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Hi
What do people think of the Money Centre, I’ve heard it mentioned in this forum a few times so I’m sure some of you use them.
They seem to be able to get decent rates, but are expensive at 1%. If you re-mortgage every 12 months surely the benefit of a lower rate is cancelled out by the fees you have to pay.
If you use them regularly, do you get more spending power?
i.e. I’ve just had a quote on one of my properties I’ve mentioned before 120k. They will lend me 84,500 now but then in 6 months I can get another 25k.
Cheers
Sarah
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Hi Sarah,
Yeah I have used Money Centre, remortgaging a property is not at 1% which is good,that is waivered, but as I found out the arrangement fee was £1000. This was added onto my loan, so the fact they got a good rate and the broker fees were reduced for remortgaging was cancelled out. I was pretty stung really.
I've found that even if the broker isnt charging you anything, watch out for the arrangement fees, as they have a sting in the tail.
Simon |
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You will find that most lenders have arrangement fees however 1000 sounds alot and seems like it was a percentage fee rather than a set fee. However I would completely agree headline rate is not everything you need to look at all fee's / rates within a set period to decide which is the most competitive deal. e.g. Over 5 years is deal one at 5.49 with a 1000 arrangement fee/ 300 val fee cheaper than deal 2 at 5.69 with 395arrangement fee/200 val fee.
Also it may be that a particular mortgage product has extra features that make paying a higher arrangement fee worthwhile. e.g. lending across portfolio, an advance after 1 month rather than waiting 6 months
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I like Money Centre because they give me a range of available quotes online, quickly. I don't necessarily use them all the time, but it's a good place to start I find.
There's an awful lot of mortgage brokers out there! At the homebuyers show in Excel last weekend they were swarming round the punters from all directions. There's no magic formula for finding someone to trust though I don't think.
John |
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Guy's you can trust me come on just ask. I give free property software to every buy to let person a do a mortgage for. It cost me £1,200 to have done and it's comes free on completion of your 1st BTL mortgage taken out through me.
Fact there are only a few good lenders for buy to lets so the research is quite simple, BM Solutions have some great deals at the moment and Mortgage Trust are always worth a look as there fixed rates are good. Personally i go for life time trackers that way i dont have to think about remortgaging as i know im on a good rate. My best rates is a 0.99 base rate tracker for life.
Alex M @oakhillmortgages.co.uk |
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Who is that with Alex and is it available on a remortgage with free val and legals? |
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Don't worry Alex, I've got your email in my address book! I'm not buying just right now for personal reasons though.
John |
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HI John
You said the following "I like Money Centre because they give me a range of available quotes online, quickly. I don't necessarily use them all the time, but it's a good place to start I find."
Do you mean that you completed a form and they phoned you or that they were able to do the quote there and then? |
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OK I'm going to be radical now but - lowest rate isnt always best!
Mortgages are just tools to get you where you want to go.
I would advise getting a broker who is in tune with your property strategy - saving 300 quid on an arrangement fee is not going to help if you go with a lender who's service levels are crap and you need a quick offer to secure that bargain you've negotiated
Sorry Alex I have to disagree ...there are lots of buy to let lenders out there that have there own individual niches within the buy to let arena. Example 1 BM Solutions are very quick,excellent service and not bad rates but are useless if you have students or HMO's.
Example 2 The Mortgage Works are slow, poorer service but if your looking for a portfolio lending service are fantastic and you can have 85% across your portfolio which can mean you can buy for 100%
Example 3 Paragon want to know what your colour your mothers underpants are & 6 months bank/personal statements but if you have a 14 unit HMO then there your lender.
John G - quite agree - finding someone to trust is one thing, having someone who can keep up with your strategy is another. |
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Interesting John H. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Frank - Money Centre give quotes online - you fill in your details (and they will write to you later - be warned if you don't like being persued!), but there and then they give you rates online based on your circumstances, % deposit, fixed/ float, etc. I find them a good benchmark.
John G |
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John, very strange that as ive just done 5 HMO's for a guy in Wales all with BM Solutions.
Your quite right though as they all do have there niches.
bottom line is though if it's a HMO then you have even limited lender to look at, so it's not hard to get the right deal 1st time.
It's a bit like if someone buy's there council home and wants an extra 20K. Believe it or not only around 6 lenders will do it and only 1 high street lender. If some one has something slightly diferent then it can make getting the deal easier as you are ltd on lenders.
Alex M @oakhillmortgages.co.uk |
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Hi Alex,
When you say HMO do you mean;
1, a shared house on one AST
2, seperate let rooms within a house with seperate tenancy agreements e.g. bedsits, HMO license with the local council etc
If its number 1 then that isnt really a HMO in the true sense and yes most mortgage companies (incl BM) would lend on this. If its number 2 then youve just said it is 1 and gone ahead anyway without telling the mortgage company your plans - which may be OK while you pay the mortgage but if you had a fire/flood you would have invalidated your building insurance and could be in deep sh*t.
Which one was it?
Oh yeah the other point about the Money Centre is they are excellent for buy to let deals but not all advisers can give regulated mortgage advice (e.g. the home you live in) which may be used as part of your property investment strategy.
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John Hebble,
HMO is a house with 5 or more poeple living in it. If you did have a Multi let with out the lender knowing all you need to do is make sure that your insurance company are aware of it, the lender never sees your cover so would not know that your letting to multiple people. So you would be properly covered.
Alex M oakhillmortgages.co.uk |
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Alex,
Lenders will want the insurance schedule to register their name as an interested party so if premiums stopped for example they would be notified. So couple of questions for you:-
1, Have you/or anyone you know had a property which you took out with a mortgage provider then used it as a multi let knowing that it was against the terms and conditions of mortgage, however then got multilet insurance?
2, Has that property then burnt down and have you had any issues with the insurers when they have talked to your mortgage company and realised you were letting it outside the terms of the mortgage contract which therefore invalidated your insurance.
I dont know the answer to number 2 however I wouldnt risk it and for someone giving mortgage advice I dont think you should too. If however you have been through all the small print and terms and conditions of your insurance and are 100% confident that they would still be insured even if you werent abiding by the mortagge contract then go for it. |
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alex, would love to see the software when you get a chance.
thanks tom.
tomharwood88@hotmail.com |
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Hi Tom, Software has been sent to you.
Alex M |
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Alex
I will be in touch for a mortgage quote.
Sarah |
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thanks alex.
much appreciated - i will be going through it tonight!
tom |
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Alex,
Can you send me a copy of the software please?
Cheers mate
Simon |
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In answer to the original question:
1) Buy the Guardian or the Times and look in the money pages.
2) Go to a local mortgage advisor (they all get commission for selling a mortgage, try and make sure the lender pays the fee not you !)
IMHO The money centre are taking the p**ss by charging you extra commission when they are already being paid it by the lender. They are being super greedy and you can get the same deal from any other good advisor.
One problem you may face (I did) is the insistance on some lenders for the rental income to be 125% / 130% of the rental income. Otherwise you can't get an 85% mortgage. In most areas near me this just doesn't add up. You would need to put down a huge deposit of 30% or so. (Me, pay out 30% of my money? no way pal - If I wanted to tie it up like that I'd buy abroad !)
I think Northern Rock are one of the ones that don't insist on that (But I'm sure Alex will correct me if I'm wrong).
P.S. Can you send me the software you were talking about Alex ?
Funkyme@ntlworld.com |
