# fixed rate mortage time is up. What next?



## positivenote (12 Mar 2008)

Hi guys, we have been on a fixed rate mortage of approx 3.85% since april 06. We fixed for 2 years with permo on a 30yr loan of 352K. can anyone advise us what the next step is when our two years are up? do we stay with permo and accept whatever rate they put us on or are we meant to use a brocker to look around to see if we can switch? are the average rates gonne way abouve this at the moment, being fixed we didnt really keep an eye on the rates flucuating...
thanks for the advice in advance


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## LDFerguson (13 Mar 2008)

You will get options from PTSB on what rates they are offering you. You should certainly compare them with rates available elsewhere. Have a look at the Best Buys to get an idea of rates that are available around now.

With the ECB base rate now 4% and the lender's margin added to this, you're certainly going to see an increase.


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## irishlinks (13 Mar 2008)

You will have paid off about 12k capital during the 2 years - so your outstanding mortgage will be approx 339K . 
If you do nothing - PTSB will probably put you on their "standard" variable rate of 5.44 . They have a tracker rate of 5.25 (ECB plus 1.25) - in the short term ask to get put on that while you shop around for better rates.
You could get a rate of 5.05% from Bank of Scotland or 5.1% from AIb IIb or EBS
5.15 from First Active. If you mention moving PTSB might give you a better rate - worth a try.
Halifax have a discount offer of 4.55 for 1 yr then 5.1% (ecb plus  1.1) after that.
You will have legal and valuation fees if you move  - some lenders will pay towards these. Halifax give 1000 towards legals and refund the valuation if you switch.

If the value of your house is more than 425k (i.e your LTV is less than 80%) as per the best buys - you will get the best tracker rate from NIB on their "LTV Mortgage"


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## positivenote (13 Mar 2008)

thanks for that very thorough advice. having paid into the mortage for two years will i see much of an increase on our monthly repayment of approx 1647euro? as we may have to change our diect debits etc...


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## LDFerguson (13 Mar 2008)

Taking the example of a 5.1% rate from irishlinks post above, your repayment will increase to around €1,910 per month before tax relief.  You shouldn't have to adjust a Direct Debit - they're generally variable and the repayments can be adjusted by the lender.


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## danFTB (13 Mar 2008)

irishlinks said:


> You will have paid off about 12k capital during the 2 years - so your outstanding mortgage will be approx 339K .
> If you do nothing - PTSB will probably put you on their "standard" variable rate of 5.44 . They have a tracker rate of 5.25 (ECB plus 1.25) - in the short term ask to get put on that while you shop around for better rates.
> You could get a rate of 5.05% from Bank of Scotland or 5.1% from AIb IIb or EBS
> 5.15 from First Active. If you mention moving PTSB might give you a better rate - worth a try.
> ...


 
What if the LTV > 100%?
ie. House price has dropped then OP is staying put surely as no other lender is going to give >100% loan
Also do PTSB have higher rates for specific cases like this?


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## Satanta (13 Mar 2008)

danFTB said:


> What if the LTV > 100%?
> ie. House price has dropped then OP is staying put surely as no other lender is going to give >100% loan
> Also do PTSB have higher rates for specific cases like this?


I'm not 100%, but I'd assume that the fixed rate Ts & Cs have a default where on completion the rate returns to the PTSB Standard Variable rate. 

While negative equity might mean the OP is stuck with this rate for the short term, I don't believe they would be able to transfer the OP to a higher (well, higher than the standard variable... obviously not the original fixed rate) rate.


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## contractor (13 Mar 2008)

irishlinks said:


> If you mention moving PTSB might give you a better rate - worth a try.



Definitely give this a try.  I did this with BOI and they matched the lower rate.


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