When to remortgage March 2012
Deciding when to remortgage is influenced by the need to remortgage. Generally home owners wish to release equity in their home to improve their current property or to move to a different property.
Homeowners whose circumstances dictate the need for more space for a growing family for example and who now do not have the benefit of the reduced stamp duty bill face a difficult decision of when to remortgage. Often decide to release equity for improvements rather than move and avoid the costs of stamp duty.
If the remortgae is to enable moving home then this is a time when borrowers really need help. Moving home is considered to be one of the most stressful events in our lives and currently very costly. Figures show that moving home is over 60 per cent more expensive than ten years ago with overall fees of over £8,000 being paid out by mortgage borrowers. The main fees include estate agents fees, solicitors fees and mortgage arrangement fees and the largest of all can be the stamp duty fee.
Securing a mortgage with low arrangement fees can reduce the outlay of a remortgage but the stamp duty fee is still a big consideration. First time buyers have had a two year break from paying stamp duty on property purchases up to £250,000 but this came to an end on the 24th of March 2012.
One of the lenders recently offering free arrangement fees on some of its mortgages is the HSBC. The HSBC has a lifetime tracker mortgage which is 2.09 per cent above the base rate for home owners with 60 per cent LTV (loan to value) or with 80 per cent LTV they have a lifetime tracker that is 2.79 per cent above the base rate. Again this mortgage comes with free arrangement fees making the conclusion of when to remortgage a cost effective decision.
