Ask the experts
About our experts...
At John Charcol, we are constantly asked for advice by borrowers on what they should do when it comes to mortgages. As such, we created this section so that you can submit your questions to our experts. The answers are provided by a number of people who have years of experience in the mortgage market. The team is led by Peter Woodward who spent his formative years as an underwriter with one of the major UK lenders and the last 10 years in our Technical Department along side Ray.
So please do submit your question and we will do all we can to answer it as quickly as possible
Please be aware that these answers can only be generic and no personal recommendations can be made.
Posted on 14/05/2008
We have just started making overpayments on our mortgage beginning with £10,000 off, continuing with £200-£500 a month hopefully. Is it better to reduce the term or reduce the mortgage payment amount but continue paying the same? They have automatically reduced our payments so I'll just top up back to what it was. Is it better to ask for reduced term? Are there any consequences to your credit rating if you have zero mortgage or debts?
Categories: Offset mortgages, Overpayments, Payment Holdays, underpayments, Borrowback
Posted on 05/05/2008
You gave us some very good advice before. We have already been in touch with an adviser at your firm. He advised us to borrow the whole amount we need, around £150.000, with an Offset Mortgage and draw the amounts required for the staged payments, over the following 12-18 months.We feel uneasy about this and rather prefer your option to have a mortgage with a facility to withdraw further amounts at the same rate.
Are we likely to be paying more with the former option?
Categories: Offset mortgages, Overpayments, Payment Holdays, underpayments, Borrowback
Posted on 26/02/2008
Katie, I'm considering an offset mortgage with a term of 14 years and a sum of £73,500. My wife and I have savings of £25,000. We earn bonuses which give us lump sums to reduce the debt further, approximately every 6 months (£1,000 to £1,500). We would like to reduce the term of our mortgage with a view to paying it off asap. Is an offset mortgage the way to go?
Categories: Offset mortgages
Posted on 08/10/2007
I own outright the property I live in (no mortgage) I would like to buy a smaller property to renovate and sell on, which mortgage is the best for me?
Categories: Offset mortgages, Remortgaging, Second properties
Posted on 07/10/2007
I have an interest only mortgage of £110k at 6% and savings of £15k. Is it viable to use those savings as an 'offset' and pay 6.3% mortgage rate? I can keep the offset in ISAs.
Categories: Offset mortgages
Posted on 29/08/2007
I have an offset mortgage owing £122,000 left over the next 21 years. My monthly repayments are £900 on a variable rate mortgage. I want to sell the house but it does not look likely to sell as no-one has shown interest in...
Categories: Buy-to-let, Offset mortgages, Remortgaging
Posted on 15/08/2007
Hi, would appreciate advice on what kind of mortgage to get. I am buying a £160,000 maisonette with a £100,000 deposit and should have about £15,000 left in savings. I would like to keep repayments low for at least 2...
Categories: Lower mortgage payments, Offset mortgages
Posted on 24/07/2007
We currently have a £28,000 mortgage with Barclays its fixed rate is due to end soon. Would you advise us to use our £9,000 in mini-cash ISAs to offset the interest or look for another competitive fixed rate. We...
Categories: Offset mortgages
Posted on 12/07/2007
My wife and I have quite a significant investment saved in various stocks and shares ISAs (about a third of the value of our mortgage). Is it possible to use these equity-based ISAs to offset a mortgage? If so, is it a good...
Categories: Offset mortgages
Answers provided in response to Ask the experts are based on the information provided and do not constitute advice under the Financial Services & Markets Act. They reflect the personal views of the authors and do not neccessarily represent the views, positions, strategies or opinions of John Charcol. All comments are made in good faith, and John Charcol will not accept liability for them.
We recommend you seek professional advice with regard to any of these topics where appropriate.