Lee247

We've just moved to a Tracker, our 2 year fixed has come to an end at just the right time. Been told it will come down again, but we will NOT be 500 a month better off

fast bloke

Mine is down £583 today and £194 last month. Mortgage is about 460k. DTS must be in the 300k region to save 500 a month

Lee247

You must be living in a mansion.

My mortgage is 120k, 10 years left with my new deal, I opted to pay more to get rid of a couple of years, so really 8 years to go

fast bloke

Good sense - Your interest payment in the last couple of years will be nominal, so it doesn't matter how pear shaped it all goes, you shouldn't suffer on the mortgage front. If your new rate before today was comfortable, keep paying the same amount - You could probably knock another year off.

Mansion? Not really, but we don't use the west wing as much as we thought we might

Lee247

I got your advice a few years ago. Cheers Don't shout for the commission
House is in the sticks, so not too popular with some folks. And we find the West wing a bit cold, so don't really bother going up there

fast bloke

We have planning issues over here, so a house in the sticks requires there to be at least one arm, one leg and preferably at least one ******** involved in the price. (Gordon Brown gets the other ******** with the stamp duty, and if you have any spare, the estate agent takes those)

Hope the advice was good - Did I say - use all your money on drugs and hookers, then waste the rest, or was I obviously pissed and suggested something more conservative?

Matteeboy

While others have done this stuff called "work" and saved enough to buy a decent house outright, especially once they are all worth less than a tenner...

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

I wish I had maxxed out every loan and credit card I had ever owned and stuffed it under the matteress now I would of been sitting on over a £150 k and the sucker taxpayers would have footed the bill

And i'd just claim an addiction to cheap ******, mental instability and declare myself bust.

Chris L

I think it shows how desperate things are to be honest.

And correct me if I'm wrong here: Wasn't it low interest rates and cheap borrowing that got us here in the first place? Aren't we just repeating the same mistakes that Japan made after their economy collapsed about 20 years ago?

That said, I'd be surprised if the banks will pass on all of this cut - they are now chasing fewer customers and will therefore want to make more money out of the ones they have, which means that the traditional spread between the BoE base rate and mortgage rates will be much bigger than in previous years.

I would have loved to have seen the government make a very brave move and cut tax rates. If you want to make people feel richer and improve confidence, put more money in their pocket, rather than encouraging them to borrow more. Opps - sorry, can't do that - Gordon has spent all the money made in the good times and we're now having to borrow more to rescue the banks (this was his grand plan, that he is 'credited' with)

Chris (in slightly cynical mode this morning)

Matteeboy

Why is everyone with mega loans (yes that includes mortgages) so pleased?! The economy is still stuffed and debt is more evil than ever.

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

With most banks desperate to attract savers at the minute I can't see banks slashing savings rates to 3% anyway.

Matteeboy

Still going to be below inflation though. Until we start to hit DEflation...

Lee247

My mortgage isn't mega in terms of the value of the house, thank God.

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Hmmm, my mortgage is up for renewal on December 31st and I have no idea which way to go

The mortgage advisor is coming round next week to confuse me even more

fast bloke, can I put the business your way?

Matteeboy

So when was it valued? And could you actually sell it if you had to?
People seem to be forgetting that house values, based on those that are actually SELLING (not many) are plummetting. A £500k apartment in Reading recently went up for £250k. Just one example...

Book price of our two cars adds up to about £13k. Yet I've all but written them off in terms of value (wouldn't consider them an "asset" despite being paid for) - it's called being realistic.

Lee247

FB certainly knows his stuff, Sal. Don't tell him I said that though

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

I can see the attraction for people who do have these huge mortgages and are going to be saving £500 a month, but I dont think they make up a big percentage of the people out there.

For most people with normal size mortgages ( who dont live in mansions like Fast Bloke, or 1 bedroom flats in London ) then the savings arent going to be that huge.

If you look at the costs on a mortgage of £150,000 which I imagine is a fairly normal amount for people to owe, even a drop of 1.5% ( assuming the lender passed on anywhere near that ) isnt going to save them a huge amount each month.

Even if rates drop to say 2%, try getting a remortgage or first time buyers mortgage at anywhere near that rate !

ChrisB

The letter telling me my mortgage had gone down from last month's 0.5% cut only arrived yesterday. I knew I should have borrowed more, it only went down by £16!

Lee247

I don't want to sell it. I don't need to sell it either. However much it may or may not have devalued, it is still worth considerably more than my mortgage. For that I am very chuffed.

dpb

This would appear to be what the 'government' ( i dont think they have a clue ) wants - if it kick starts the economy then maybe , but i reckon theyre alienating middle england right now

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

And anyway, if times got that hard you could always open it up to the public and just keep the east wing for your private use

EddScott

Because it would appear that no matter the size of the loan or whether you can pay it back or not, the government will bail us out.

Having said that my mortgage is now 3.99 so should be a whisker under £250 on 75K interest only (house only worth 150K being a semi in deepest darkest wales)

Assuming rates will remain low for 3 years or so, I see no reason why I can't use some of that saving to get a 3 year loan and buy myself an Impreza and the wife some new *****. If theres any left over, I'll get a Jacuzzi and one of them fancy beeday things.

Huw Heffner lifestyle on a Homer Simpson budget.

Matteeboy

Edd - I briefly mis-read that as you having a £250k mortgage on a £150k house!!! That would be seriously bad!

We are basically just waiting to "strike" with a decent six figure sum saved up. Ideally like to buy this place eventually but renting it makes a lot more sense at the moment.

fast bloke

I like my house. I have no plans to sell it. I was going to be making the mortgage payment next month anyway. The economy would still have been stuffed, so the only thing that has changed is the amount of money that goes out of my bank account. Maybe you can't grasp this concept, so think of it in terms of petrol. Would you rather pay £1.20 or 94p per litre? If it is going to cost £120.00 you will buy it anyway, but if you can get it for 94p would you rather still pay £1.20?

Matteeboy

Ahh yes but you are still stuck with a near half million pound loan on a depreciating asset. Yet seem to think Labour are your best friends.
Who says prices will "recover?" What if it all went pear shaped and you lost your job (or your company went bust if you run your own show)?

That's about as fun as having clap.

Matteeboy

It would be interesting to see how many of those with rather expensive cars, huge Plasma TVs and an exotic holiday every year are actually debt free (or have a "manageable" mortgage).

fast bloke

How come Labour are involved? - I don't care if prices never recover - Hopefully the house will be sold by my kids in 40 or 50 years time when I am in a box. There would have to be a serious amount of going pear shaped before I couldn't pay the mortgage, but her indoors works for the NHS and could probably make the payments herself if I was on zero income. I have insurance that would cover my income for 2 years if I become unemployed, or until 65 if I am too ill to work.

So yes, there is a set of circumstances where I would be forced to sell. (My company goes down the tubes, I can't find anything to do for two years and the NHS decides to start making specialist nurses redundant. What would you do if you and your wife both lost their jobs? Who would pay your rent then?

MattW

Expensive car, check, recently bought a new one for the wife as well.
Plasma?, LCD does that count?
Exotic holiday, well I like to get away fro a break every summer, am contemplating doing something over the New Year now the kids are a little older.

Mortgage, £190k ish, hoping to have it paid off in around 4 years, manageable, certainly while I have work, but then if I didn't a 30k mortgage would be unmanageable.

I get the impression Matteeboy you really want to see someone go down the plug hole, just to prove that your position is the way forward. It's not, it's just one of many an individual can choose, doesn't mean other choices are wrong.