How do I remortgage my property ?

People may want to remortgage their property for a variety of reasons, Better interest rate, Borrow more money for home improvements or to consolidate existing credit commitments. If you are unsure of what a remortgage actually is, click this link for an explanation http://www.learnmoney.co.uk/mortgages/remortgage.html

If you are looking at just simply finding the best interest rate then approaching your existing lender is probably the best place to start.

If say for example your fixed rate has just ended and you want to fix the rate again for a period of time the lender will take into consideration the value of your house and the outstanding mortgage and generally offer you another rate as long as your mortgage account has been conducted satisfactorily and your income is still sufficient to service the mortgage.

You will then be offered a rate dependent on the loan to value.

What loan to value means is what percentage is the mortgage outstanding to the value of the property.

IE £150,000 mortgage and a £200,000 Property value would represent 75% loan to value.

The loan to value is quite important as this will determine the rate and product a lender would offer.

Dependent what lender you are currently with simply switching interest rate can either be time consuming or simple.

Lenders like the Halifax plc allow mortgage brokers to arrange the switch and this can be done very simply without having to have a 2/3 hour appointment in the branch.

However you may want to borrow more money than you currently have outstanding , so what happens then ?

This is the point when the services of a professional mortgage broker will assist you greatly in the process.

A mortgage broker like myself will be able to look at what your existing lender will offer you and what is also available from the rest of the market.

All lenders have varying criteria for additional borrowing depending on what that additional borrowing is for.

If it is more advantageous to switch lenders the mortgage broker will look at what are the best interest rates, what charges and costs are involved.

Lenders now offer incentives for people to switch their mortgage to them and in many cases can offer better rates than your existing lender.

So whatever your circumstances speaking to a trusted mortgage broker who is independent to your existing lender should be the first place to start because they will be able to look at the full mortgage range and match the correct product/lender to your personal circumstances.

Remember a mortgage is a long term commitment and by taking the correct advice when there are changes to the mortgage could save you £1000’s of pounds in unnecessary interest payments.