The best mortgage deal ever

From a cursory survey of websites and brochures, you’ll see a myriad of different types of mortgage. The mortgages explored so far are a basic overview – you’ll find any amount of types – some combining several features and with added incentives to tempt you. Basically, if you can imagine a mortgage, it probably exists. So, after doing your homework and boning up on mortgage terminology, how do you finally choose? Which deal is the best on the market today? The truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all super mortgage that will be a perfect fit for everyone’s financial situation. What you need to do when choosing a mortgage is work out exactly what would suit you – and this will depend on your individual circumstances. Once you have an idea of what you’re looking for, you can let the lenders and brokers find the mortgage to fit. Below are some examples of possible life situations, with ideas for mortgages that may be suitable: The student Young, single, and likely to be forever short of cash! It’s unlikely you’ll be able to find a large lump sum for a mortgage, and your income probably comes from part time jobs – hardly an enticing prospect for a lender. Your best bet is to approach family for help – a loan for the deposit and/or a guarantor mortgage (combined with proof of your responsible attitude) could help you get an early foothold on the property ladder. Pushing 30 You’re paving the way to a successful career, and perhaps thinking of moving in with a partner. However, your salary is probably relatively modest, and you may not have much money saved. Ask lenders for their first time buyer deals, including 100% mortgages, and consider a joint mortgage with a partner to boost your buying power. Cashback may be useful for covering the costs of fees and buying furniture. Those willing to take a bit of a risk could consider an interest only mortgage combined with savings and investments. Growing success Perhaps you have a family or dependents now, and your career is fairly solidly established. You may want to make the most of your money by looking at flexible mortgages, or one that can be offset against your other accounts. Keep in mind your home may have accrued equity by now, which could be released by revaluing your home, and perhaps switching mortgage. If you run your own business and have some capital to invest, you might want to try a self-cert mortgage.

Your mortgage application may trigger competing offers

If you apply for a mortgage, your inbox, answering machine, and mailbox may fill up quickly with competing offers from other mortgage companies. It’s not that the company you applied to is selling or sharing your information. Rather, it’s that creditors – including mortgage companies – are taking advantage of a federal law that allows them to identify potential customers for the products they offer, and then market to them. The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, wants you to know why your application for a mortgage may trigger competing offers, how you can use them to your benefit, and how to stop getting them if that’s your choice. The unsolicited calls, emails, and letters about competing offers often are called “prescreened” or “pre-approved” offers of credit. They are based on information in your credit report that suggests you meet criteria set by the creditor making the offer – for example, you live in a certain zip code, you have a certain number of credit cards, or you have a certain credit score. Credit bureaus and other consumer reporting companies sell lists of consumers who meet the criteria to insurance companies, lenders, and other creditors. When you apply for a mortgage, the lender usually gets a copy of your credit report. At that point, an “inquiry” appears on your report showing that the lender has looked at it. The inquiry indicates you’re in the market for a loan. That’s why mortgage companies buy lists of consumers who have a recent inquiry from a mortgage company on their credit report. Federal law allows this practice if the offer of credit meets certain legal requirements. Clearly, some mortgage companies benefit from the practice. Consumers can benefit, too: prescreened offers can highlight other available products and make it easier to compare costs while you carefully check out the terms and conditions of any offers you might consider. Still, some people may prefer not to receive prescreened offers of credit and insurance at all. Here’s how to stop them: Call 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) and you will be asked to provide certain personal information, including your home telephone number, name, Social Security number, and date of birth. The information you provide is confidential, and will be used only to process your request to opt out. Opting out of prescreened offers does not affect your ability to apply for credit or to get it. Your opt out request will be processed within five days, but it may take up to 60 days before the prescreened offers stop coming. If you have a joint mortgage, both parties need to opt out to stop the prescreened offers. If or when you want to opt back in, use the same telephone number. Put your phone number on the federal government’s National Do Not Call Registry to reduce the telemarketing calls you get at home. To register your phone number or to get information about the registry call 1-888-382-1222 from the phone number you want to register. You will get fewer telemarketing calls within 31 days of registering your number. Your number stays on the registry for five years, until it is disconnected, or until you take it off the registry. Many companies use other tools to identify marketing prospects, and that the Do Not Call Registry won’t shield you from all telemarketers – for example, those with which you have a business relationship. Even if you opt out of prescreened offers and put your number on the National Do Not Call Registry, you can expect some unsolicited offers.

