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 08/06/2010
We are coming to the end of a fixed 2 year deal with Nationwide (end of August) having been caught out by having a fixed deal just as all the rates dropped like a stone. I would like to know if fixed is the way to go (long or short term?) or would a tracker be better?
Categories: Fixed or Variable?, Remortgaging
Posted on 05/06/2010
We have a property worth approx £240,000, our mortgage payments are £1,500 and we are 1 month in arrears.We owe approx £98,000. I am 62, my husband 60. He has health problems and was made redundant from a well paid job in construction 2 years ago. We have a bad credit record due to a previous failed business. I earn around £45,000 plus £20,000 pension and £5,000 state pension. My husband has £5,000 teachers pension. I am afraid we will loose our house and want to move the mortgage into my name and find a more reasonable rate. GE money current mortgage provider will not extend term due to age. I s there anything I can do to make sure we remain in our home? Will anyone consider over 60's for a remortgage?
Categories: Bad credit, Lower mortgage payments, Remortgaging
Posted on 28/05/2010
I own a bungalow which has a tenant, currently paying £500 p/m rent. I do not have a mortgage on this property. I wish to raise £20,000 to renovate & update the property. Once the work is finished I will sell the property. The shorthold tenancy agreement ends in December of this year. I am 59 years old and other than the rental income I am self employed and my current net profit is only in the region of £7,000. I have no current borrowings or county court judgements. The property is currently worth £140,000 and on completion of renovation will have a value of £175,0000.
Categories: Buy-to-let, Remortgaging
Posted on 20/05/2010
I jointly own a flat worth £140,000 with an outstanding mortgage of £112,000.
I also jointly own a freehold UK holiday let property worth £140,000 with an outstanding mortgage of £52,000. This property gives a gross income of £9500.
We have unsecured debts of £33,000 from renovating the holday let property.
My income is £29,000 and the income of my partner is £12,500.
My partner and I would like to permanently move to the holiday let property and rent out our current home on a short assured tenancy.
Is it likely that we would find lender who would remortgage our holiday let to a regular mortgage and include the outstanding unsecured borrowing within the new mortgage and also get a buy-to-let mortgage on our current home? The estimated achievable rent would be £550 monthly.
Categories: Buy-to-let, Holiday homes, Remortgaging, Second properties
Posted on 22/04/2010
My son and his girlfriend bought a house together a year ago on a fixed rate mortgage but have now split up. My son wants to keep the house on himself, but rent it out for now. Is there a way for him to get her name took off the mortgage without remortgaging or will he be able to change the mortgage to a buy to rent mortgage?
Categories: Buy-to-let, Remortgaging, Special circumstances
Posted on 24/03/2010
My husband and I are 63 and 61.Our flat is worth around £115,000 less than we paid for it three years ago.We have three years left to pay on our repayment mortgage owing 20,000.We also owe 10,000 on a lifetime tracker loan and we have an mortgage reserve overdraft of 24,000.We have considered selling to pay up the debt but is there a way we can move to another lender without the payments being huge.My husband reaches retirement age in two years what options could be available to us.we have pensions of £967 amonth and my husbands salary of around £12,000 per month.
Categories: Mortgages in retirement, Remortgaging
Posted on 23/03/2010
My two years fixed rate contract will end in two months. I still have less than 20k to pay and I am wondering if it's worth to move to another lender especially with a mortgage less than 25k?
Categories: Remortgaging
Posted on 21/01/2010
Hi, we have a UK mortgage of £180000 on a house value of £320000, combined income of £65000 and have other outgoings - car loans etc £400 month and credit cards totalling £15000. How much more could we realistically borrow on the equity of our house if we were to remortgage? What interest rates would we be offered? We also have a Spanish house, mortgage free, currently valued at 300,000 Euros. Could we draw down any funds from that?
Your advice is much appreciated.
Kind regards.
Mel
Categories: Holiday homes, Remortgaging, Second properties
Posted on 31/08/2009
Hi we have a house worth £380k and mortgage left to pay of £195k. We would like to buy a holiday cottage to let in Ireland for £130k do you think we will be able to get a mortage based on the equity in our house? And if so what are the best current optins? Our current combined salary is £78k
Claire,
From the figures you have given this should be possible, providing neither of you have significant other financial commitments,. Such as an unsecured loan or credit card debt.
