# Sticky  Independant Mortgage And Financial Advisers



## david g

For those of you who dont know my day job involves being an IFA and Mortgage Broker.I have been asked by the mods to provide some info on our services .

Our main forte is Mortgages ,whether it be Remortgaging,Pucrhasing or Buy To Let we can offer a wide range of products and advice to all DW members,with some prefferential products available .We are independant and have the ability to research the whole market place on your behalf 

Over the next few weeks the mortgage market may well be of interest to most of the members on here ,so feel free to drop me a pm or call us on 0141 221 2112 for any advice you may require 

ADK 0141 221 2112


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## Dipesh

Didn't know that David, My dad does the same thing!


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## Brazo

David sorted my last mortgage out 18mths ago and did a great job:Thumb:

Not sure he will get quite the same deal next time around though:lol:


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## david g

U wanna bet


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## S63

After the past few weeks of financial doom, gloom, panic, I have nothing concerning those with an interest only mortgage, would I be right in thinking many endowment policies are going to be seriously affected?

Any free info David?


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## APK

Like David, I am also an independent mortgage broker, and although times are tough at the moment, there are still some good deals out there, don't beleive what you keep hearing on the news. On Thursday I think it was they had an interview with a first time buyer who had a 25% deposit, and wanted to borrow 3 times his income, but claimed he could not get a mortgage, this is absolute rubbish, nearly any lender would jump at this, if he could not get a mortgage there must be more to it, unfortunately people see this, and think it is gospel, and so do not try to remortgage/buy. For the last year the tone of tv programs has changed from "buy property, you can't lose" to "prices will/are plunging, its a mugs game!" 

S500 yes most endowments will have been hit hard, but the damage has been done, if you cah in now, they will not be worth as much, also depending on the type of policy you may have what is known as a "market value adjustment" reducing the value even further from the statement value. Any contributions you are now making will obviously be buying units at massively reduced prices, so as the market improves, the recent units will provide a good return.


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## shani

If anyone is looking for an IFA then they could look on www.unbiased.co.uk.

I work as a Trainee Actuarial Consultant in a pensions consultancy and this is the site we suggest if someone wishes to find a local IFA.


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## Crockers

APK said:


> S500 yes most endowments will have been hit hard, but the damage has been done, if you cah in now, they will not be worth as much, also depending on the type of policy you may have what is known as a "market value adjustment" reducing the value even further from the statement value. Any contributions you are now making will obviously be buying units at massively reduced prices, so as the market improves, the recent units will provide a good return.


Think you are talking about two different products in one paragraph - UL & WP..

My Friends Provident WP endowment had one year to run in February 08 - I cashed it in - worked out the to save the last year's premiums, save one years interest on the sum from the mortgage was better than hoping that bonuses would improve - events have proven I made £3000+ doing this as FP have reduced bonuses again......in fact if I had paid in the one years extra premiums I would have received less money this year....


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## Mirror Finish Details

As we sold the house in 2007, and rented, best thing we did we now have a 60% deposit on our new house that has been reduced by £50k, by the bank as it was repossed. Got a flexi mortgage with Virgin One. Now buying, get this, our old house. Canny or what??


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## parish

Crockers said:


> Think you are talking about two different products in one paragraph - UL & WP..
> 
> My Friends Provident WP endowment had one year to run in February 08 - I cashed it in - worked out the to save the last year's premiums, save one years interest on the sum from the mortgage was better than hoping that bonuses would improve - events have proven I made £3000+ doing this as FP have reduced bonuses again......in fact if I had paid in the one years extra premiums I would have received less money this year....


I was wondering just last weekend about the wisdom of doing this given that a the moment the value of the fund is almost certainly falling despite still paying into it (my pension fund fell by several times what was paid into it last year  )



APK said:


> S500 yes most endowments will have been hit hard, but the damage has been done, if you cah in now, they will not be worth as much, also depending on the type of policy you may have what is known as a "market value adjustment" reducing the value even further from the statement value. Any contributions you are now making will obviously be buying units at massively reduced prices, so as the market improves, the recent units will provide a good return.


APK, you wrote that in Oct last year - does it still hold true? While I can see the point about recent units providing a good return, the thing is how long before that happens.

