Avant Money launches a new mortgage today from < 2%

Yes, it seems best to switch to Avant.

Your best rate with AIB at 52% is 2.45% so you save 0.5% a year by switching to Avant for the same term

0.5% of €194k is €1,000 , so you will recover the legal costs in the first year.

Even if you get it down to 50% with AIB, there would still be a gap of 0.4% or €800 a year.

Brendan
 
Apologies if this is covered elsewhere on the thread but does Avantcard allow any overpayment in their fixed terms?
 
Are AIB the only lender to respond to the introduction of Avant to the market?
 
Have you seen this documented somewhere or been advised by one of their brokers?

Yes, it is on the "Avant Money Broker Application Declaration, Authorisation and Consent Form" I received from the broker:

There is also no redemption fee, if you are on a fixed rate of interest and your early repayments annually (i.e. payment(s) over and above the scheduled monthly instalments in any 12-month period) do not exceed 1% of the total loan(s) drawndown.
 
Just an update regarding Avantmoney I live in the Northwest of the country, not in Dublin or Cork, but in an area where there is very high demand for houses and the price of houses has not fallen but has consistently gone up in the last 10 years. I contacted Deirdre a lovely broker in Park Financial and we had a conversation about me switching our mortgage to Avantmoney all of which was really positive in terms of my eligibility until just at the end of the call she said “ I presume you live in Dublin”. When I said no, she said Avantmoney will only give mortgages to people living in areas where there is a high demand for houses in their words. She said she would enquire as to my address being covered but I knew by the tone of her voice it was likely a no go. The next day she rang me back and sure enough Avantmoney said no. So disappointed as I know I’m a fairly solid bet ( reluctant to say that as you just never know what life holds) and I’ve switched before and intend continuing to do so in order to take advantage of better rates as often as I can. If things change in this regard in terms of location restriction would other people mind posting here so I know to try again.
 
Other than pumba, is there any more detail/evidence of Avant's policy regarding the location of houses?
 
Other than pumba, is there any more detail/evidence of Avant's policy regarding the location of houses?
...same info in the papers, but can't see anything about it on the Avant site.
 
Switching mortgage here and just got approval in principle from Avant.

My age is an issue with most lenders because I'm 10 years and 8 months shy of mandatory retirement age (70 on my contract) and 70 is the maximum age by which they insist the balance be paid off.

Avant say (through my broker) that they will not do a mortgage for any term that isn't in whole years. In other words, despite being almost 11 years away from the maximum, they won't give me a mortgage for more than 10 years. It seems completely arbitrary, not to mention foolish: a longer term lowers my monthly payments slightly and also earns them more money.

Anyone else heard this from Avant (or from any other lender, for that matter)?
 
Strange. At the time Avant Money made their big announcement, we were approved in principle with Ulster Bank at 2.6% on a 7-year fixed and they were willing to go 10 years, 6 months.

I'm really wondering what could possibly be the rationale for such a policy....
 
Think most of the banks will only lend for a whole number of years, it's daft I know.
 
Hi all.
I spoke to a broker in Dodl about switching to Avant. He too confirmed Avants policy about only lending in urban areas such as Dublin, Cork, Galway etc... He said he can't see their policy changing in the next 12 months. This seems crazy as the are losing out on good business and limiting their market. They certainly didn't state these terms when entering the market..
 
It isn’t really.

If you’re going to lend at 1.95% into a market where it’s nigh on impossible to enforce security, it’s logical to try and manage other risks such as the size and liquidity of the relevant housing market.

People from the back of beyond never seem to want to accept this, but houses outside of the main urban centres just aren’t as desirable from a lending perspective; typically harder to value and typically harder to sell.
 
And when they reopen, take a trip to the Registrar's court in Kerry or Donegal and see how hard it is for a lender to get an order for possession.

And when they get an order, see how long it takes for them to get the sheriff to enforce the order.

Brendan