mortgage broker commenting on size of mortgage

[bearsbath]

Name change to add personal details

L&C broker commenting a few times on what a large remortgage we will have

joint income is £4000 per month, child care £850, house value £230,000 and re mortgaging for £155,000. No other debt.

I was like oh is it? We are in zone 3 London so feels like a bargain and well within our capabilities. ..have I just got a bit numb to the figures?

Nope not large at all! You have a good ltv there aswell which means a nice low interest rate.

Tiny in comparison to our hefty one. Although we arranged ours in 2008-we wouldn't get anywhere near that amount if we applied for it today.

Is it a like for like remortgage? Or are you remortgaging to raise capital? If your current mortgage is 100k for example and you now want to remortgage for 155k. That's the only thing I can think of that might raise eyebrows. Otherwise there's no way 155k in London (or in most other places) is a large mortgage.

No its like for like, in fact we are paying a lump sum and shortening the length.

I thought we were doing well with OP etc so was a bit taken back by his comments.

He has got us a great deal I'm very happy with so no complaints

Just wondered if it was 'a large amount'?

I mean large amount for situation. Obviously it would be large if finances were lower.

Weird, even I don't think its a large amount and I'm one of the most cautious people out there. He must spend his whole working day freaking out over the amount of borrowing people want to do!

It's all relative isn't it, sounds huge to me but our mortgage is under £30K .

I think mortgage brokers/banks are incredibly cautious these days - we asked for £30k mortgage on our fully paid for house (value over £300K) and it was as if we had asked for the crown jewels the amount of time and energy it took to get it.

Ragwort and very envious!

I know Got I was thinking surely you see higher amounts and lower LTV ratios then mine?

bearsbath - fortunately we don't live in London and DH and I were lucky enough to buy our first homes individually (before we married each other) over 30 years ago - that makes me sound ancient .

Sounds a lot to me too, but our income is more and our mortgage is much less, so my perspective is probably skewed.

I guess it really depends on how long it's for. How much will you be paying per month? And for how many years?

Maybe he is just trying to be appropriately serious in a 'your home is at risk if you don't keep up repayments' way - incase you sue himat a later date.

Sounds great, ie nice and low, to me - a fellow Londoner with a standard four bed Victorian terrace and a mortgage almost double that. And I think mine is actually pretty low too! Is the broker not used to working in the south east?

Oh snapes I was just thinking it was ok. ..

New deal will be £715 per month and the length is 25 years. We took it out 4 years ago for £176,000 and 30 years.

Sorry, didn't mean to make you doubt yourself. It's a different perspective when you live outside London, that's all!

£715 a month on your income sounds very manageable. Will you be on a fixed rate or a tracker?

Our figures are identical only we are in the north west, and our repayments are £635 over 32 years.

I don't think it's a big mortgage at all.

Fixed rate. My nerves couldn't cope with a tracker. I'm pretty risk adverse really!

I think you'll be fine then! :)

Sounds tiny to me. We remortgaged through L and C, raising funds for an extension, and that was massive! Borrowed nearly half as much again as our original mortgage, LTV went from 60 to 80%

And your income is higher!

Your house value sounds low for zone 3 London, when was it last valued? Unless it's a small flat...

Its a 2 bed end terrace house. I looked at zoopla and it said £300,000. I think 230 is more realistic

Your mortgage is totally sensible!

I think it sounds high for a re-mortgage.... mostly people are doing this to pay off debt.....

I would call it a mortgage if you are doing it for an extension or somesuch.