Avant Money launches a new mortgage today from < 2%

Hi Deeks

Agreed. They should be more honest, open and transparent in the same way all the other Irish lenders are.

Brendan

I sent out a press release this afternoon.

Fair Mortgage Rates Campaign welcomes the launch of Avant Mortgages



We have been campaigning for some years to highlight the very high mortgage rates paid by Irish mortgage holders so we welcome the launch of a rate of 1.95% today by Avant Mortgages

Summary of Avant Mortgages



Brendan Burgess said today that Avant has by far the lowest rate for people borrowing less than 60% of their Loan to Value. They are have the lowest rates for those who wants to fix for 7 years.

Some people argue that a difference of only .3% between Avant and the next cheapest is not that significant. As it’s a saving every year, then it’s very significant.

A rate of 1.95% over 7 years is a very low rate and borrowers should give serious consideration to it.

And it must be remembered that there are probably around 100,000 customers between Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank and permanent tsb who are paying rates of 4% and more. With the increases in the value of properties over the last few years, many of these have substantial equity in their home and could halve their mortgage rate by switching.

For example, a Bank of Ireland customer with a mortgage of €200k on a property worth €400k, could save about €5,000 a year by switching to Avant. Or put it another way, the savings would pay the legal costs within 2 months of switching.

It’s not such great news for First Time Buyers who typically borrow up to 90% of the value of their home. The rates from other lenders, especially combined with cash backs, make this rate less competitive.

Brendan Burgess




Comparison tables below





This makes Avant significantly cheaper than all the other lenders for those borrowers with a LTV of less than 60%

Best Buys under 60% LTV



Not such good news for First Time Buyers

For the typical FTB who would be borrowing up to 90% of the value of their home, Ulster Bank is clearly better value with a slightly lower rate and a contribution of €1,500 towards legal fees.

Best buys 80% to 90% LTV







But Avant does have the lowest long term fixed rates

A First Time Buyer who needs 90% Loan to Value can fix for 7 years with Avant at 2.65%

A comparison of longer term fixed rates

Blackrock1 said:

its not a no brainer, if there is no ability to overpay and no switching inducement (so you have legal fees) then you need to make sure the numbers work for you.

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Agreed, I don't think it is game changing but it is certainly competitive. It is only the 7 year fixed that they stand out on

UB's 5yr high value mortgage and KBCs 3 year fixed are better offerings as they allow 10% overpayment plus switching costs. This gives homeowners far more flexibility. You can choose a longer term to reduce the monthly payment to protect against changes in employment status etc but proactively overpay when all is going to plan. Without the overpayment option, you would need to choose a much shorter term length and accept the risk of meeting that larger monthly payment.

_OkGo_ said:

UB's 5yr high value mortgage and KBCs 3 year fixed are better offerings as they allow 10% overpayment plus switching costs

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UB's 5yr high value mortgage has a €300k minimum, with €1,500 cash back.

The Avant rate is 0.25% lower (with a max LTV of 60%) so you would save €3,750 in interest payments over the UB option on a €300k mortgage over the 5-year period.

If you really want the flexibility to make payments ahead of schedule without the possibility of break fees, you could always take 10% of your mortgage at a 2.5% variable rate, which you could overpay as you see fit. That would still work out as a materially better deal than UB's 5yr high value mortgage offering.

Brendan's conclusion is bang on - Avant is significantly cheaper than all other lenders for borrowers with an LTV of less than 60%.

Nothing to add but plenty to thank. Been following this thread all day and it's been certainly very helpful and informative. Thanks all

I think I'd be leaning towards their 3 year fix.

If no (free) overpayment is allowed, maybe put a small bit on their variable.

You bag the lowest rate in the market.

You can over pay a bit (the variable without charges).

And then you Hope that more competition will arrive within 3 years. And that rates don't go against you.

If you want to overpay more than the part on variable, you only have to wait 3 years.