For a couple on your joint income it should be possible to borrow at least 4.5 times your income, which would be more than adequate. However, the cost of a new mortgage increases rapidly if you borrow more than 75% of the property value and it is very expensive to get a remortgage over 85%. I am assuming you have no early repayment charges on your current mortgage but if you do you may be better off asking for a further advance from your current lender rather than remortgaging.
If you would like more detailed advice we will need more information and so please call one of our consultants on 0800 71 81 91.
Categories: Buying abroad, Raising capital out of property, Remortgaging, Second properties
Posted on 30/08/2009
I have a BTL mortgage of £140k on property bought for £177,000 now valued at £200,000. Currently on a base rate tracker of 0.7% rising to 0.9% next year, rental income is £9600pa. I also have a residential morgage of £120,000 on a property valued at £150k but would like to re-mortgate to a BTL as this is also rented out for £9100pa. Would it be possible to re-mortgage the second property and raise some capital to buy a third without getting out of my tracker mortgage as I am unlikely to get that kind of deal again.
The short answer is no.
I am a little puzzled by your question because if you remortgage you would by definition be redeeming your tracker mortgage. It would, in any case, not be possible to remortgage the second property except for a smaller amount because the maximum loan to value (LTV) any lender is currently offering on a buy to let mortgage is 75% and your mortgage is currently 80%, based on your estimated value. Therefore unless you have some cash which could be used to reduce the mortgage your only option is stay with your existing lender, and as the property is let out they would certainly not offer you a further advance in view of your LTV.
If you haven’t told your lender that the property is let should ask for permission to let as otherwise you are breaking the terms of your mortgage offer. Most lenders will agree to this but will charge an admin fee, which, depending on the lender, could be several hundred pounds or even go into 4 figures. Also the lender will probably increase the interest rate when you come off your initial rate, and possibly before, and may impose the early repayment charge if your mortgage currently has one and they insist you switch to a higher rate.
Categories: Buy-to-let, Remortgaging
Posted on 11/06/2009
Hi,
I am looking at investing in a second home. I currently have a mortgage of 83k on a property worth 115, but am looking to buy a second house to renovate and sell on. I am looking at a maximum of £50 on the second property. What are my options for funding this second house? Am I able to take another mortgage out for £50.? MY income is £30k
Thanks
Sue
Categories: Bridging loans, Remortgaging
Posted on 08/06/2009
I own outright a house valued at 350,000 and I currently have a 2nd home value at £125,000 with an outstanding mortgage of £50,000. I would like to purchase another home as a 3rd home valued at £175,000. I have a cash deposit of £100,000 - would it make more sense to pay off the £50,000 on the 2nd house and £50,000 off the third or pay it all of the 3rd?
I can afford the repayments no matter the outcome but what would make more sense - pay off 2nd house fully or pay larger amount off 3rd?
Categories: Buy-to-let, Remortgaging, Second properties
Posted on 05/06/2009
I am coming to the end of a fixed rate buy to let mortgage with Chelsea BS at 4.99% they are no longer offering BTL mortgages and their SVR is 5.79% I need to re-mortgage without it costing me more, where can I get the best deal on the rate and keep the fees down?
Categories: Buy-to-let, Remortgaging
Posted on 02/06/2009
I owe £116,815 on my interest only mortgage, I am making a capital payment in December so the balance will be 108k, getting my ltv at 60% borrowing. The mortgage is libor plus 1.5% and I'm only paying 2.77% at the moment. I don't want to fix yet because the interest is very low, when should I look at getting a fixed rate and how long for and what percent? I'm happy to keep making regular yearly capital payments plus i max out my ISA allowance every year to go towards the mortgage in years to come?
Categories: Fixed or Variable?, Remortgaging
Posted on 05/05/2009
I live with my partner but the mortgage, bills etc. are all in his sole name. I am on the electoral roll. He has a good credit rating whereas mine is bad. I am thinking of entering into a debt management programme with CCCS but will this affect my partners credit rating? Or will it affect his ability to remortgage later this year? Please help!
If you don’t have any joint accounts with your partner, such as a current or savings account, it probably won’t make any difference but it certainly won’t help. Providing you are not financially linked to your partner by way of any type of joint account, e.g. mortgage, current account, utility bill, lenders should ignore your financial situation but in any case as your credit is already bad any damage is probably already done.
When your partner remortgages it will be necessary to disclose the name of anyone over 17 living in the property and so your name will have to be disclosed on the mortgage application form.
Categories: Bad credit, Remortgaging
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.