Mortgage refinance

When it’s time to think about your mortgage refinance options, what should you know and how do you make the correct decisions? It’s more than guesswork and you can greatly increase the odds that you’ll refinance (or not) at the right time if you take time to consider some specific points. Start by knowing your current mortgage interest rate. You can find this listed on your loan papers or your lender should be able to tell you. If you have a variable rate mortgage, you won’t have a set interest rate, but that’s also an important piece of information. Next, find out the rate you’ll be offered if you get your mortgage refinanced. A word of caution – don’t simply take a look at the interest rates being offered and assume you’re going to get those rates. Ask about your specific situation. Lock a lender into a particular rate before you start the process. Many lenders advertise a very low rate, but you may find that you don’t qualify for that rate. Be especially careful if you’re being asked for any fees up front. Compare the rate of your current mortgage with that you’re being offered, but also consider the terms of the loan. For example, if you have a variable rate loan, you may find the benefits of having a fixed rate mortgage are sufficient to warrant a mortgage refinance, even if the rates you’re paying aren’t that much different from what you’re being offered. Most financial people recommend that you save at least one and a half full points on your interest rate before you consider a mortgage refinance. Why? You’re likely going to be paying closing costs, appraisal fees and other costs associated with the refinance loan. If you’re not saving at least one and a half full points, it will take you several years to save the amount of money you’re spending on the closing. Again, this doesn’t apply if you’re getting significantly better terms that in themselves warrant following through with a new loan. As a final point, consider your future plans. Are you expecting to move in the next few years? Are you looking for a change in job status that could create the need to change your location? Is your family growing and in need of more space? If you aren’t going to stay in your current house at least two more years, a mortgage refinance probably isn’t a good option because of the time it takes to recover the cost of the closing.

