Is it really worth shopping around for a mortgage or easier to stay with existing building society?

[BettyButterknife]

Our fixed rate mortgage with Nationwide came to an end last year and we took advantage of the lower interest rate by moving onto their variable rate while still paying what we'd always paid - ie overpaying each month by about £200.

I've just gone on maternity leave with DC2 and we're now not in a position to be able to move with the interest rate so want to fix our mortgage, especially given all the economic uncertainties at the moment.

Obviously I'm now heavily pregnant so don't really want to be going in to have mortgage consultations with other banks/BS and think fixing our rate for 5 years with Nationwide at 4.78% wouldn't be too far off what we're paying now.

But am I totally missing out on much better deals by not shopping around? Is it foolish to stay with Nationwide out of convenience? My brain is just not working at the moment, and DH is hopeless with this sort of thing - just trusts that I'll do what's best.

If I have discovered one thing about the finance industry it is that there are few rewards for loyalty. The 'new customers only' advert is right... the best offers are often for limited periods and designed to attract new customers on board.

I used to shop around myself but now use an independent mortgage broker since, even with their fee, they can get you a better deal than you can get yourself. And you always have the option of taking the best deal back to your existing lender at the end of the process and seeing if they'll match it.... Good luck

I thought that might be the response. Just not sure if anyone 'new' will lend us the money as we're now earning 70% of our pre-DC salaries.

I will investigate. Thanks.

Hmm, based on current salaries, we won't be loaned the full amount - £25k short. Guess we'll have to take what we can get then.

The five year deal that you are offered with Nationwide is a good deal. You would be able to get a cheaper rate if you went for a two year fixed rate.

Or see an independent financial advisor? Ours comes round in the evening once a year (we have been seeing him for 10 years, since we bought our first house), has a chat about what we want, finds us a deal, sends us stuff to sign a week later and has never charged us a penny. I find him very easy to use, and he has access to better/different deals to "Jo Public". He is not tied to any financial institution either.