I've got two endowments worth (in theory ) £~30k that mature in 2011 so unless this recession ends quickly i doubt that there will be time to recover the losses so, as Crockers did, taking the hit on the surrender value, paying a chunk off the mortgage capital, and using the savings on the premiums (over £100 per month in my case) to overpay on the mortgage may well work out to my advantage given the short period the policies have to run.

Would you, or Dave G, care to comment (I appreciate that you can only generalize without having all the details of the specific policies)?


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## 1animal1

just to stick my 'ore' in here (unsure if this has been said already and sorry if it has), the with-profits endowment will not always be low just because we are having a low spell now, they employ an MVR/MVA to keep people in the fund (as most know) so that they can maintain the smoothing approach which smooths out the returns over the plans lifetime. Furthermore the main emphasis is on the final bonus (again as most know) and this is virtually impossible to predict before the plans end (hence why there are so many firms offering to purchase them).....most WP plans will have a very different final bonus, ie if you took your plan out in say Feb 1988, then someone taking the same plan in March 1988 will most likely not have the same final Bonus (it could be light years difference depending on which company your with).

All of this doesnt make your task easier, with-profits arent liked because of their lack of transparency, where one fund like Pru has given great final bonus's (easier to manipulate), you will notice it gives lower regular bonus's (cannot be withdrawn once applied)in general to compensate when compared against other funds, there are several ways of looking at this and various investment houses will document and plot their approach, neither being definitively correct.

end result - your call, i just would base any decision considering all the facts rather than just the current market conds and predicted values personally

to answer a query above UL and WP or to throw a curve ball....a unit linked with profit which most (maybe all) are nowadays

hope this helps but like i said, if its been said already i apologise


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## Crockers

I think many people do not understand what With Profits is. It is not an asset allocation but a smoothing mechanism. Take 2 Companies for example - Prudential and say Scottish Mutual....(now owned by Abbey / Santander). If you have your money in the Pru you have an actively managed asset allocation - whereas if you are in the Scot Mut you are now holding primarily Fixed Interest. It is imperative you understand where the company you invest with is allocating before you make any decisions. A good IFA will be able to give you this advice.

But remember no two companies are the same - even though they go under the banner with profits.


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## 1animal1

ah, they are all asset allocation funds internally, they simply smooth the returns so that you dont get 20% one year and -10% another by keeping returns back and issuing regular/final bonus's.... theres a few degrees of management so in effect its like any other fund but the returns that the consumer sees are dictated by the fund manager/committee/board. Scot mut may be fixed interests but these need active management otherwise the fund would slowly move across into cash when the FI's come to an end, with fixed interests the value lifts and falls depending on a number of factors (which i wont bore you with).... 

with regards to new invests, an IFA can only go on basic info such as agency ratings, fund strength and quartile/decile performance amongst a few other things.... there are several x-ray tools on the market but nothing conclusive.... still better than an average person could do though - picking funds is a hard thing to do as your calling markets/assets etc, with profits throws in several other pawns which is why most IFA's hate them

hope this helps


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## APK

Parish,

If you only have 2 years to run, I would suggest contacting the provider (the insurance company, not the seller) and ask them what final bonus's similar funds are producing at the moment, unfortunately WP funds being so "non transparent" in terms of values are difficult to give advice on, but generally if the are producing decent bonus's now you could reasonably assume a similar bonus in 2 years time, if you surrender now, you will lose this bonus, so take this into account when deciding what to do.


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## Crockers

1animal1 said:


> ah, they are all asset allocation funds internally, they simply smooth the returns so that you dont get 20% one year and -10% another by keeping returns back and issuing regular/final bonus's.... theres a few degrees of management so in effect its like any other fund but the returns that the consumer sees are dictated by the fund manager/committee/board. Scot mut may be fixed interests but these need active management otherwise the fund would slowly move across into cash when the FI's come to an end, with fixed interests the value lifts and falls depending on a number of factors (which i wont bore you with)....
> 
> with regards to new invests, an IFA can only go on basic info such as agency ratings, fund strength and quartile/decile performance amongst a few other things.... there are several x-ray tools on the market but nothing conclusive.... still better than an average person could do though - picking funds is a hard thing to do as your calling markets/assets etc, with profits throws in several other pawns which is why most IFA's hate them
> 
> hope this helps


I think you missed what I was trying to say - it is imperative that the IFA knows what the asset allocation of each WP fund is - so that he can make call on asset allocation regarding the whole portfolio.