Their website says through brokers only. How much does the broker get paid?

SPC100 said:

How much does the broker get paid?

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I don't know but it's a good question.

I wonder would any of them do a split fee with you?

Brendan

Some people are never happy.

These guys are making a splash.

Yet there are people who want to nitpick.

These rates are gamechanging.

I contacted a broker today, they charge a flat fee of €295.

Gordon Gekko said:

Some people are never happy.

These guys are making a splash.

Yet there are people who want to nitpick.

These rates are gamechanging.

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I agree. I welcome you and thank you Avant. Welcome at mine for an outdoor cup of tea anytime.

“But they won’t give me cashback”

“But they don’t contribute to the cost of my legal fees”

“Can I get a cut of the money paid to the broker?”

A provider has introduced a product priced with a ‘1’ in front of it. And lots of products in the lows ‘2s’. And variable rates in the mid-2s.

This is a great day for Irish mortgage holders.

No.
no.
maybe?

Market leading low rates! Competition is great.

I think the commission one is an interesting question.

SPC100 said:

No.
no.
maybe?

Market leading low rates! Competition is great.

I think the commission one is an interesting question.

Click to expand...

Probably cheaper to pay commissions than to employ a sales team.

Wikywoo said:

I contacted a broker today, they charge a flat fee of €295.

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Huh??

Surely the broker gets paid commission? Isn't it 0.5% or 1%?

I have never heard of mortgage brokers charging fees?

They usually charge a fee and then refund it on successful drawdown

Sarenco said:

The Avant rate is 0.25% lower (with a max LTV of 60%) so you would save €3,750 in interest payments over the UB option on a €300k mortgage over the 5-year period.

If you really want the flexibility to make payments ahead of schedule without the possibility of break fees, you could always take 10% of your mortgage at a 2.5% variable rate, which you could overpay as you see fit. That would still work out as a materially better deal than UB's 5yr high value mortgage offering.

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Yes I agree that in your example it works out better by ~€2250 over the 5 years but my point was more that consumers should run their own numbers to choose the best option. If you believe that you can overpay by €5-10k per year with UB, it would work out cheaper than saving that €25-50k lump sum and paying at the end of the Avant 5 year. These are both good options but consumers shouldn't just look at the headline %interest figure but plan their repayment schedule.

Gordon Gekko said:

Yet there are people who want to nitpick.

Click to expand...

Gordon Gekko said:

“But they won’t give me cashback”

“But they don’t contribute to the cost of my legal fees”

“Can I get a cut of the money paid to the broker?”

Click to expand...

Is nitpicking not the point of this forum? And just like the mortgage providers have a responsibility to publish the APRC, consumers should calculate their own effective interest rate over the fixed period that includes the switching cashback to accurately compare products. There is no difference between a %int reduction or a cashback offer, they are both savings for the consumer so you need to work out which one is better value

Avant will be competitive at 3/5 years but they are leading at 7 years so overall they are good for the market, hopefully pushing others to drop a little further too

_OkGo_ said:

If you believe that you can overpay by €5-10k per year with UB, it would work out cheaper than saving that €25-50k lump sum and paying at the end of the Avant 5 year

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If you believe you can overpay by €10k per annum over the five year period, you could always take €50k of the Avant mortgage at a variable rate of 2.5%, which you can pay down as you see fit with no potential break fees.

That would still work out materially better (~€2k saving) than the UB option on a €300k mortgage.

Again you are correct in that instance but the difference is smaller (~€1k) when principal write down is included. However, we don't know that Avant are offering a split rate with that SVR? I stand to be corrected but I haven't seen any split or variable products offered on the website so it may not be possible to take 50k on an SVR. They have only advertised follow on rates that may or may not not change in 3/5/7 years time.

Admittedly I haven't spoken to a broker yet but it would be interesting for anyone who has to add some of the T&C's around this kind of split and if they are willing to do this at the 2.5% follow on rate