Tuesday, 2 August 2011

Mortgage Comparison: Why You Should Consider More Than Cost

By John Roney


Mortgages do not come in one-size-fits-all packages. This is why mortgage comparison is so important. The mortgage that is perfect for someone else may not fit into your financial plans. But you won't know which mortgage is right for you until you compare them. There are quite a few things that you should pay attention to when you're comparing mortgages. Of course, you will want to compare the interest rate, terms and cost of the mortgage. It's your money; you should know where every dime is going. And if you can save a dime, you should know about that as well.

Collect Your Information- You will complete a form that contains basic information relating to your mortgage needs. The form will consist of housing information, location of property, loan amount, etc. Sell Your Information- Once the lead form has been completed, your information will be sold to several lenders. In some cases, depending on the site, it may be sold to ONE lender as an "exclusive" lead. These types of leads can be sold for as much as $100 or more. Most of the time, the leads is sold many times and lenders will compete for your business

To obtain a comparison, it is important to look at the key aspects:
Flexibility of the account- Over payments - are you likely to make frequent overpayments into your mortgage account? If so, you will want an offset mortgage that does not penalise for frequent overpayments or penalise you for paying off your mortgage early. Underpayments and/or payment holidays - do you want a career break with underpayments or payment holidays from your mortgage? Not all products offer underpayments or payment holidays, whereas some types of offset mortgage offer the service, but you usually have to make a certain amount of overpayments before you are eligible.

Credit limit - will you need a lump sum of cash in the future, for example, home renovations? Some offset mortgages allow a credit limit on top of the agreed mortgage, depending on the amount of equity in the property, which acts as a loan facility. Debt - are you carrying credit debt and personal loans? Some offset mortgages allow the debt to be incorporated into the mortgage package, possibly leading to a lower repayment rate. The debts can also remain unsecured.

Number of accounts - can you add more than one savings/current account to your mortgage? Do you have family members that are willing to link their bank accounts to your mortgage debt? If so, you can further reduce your interest payments.
Charges and interest rates- At first glance, an offset mortgage with an initial low APR for two years and low arrangement fees may look appealing, but if it has an ERC and no underpayment facilities, it would not be suitable if you wanted to make frequent overpayments to pay your mortgage off early, but were planning to have a career break in the future.




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