Cheap mortgages

[londalion]

Hi

We've just found out that we can't stay with our existing mortgage provider.

Any tips on finding the best rates at the moment? Do most people use a mortgage broker? Our LTV is about 60% and the total outstanding is about 1.2 times my husband's annual salary, so I'm hoping it won't be too difficult finding someone to lend to us, I just can't face the prospect of payments going up AND having to pay a switching fee!

Are there any finance sites I should be looking at? I'll suppose money saving expert, are there any property related ones?

Thanks very much

I tend to use a mortgage broker to do the donkey work of filtering through all the products on the market. I give them my criteria and they present me with the best three or four for consideration.

How come you can't stay with your current lender?

I think you need to prepare yourself for paying an arrangement fee the days of not having one are pretty much gone and almost certainly the best rates seem to have arrangement fees. I would use a broker and check yourself as some like the Co-op din't offer their best deals through brokers.

I've remortgaged 4 times in the past 3 years (because we own a flat that we rent out too). I've found the best/cheapest way of finding the best deal is to firstly work out whether you want a fixed rate or a tracker mortgage.

After that, go to one or two of the big mortgage brokers like L&C (London and Country). Be careful - some, like L&C don't charge you for finding your mortgage. Others, like John Charcol charge quite a lot. I'd avoid the ones that charge unless the mortgage they find is so good it outweighs their charges.

Next, pick up one or two of the broadsheets at the weekend. I've found The Guardian on Sat and The Sunday Times are great. In their money section you'll find a table with the best-buy mortgages that are on the market at the moment.

Then sit back and wait to see if the mortgage brokers come up with the same or better deal than you've seen in the papers. If they do, go with the broker as they'll do a lot of the application leg-work for you. If they don't, just be brave and go with the best buy you've seen in the paper. Filling out the forms doesn't take long and they usually give you an answer within a few days.

Watch out for application fees, they're high at the moment. Check for no tie-ins beyond the term of the fixed period or discounted term. Also check for whether legal fees are included, otherwise you'll pay around £600-£800 for conveyancing. Oh and check whether valuation fees are included too.

It's actually easier than it all sounds.

Free mortgage comparison table/ impartial advice here (as good a place to start as any!):

pluto.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/mortgages