Holidays Could Be Grim for Unaware Homeowners Facing End of Fixed Rate Mortgage
For some time, experts have been shouting to the rooftops concerning the need to consider a remortgage, but not everyone has heard the warning or reacted. At the end of a mortgage term, a homeowner has the option to remortgage and if they pass on the opportunity they are moved to the lender’s standard variable rate (SVR). It is considered risky and is more expensive to be moved to a SVR and should be avoided to save money. A remortgage will likely be attached to a lower interest rate and of course, there is also the option of securing another fixed rate to shield against further rate hikes.
There are hundreds of thousands of homeowners that will have their fixed rate mortgage come to an end during the holiday season. Those unaware of the change in their interest rate if they miss out on a remortgage are likely to face financial shock. It certainly could be a difficult start to the New Year as they rush to remortgage to seek a lower interest rate from a SVR.
There are of course some homeowners aware of the need to shop for a remortgage but have yet to start the process, believing they must wait until their term expires. However, most homeowners could secure a remortgage up to six months prior to the end of the term and stay at their lower rate. The remortgage would take effect seamlessly at the end of their previous term.
The process of shopping for a remortgage could be a mystery to some homeowners and the stress of it causing them to put it off. There is no reason to let the days pass with stress when peace of mind could easily be found in a matter of minutes.
Remortgage shopping can be done online making the experience quick and easy. Since it’s done online, the ability to gather remortgage quotes to review and compare can be done any day and at any time.
Shopping through the website of a remortgage broker could put numerous quotes from a variety of lenders in hand and they might offer exclusive deals from lenders not offered directly to borrowers. Homeowners could also go website to website of remortgage lenders to gather quotes.
It would be unfortunate for a homeowner to put off remortgage shopping, especially right now. Due to the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voting to keep the standard base interest rate steady last week there is plenty of time to secure the current offerings before the next MPC meeting in November. Also, the confidence in the possibility of inflation lowering without another rate hike has helped relax the tensions of lenders.
A competitive mode resides in the lending market which means lower interest rate offers than previously available only weeks ago. Shopping now could reveal a rate lower than weeks ago and better than what could evolve in the months ahead.
Rather than put the holiday joy at risk due to financial strains, shopping for a remortgage now could provide a strategic plan to keep the holidays happy and bright while saving money.