My current lovely 4 and a bit per cent deal runs out at the end of this year - so I've started looking around and it's a bit frightening to be honest. No deals lower than about 5.79% and one arrangement fee of 3 grand..
´óÏó´«Ã½ © 2014 The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
Maybe if banks increased their interest rates to lenders, and the Government reduced the amout they take in tax from intereset earned, there would be more encouragement for people with a bit of spare money to invest in savings accounts, which would provide increased capital for morgage lenders.
Mark
Leicester
I have been a mortgage broker for 19 years and these are some of the most challenging times I have encountered. All this talk of credit crunch and mortgage shortages set me thinking; how solvent are we as a nation?
As well as mortgage debt there is a growing mountain of unsecured debt and all this has been accumulated on the back of confidence in a rise in value of the housing market.
Now the market has flattened and has begun to fall, I wonder how solvent we would be if prices dropped by 10%, 20% or even more?
People have always said that if the worse case scenario happened and they couldn't afford to service their debts any more, they could sell their property to clear the debts. This may not be possible now as the property market is depressed, values are falling, and that would mean that people would be technically insolvent.
From a mortgage point of view I am struggling to keep up with the changes so I don't envy the 'man in the street.'
Like you Victoria, my fixed rate of 4.25% ends later this year and the best I could do at the moment to replace it is 5.69% with a £995 arrangement fee.
I have been a mortgage broker for 19 years and these are some of the most challenging times I have encountered. All this talk of credit crunch and mortgage shortages set me thinking; how solvent are we as a nation?
As well as mortgage debt there is a growing mountain of unsecured debt and all this has been accumulated on the back of confidence in a rise in value of the housing market.
Now the market has flattened and has begun to fall, I wonder how solvent we would be if prices dropped by 10%, 20% or even more?
People have always said that if the worse case scenario happened and they couldn't afford to service their debts any more, they could sell their property to clear the debts. This may not be possible now as the property market is depressed, values are falling, and that would mean that people would be technically insolvent.
From a mortgage point of view I am struggling to keep up with the changes so I don't envy the 'man in the street.'
Like you Victoria, my fixed rate of 4.25% ends later this year and the best I could do at the moment to replace it is 5.69% with a £995 arrangement fee.
I have been a mortgage broker for 19 years and these are some of the most challenging times I have encountered. All this talk of credit crunch and mortgage shortages set me thinking; how solvent are we as a nation?
As well as mortgage debt there is a growing mountain of unsecured debt and all this has been accumulated on the back of confidence in a rise in value of the housing market.
Now the market has flattened and has begun to fall, I wonder how solvent we would be if prices dropped by 10%, 20% or even more?
People have always said that if the worse case scenario happened and they couldn't afford to service their debts any more, they could sell their property to clear the debts. This may not be possible now as the property market is depressed, values are falling, and that would mean that people would be technically insolvent.
From a mortgage point of view I am struggling to keep up with the changes so I don't envy the 'man in the street.'
Like you Victoria, my fixed rate of 4.25% ends later this year and the best I could do at the moment to replace it is 5.69% with a £995 arrangement fee.
Oops! Didn't mean to post 3 times, the system kept freezing on me.
It is up to the customer to decide what they can afford - work out the payment you can realistically afford and take out a mortgage of that size. Bear in mind that rates can go up, so build in a margin of error. Reduce the amount you may require to borrow by saving something up first.
Oh and please stop blaming everyone else for a problem of your own making. You will not pay capital gains or other taxes on your asset - unlike anyone saving, investing in other assets or setting up a business. If you chose to gamble a few years ago - and no doubt thought you would be clever making an untaxed gain on a subsidised activity - don't blame anyone else when the gamble fails.
Who's complaining or blaming someone else? Not me. I know what the true cost of money is and I am a realist. I took out my current mortgage because I wanted to buy a home to live in and I never thought or think of it as being an investment.
As a nation we will have to pick up the tab in the future for all those that will not be able to service their debts and may subsequently have their homes taken into possession. Either through increased direct or indirect taxes, higher borrowing rates, shortage of available credit etc.
We are paying the price now for greed, either personal or corporate all built on the back of such a volatile asset as property.
I am having no trouble finding a mortgage; because I am not looking for one. Property is so over-priced in this country, it's quite rediculous that people want to burden themselves with the massive debt a mortgage brings. I can only assume they have been brain washed by the glossy TV programmes which give the false impression that property is an investment and renting is "dead money". This couldn't be further from the truth, and it's sad that millions of people are about to suffer a financially painful lesson.
I am having no trouble finding a mortgage; because I am not looking for one. Property is so over-priced in this country, it's quite rediculous that people want to burden themselves with the massive debt a mortgage brings. I can only assume they have been brain washed by the glossy TV programmes which give the false impression that property is an investment and renting is "dead money". This couldn't be further from the truth, and it's sad that millions of people are about to suffer a financially painful lesson.
It is disgraceful in this country that we now pay the price for the US mortgage crisis brought on by greedy hedge fund managers who pay no tax.
It angers me so much that these kind of business practices are allowed to continue and ruin the lives of millions of people while making a minute few wealthy beyong anyones imagination.