it upfront.

@1234change4321 you will probably end up staying with Santander as they are a good lender. You just need to transfer onto another of their fixed rate mortgages not to the standard variable rate which is scarily high.

Log onto your mortgage account if you can or give them a call to see what they can offer you.

Right I most certainly am going to be calling in the experts!
it's such a faff and I am getting overwhelmed already with a few months left (can you tell?)
Thank you everyone so much

I'm with Santander and my fixed deal ends in August - you can book a new deal via the app under 'manage my mortgage'. They're pretty competitive and saves the hassle of moving lender.

if you are overwhelmed and not worried about the absolute best possible deal.

Log onto your banking app. Click on your mortgage. Click on manage my mortgage. Click through to see the rates offered and if you want just chose your deal there.

it will take less than 20 minutes they will email you the contract and it’ll start after yours ends if higher or before your current one ends if lower I believe.

Are we allowed to give recommendations for mortgage brokers? We bought and used somebody recommended to us- there were no fees charged to us and I’ve recommended him to others who have also had good experiences. Happy to send across details if you’d like them. Just to be clear no incentive! We got 2.79% on a 5 year fix with tsb through the broker as the mortgage fee was £499. The rate was 3. Something if we went for a total no fee option. Nothing paid to the broker on our part!

OP will not get a rate at the moment around 2.79% so I think your post could be a bit misleading. The best rates at the moment for people with big deposits are around 4%.

@Obeseandashamed (please don't be by the way) when was that arranged? V v little available below 5% at the moment. OP I use a broker based in Herts called the Mortgage Store. Used them several times now, arranged remortgages plus additional borrowing, all free to me.