Shop around before committing

There seems to be a lot of positive activity in the market currently with many lenders reducing rates.  Just in the last few days, we’ve seen Nationwide, Virgin Money, Accord, Santander, Yorkshire, Newbury and Hinckley & Rugby Building Society reduce rates or launch new products.  In the current climates, you should not be scared to deal with a lender who is not a readily known household name.  As many lenders fight for customers in a tight market, we are seeing some of the smaller lenders offering market leading rates to build up their portfolio and attract new business. 

Of course, this is the beauty of using a mortgage broker.  They will have access to many lenders that you have probably never heard of and products that are not usually visible to the public eye.  On average, a good mortgage broker will have access to over 3,000 mortgage products, from a huge number of lenders.   As with everything you purchase, it’s always worth shopping around as although you might think you have a great deal with your current provider, there may be better products out there that you are missing out on.

This also goes for the Solicitors where they are needed to act for both yourself and the lender in a mortgage transaction.   Remember that on some re-mortgage products the lender will cover the cost of standard legal work and valuations.  But for all other requirements there are a huge number of legal firms in both local and more regional areas.  Prices vary from company to company and you can decide exactly who to deal with (assuming they are acceptable to the mortgage lender).  Shop around before committing and as with everything, make sure you read the small print!

Positive news as First Time Buyer loans increased in 2012 by 11%, for those with deposits of less than 15%, according to Mortgage Monitor from esurv.  This amounted to just fewer than 64,000, compared to 58,000 in 2011 but still a way off the 179,000 in 2007! 

Finally, Castle Trust suggests that the average homebuyer now provides a deposit of £26,500 and this equates to an average of 20% of the property value across the country.  In comparison, those in London need nearer £73k as a deposit.