@Kfox92 Your break fee should be zero at the moment – but it is volatile because wholesale interest rates are volatile, so confirm it with Bank of Ireland. If it is higher than zero, please post it here when you receive it, including the date of the letter.Current lender: Bank of Ireland
Outstanding mortgage balance: 189k
Approximate value of your property: 260k
The date you started your fixed-rate mortgage: October 2020
How many years you fixed for: 5 (To October 2025)
Your current mortgage interest rate: 3%
Your current monthly repayment: 750 approx
Your property's BER: C2
Are you due to get extra cashback from your current lender in the future: 2k in October 2025
- Switching immediately to Permanent TSB's 4-year fixed rate (2.05% with 2% monthly cashback) will save you about €3,780 over the next 4 years
- Note that Permanent TSB discriminate between new and existing customers, i.e., their best rates are not available to existing customers
- For example, if you were an existing Permanent TSB customer, the best rate you would be able to switch to today is 3.0%
- So if you switch to them now, you will not be eligible to switch to one of their low rates in the future and you will end up on a higher interest rate. When that happens, you may want to switch again to another lender, which will incur costs (and it might be impossible to switch if your financial situation has deteriorated).
- Switching immediately to Avant Money's 4-year fixed rate (2.05% with no cashback) will save you about €3,360 over the next 4 years
- You would have to shorten your mortgage term to 30 years to be eligible for this rate
- The monthly repayment would be €703
- Switching immediately to AIB's 5-year fixed rate (2.45% with €2,000 cashback) will save you about €2,480 over the next 4 years
- Switching immediately to Avant Money's 5-year fixed rate (2.25% with no cashback) will save you about €1,900 over the next 4 years
- You would have to shorten your mortgage term to 30 years to be eligible for this rate
- The monthly repayment would be €722
- Switching immediately to Avant Money's 7-year fixed rate (2.35% with no cashback) will save you about €1,160 over the next 4 years – but with the longer security of 7 years on a fixed rate
- You would have to shorten your mortgage term to 30 years to be eligible for this rate
- The monthly repayment would be €732
- If Avant won't let you switch to them and you really want to fix for 7 years for some reason, you could consider Haven's 7-year fixed rate (2.65% with €2,000 cashback)
- Switching immediately to Avant Money's 10-year fixed rate (2.5% with no cashback) will save you about €60 over the next 4 years – but with the longer security of 10 years on a fixed rate
- You would have to shorten your mortgage term to 30 years to be eligible for this rate
- The monthly repayment would be €747
- If Avant won't let you switch to them and you really want to fix for 10 years for some reason, you could consider Haven's 10-year fixed rate (2.85% with €2,000 cashback)
- Re-fixing immediately on Bank of Ireland's 5-year fixed rate (3.0% and you would get the 1% (€2,000) cashback) will leave you worse off by about €140 over the next 4 years, but it will "reset the clock" on the fixed-rate period. And it is very simple and quick to do (no bank statements, salary cert or solicitor, etc., needed).
- Switching immediately to Avant Money's "One Mortgage" (a 2.65% fixed rate with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €1,040 over the next 4 years – and the interest rate will remain fixed for the remainder of your mortgage term
- You would have to shorten your mortgage term to 30 years to be eligible for this rate
- The monthly repayment would be €762
- Switching immediately to Bank of Ireland's 10-year fixed rate (3.3% and you would get the 1% (€2,000) cashback) will leave you worse off by about €2,520 over the next 4 years – but with the longer security of 10 years on a fixed rate. And it is very simple and quick to do (no bank statements, salary cert or solicitor, etc., needed).
- Switching immediately to Finance Ireland's 10- or 15-year fixed rate (3.05% with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €4,000 over the next 4 years – but with the longer security of 10 or 15 years on a fixed rate
- This product has a benefit in relation to moving home in the future that is explained below
- And your interest rate (initially 3.05%) will fall to 2.9% in 7 years and 4 months when you move into a lower loan-to-value bracket (or sooner if you make overpayments or your property increases in value and you get an updated valuation). See the section "How we decide rate reductions" on this page.
- Switching immediately to Finance Ireland's 20-year fixed rate (3.15% with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €4,740 over the next 4 years – but with the longer security of 20 years on a fixed rate
- This product has a benefit in relation to moving home in the future that is explained below
- And your interest rate (initially 3.15%) will fall to 3.0% in 7 years and 6 months when you move into a lower loan-to-value bracket (or sooner if you make overpayments or your property increases in value and you get an updated valuation). See the section "How we decide rate reductions" on this page.
- Switching immediately to Finance Ireland's 25-year fixed rate (3.3% with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €5,860 over the next 4 years – but with the longer security of 25 years on a fixed rate
- This product has a benefit in relation to moving home in the future that is explained below
- And your interest rate (initially 3.3%) will fall to 3.15% in 7 years and 7 months when you move into a lower loan-to-value bracket (or sooner if you make overpayments or your property increases in value and you get an updated valuation). See the section "How we decide rate reductions" on this page.
These savings estimates use for comparison the scenario of switching to the 2.9% rate with Bank of Ireland when the current fixed rate ends. And that's assuming that Bank of Ireland are even offering a 2.9% rate in October 2025 – it could be higher (or lower). You would get the Bank of Ireland €2,000 future cashback in such a scenario, and the savings estimates account for this. The estimates also account for any fees (solicitors' fees, valuation fee) that you have to pay and any cashback offered by the above lenders.
You should call Bank of Ireland and tell them that you are planning to switch to another lender. Ask them what interest rates they will offer you to break and re-fix with them. Please post a summary of their response here.
All of Avant's rates, and Finance Ireland's 10-year and longer fixed rates, allow you to avoid any potential break fee if you move home in the future (as long as you take out a new mortgage with them, and subject to certain conditions). And in the case of Finance Ireland you can "take your mortgage with you" – meaning that you get to keep the same interest rate when you move (again, subject to certain conditions).
The estimates also assume that you get your loan-to-value ratio (LTV) below 70% so that you are eligible for the Avant and Finance Ireland rates listed above. Your LTV is currently 189.0k/260.0k = 72.7%. A higher property valuation (€270k) and/or a few more monthly mortgage payments and/or a lump sum overpayment will get you below 70%. But that is not a reason to delay the switch – i.e., you can start the switch immediately. (Note: you are already eligible, in LTV terms, for the above Permanent TSB, Haven and AIB rates – and Finance Ireland will automatically move you on to the <70% LTV rate (shown above) in a couple of years even if you switch to them with an LTV of 72%.)
Bear in mind that interest rates could rise between now and the time that you complete any switch, so if you are thinking of switching you should apply simultaneously to two or more lenders for approval in principle (AIP).
More or less. But notice how Avant and AIB will save you nearly as much as PTSB over the next 4 years – and Avant's and AIB don't discriminate between new and existing customers. If you go to PTSB, they will not allow you to have their "new business only" rates in 4 years' time.Is this a simple equation of willing to front up ~2k today to get ~2k greater equity in the home by Oct '25 and basically getting an extension of a fixed rate for around 9 months?
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