mortgage advisor or other way?

[ellerman]

We are just about to come to end of 5 year fixed deal that we arranged using independent advisor. How do others do this, if I see a great deal in the money section of paper, how do you apply for that?

Depends on your loan to value, but there are some great deals out there which you can get yourself. Have a look at HSBC (2.28% fixed) or first direct (3.18% offset) - you need to work put fees etc - divide by number of months of fixed term to calculate if higher interest lower fee or vise versa is better...

Once you've worked out what best for you, just call them and you can do most applications over the phone. Or drop into a branch. Normally takes an hour and a half or so

HTH

I would contact a whole of market, fees free, independent mortgage broker. Probably the most respected is London and Country website here They can advise you and complete the application on your behalf.

Thanks, our loan to value is probably about 65%, need to borrow £78, 000. House probably valued around £140k.

I would suggest 'don't rush' to go for another fixed rate deal when your current one finishes. Your lender will probably put you on their SVR when it ends and, at the moment, they can be very attractive. I've arranged my own mortgage deals in the past and I've also used an independent mortgage adviser. My conclusion is that they can access better deals than I can operating solo.

Depends entirely what SVR your lender is offering. My fixed rate comes to an end in May and SVR is 3.49%. I can get a 2.28% deal with HSBC (with a fee of 1995) which runs for 2 years.
SVR with current bank would be 536.50 interest per month
2.28 (inc fee) would be 437.91 interest per month

Thus makes lots of sense to switch

HSBC and First direct do not tend to go through mortgage advisors, so if these are the best rates then go for them. Give an advisor a call and see what they can offer you - you are under no obligation to continue. The same with the banks, though if you go to application stage they do run credit checks which will show up on your history. So only go through to that stage if you are serious. They will go through an offer in principle first and then a quote, none of which will show up or place you under any obligation whatsoever. Natwest are also offering some good rates - both fixed and discounted trackers

Only thing to bear in mind is that rates are unlikely (not its not impossible to go up until late 2013 / 2014, so if you are on a 2 yr fixed then you could be coming out of your rate at the time they are just about to go uop. Having said that, they may go up earlier or much later!