Buy to let mortgages long term investment on the concrete structure

Buy to let mortgage market was worth Ј21.8 billion in 2004 and accounted to 38.2 % of commercial market in the same year. The buy to let market has grown more than any market as a whole – which is remarkable. Such a strong market spells nothing but benefit to mortgage hopeful. Buy to let mortgage was a constructive effort by The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) to encourage growth in the private rented sector. Buy to let mortgage is a specialized product for a special mortgage product. However, there is little difference between this and other mortgage products. If you understand the various details of buy to let mortgage, there is no way that you won’t be successful in your attempt. Every buy to let mortgage will undergo the usual mortgage guideline. The lender will check your credit worthiness, value of your property, the amount of down payment before he approves your buy to let mortgage. Buy to let mortgage have emerged as an increasingly popular mortgage in last few years. They are marked lower interest rates and have added to their attraction. Also rental income is more dependable form of income than other investment forms. The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) operates a buy to let scheme which is supported by a group of lenders. There are other buy to let mortgage lenders who operate outside the scheme and you don’t have to go through any ARLA agent. A buy to let mortgage lender would ask for your rental details along with your income. There are some mortgage lenders who will allow you to add your rent to the salary, while other will base the buy to let mortgage entirely on the rent. Any previous mortgage will have a say in what you can borrow with buy to let mortgage. Different lenders will have different criteria which apply also for the amount you can borrow. The maximum that you can borrow will be anywhere between Ј150,000 to Ј1m per property. Buy to let mortgage can be taken on more than one property with maximum up to 5 properties. But more than one buy to let mortgage would not be possible on the same property. Buy to let mortgage lenders usually lend 85% of the property value. Buy to let mortgage entails down payment. The down payment varies from 15%-25%. The larger down payment you can avail the better deals. There is a little variation in the rates of buy to let mortgage and other mortgages. The rental income formula varies but usually rental income should be 130%-150% of total monthly repayments. The interest rates offered for Buy to let mortgage are fixed, variable, capped, tracker, capped, discounted. According to the inclination of the borrower, any interest rate type can be applied for. Always ask for quotes and compare. This will enable you to sort out buy to let mortgage that corresponds with your expectations. Research is fundamental in every loan process including buy to let mortgage. Buy to let mortgage is a secured loan which means that it is secured on your property. Late repayment will show in your credit report and inability to repay can lead to loss of property. Think before you apply for buy to let mortgage. First check affordability and then apply for buy to let mortgage. Since it is a long term investment, you have to be careful about making payments on time. Since you have rental income, it will enable you to payments during difficult circumstances. You can take deposit form tenants to make prevent making arrears. We good record with buy to let mortgage will open doors for more investment as buy to let. Before Buy to let make sure which property you are buying and whether it is compatible with the area. The neighbourhood should be such where there is considerable scope for letting it out. Plan out how much you are ready to pay for the property, keeping in mind expenses like down payment, stamp duty, evaluation fee, solicitor’s fee and other expenditure like remodeling to enable anticipated usage. A few years ago buy to let mortgage was something which would cost you higher interest rate, larger down payment and expect large penalty for changing mortgage. However, the buy to let orientation has changed considerably. Buy to let mortgage has considerably moulded itself to become more consumer friendly. In such a stable mortgage market, there is great scope for expansion.

Pay it down quick using refinancing to shorten the length of your mortgage

Chances are years ago, when you took out your mortgage, you took it out for 30 years or more. You were just starting out in life, money was tight and your salary was still on the lower side of the pay scale. As the years have gone by, and you've moved up in your career and in life, you may find that you have extra money each month that you want to put to good use. One of the things you may want to think about to do with that money is to refinance your home mortgage for a shorter term to help you pay off your house quicker with less overall interest payments. Let's face it, money is hard enough to come by, and paying unnecessary interest is something that all of us can do without. With home mortgages you will often find that the lower the term of the mortgage, the better the interest rate is. Basically, the mortgage company is giving you a better overall deal because they don't have to wait as long for their money and their exposure is less to possible risk. The faster you pay it off, the faster they get their money back (plus interest). Often times, you already have the lowest interest rate you can get for your mortgage. This is where refinancing to a lower term can help. Typically, interest rates for 30-year and 15-year mortgages vary by as much as a whole percent point, with the average being somewhere around 0.75%. If you find that you are into the 10th year of your 30-year mortgage it may make sound financial sense to refinance into a 15-year mortgage at the lower rate so you can take advantage of the interest rate benefits - as long as you can afford the higher monthly payments. So why not just continue along in your present mortgage and pay extra each month? While this was a popular option not too long ago, today many mortgage companies penalize you for making early payments. After all, now you aren't giving them the fixed rate of return they were planning on. This consumer-unfriendly practice is widespread and is just another reason why refinancing is one of your best moves. It's important to keep in mind a few things before running into a refinance, however. First, realize that you will be paying more per month since you are lowering the length of the loan. More of this money is going to your equity, and you will see significant savings in the long run. However, you have to be prepared financially to do it. Don't risk losing your home if you think this might cause financial hardship down the road! Next, make sure that you understand the fees associated with it. As you near the end of your mortgage it may not be in your best interest to refinance depending on how long you have left. The savings you earn in interest rate reductions may not equal what you pay to get them. So if you find that you have a little extra cash in your pocket and are looking for a way to make a sound financial investment, consider looking into refinancing your home mortgage to take advantage of shorter terms and lower interest rates. The money you save could go towards more important things - such as retirement or the boat of your dreams!