Agency ratings are pretty feeble criteria to use for decision making - look how they have got so much wrong recently - AND wft is their motive when .they ask the company to pay for its own rating....madness. Past performance is no guide to future performance. If any IFA uses these two criteria for their judgement - they are waiting to be hung out to dry.

He has to first match the asset allocation required to meet a set objective married to the clients attitude to risk. Most IFAs have no idea ...so it is imperative that the investor uses one who specialises in this field.


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## wstrain87

I have been doing valeting part time for a car salesman on a part-time basis. A few months ago, he approached me regarding the possibility of working for him full-time, not just doing valeting, but doing a bit of everything really. I have decided after 3 months to take him up on his offer, but now he has put the ball in my court again regarding money. Basically he wants me to consider what money I would need to live on, etc. and he will try to put together a package to meet my needs. At present Im 21 and live at home with my parents, but in the next 1-2 years I want to move into my own place. Basically I would like to know what costs I need to consider when having my own place, so that I can decide how much money I will need. Does anyone know of a checklist I could go through, or is it really something I should go and speak to a Financial Advisor about?


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## 1animal1

Crockers said:


> I think you missed what I was trying to say - it is imperative that the IFA knows what the asset allocation of each WP fund is - so that he can make call on asset allocation regarding the whole portfolio.
> 
> Agency ratings are pretty feeble criteria to use for decision making - look how they have got so much wrong recently - AND wft is their motive when .they ask the company to pay for its own rating....madness. Past performance is no guide to future performance. If any IFA uses these two criteria for their judgement - they are waiting to be hung out to dry.
> 
> He has to first match the asset allocation required to meet a set objective married to the clients attitude to risk. Most IFAs have no idea ...so it is imperative that the investor uses one who specialises in this field.


apologies if i did miss your point....easy enough as can get quite complex depending on what your trying to acheive. With with-profits asset allocation isnt AS important as with normal funds and so the funds are chosen mainly via their strength given by both ratings agencies and the funds themselves, the advice isnt as clean as a normal transaction because you cannot wholly gauge how good a withprofit fund is.... you can gauge a normal fund but only to an extent of its history and future transactions.

I agree most agencies have gotten things wrong royally lately, unfortunately this is still one of the very few tools that an IFA can use to gauge what is suitable, this and various other things like capital stability etc etc, there are quite a few decent agencies out there AKG, S&P,OBSR to name just three, the art is using these and knowing how they rate the firms (this would be quite advanced for the average IFA)...... trouble with the IFA role is that they are advising on product suitability rather than future performance which is crystal ball stuff, this is why dicretionary management is more widely used now more than ever for larger funds

past performance is no guide....true....but its one of the only indicators they have.... obviously it wont form the sole reason to use a fund but if a fund has historically outperformed its peer group over say 5 years, how can you recommend a p**s poor 4th quartile fund over this??? you cant is the answer.... so to answer your comment, its a consideration amongst many others

The asset allocation IFA is someone that most will not have the funds to access, and then why would they when they could pay a Discretionary Asset Manager an extra 1% AMC..... id rather be using say williams de broe than my local highstreet IFA IF i had half mil sat in funds...

we're off topic now......


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## parish

APK said:


> Parish,
> 
> If you only have 2 years to run, I would suggest contacting the provider (the insurance company, not the seller) and ask them what final bonus's similar funds are producing at the moment, unfortunately WP funds being so "non transparent" in terms of values are difficult to give advice on, but generally if the are producing decent bonus's now you could reasonably assume a similar bonus in 2 years time, if you surrender now, you will lose this bonus, so take this into account when deciding what to do.


Thanks for that :thumb:

Thing is though that the value of the plan seems to be plumetting now.

It's with Scottish Widows and matures Jan 2011. The target is £26,100. We pay in £75 per month (some of which is Life Cover and Living Cover).

value at 22/10/2006 - £13,310
value at 21/10/2007 - £15,117
value at 11/03/2008 - £14,043 (dunno why they started sending statements in Mar. rather than Oct.)

God only knows what it's worth now. The one that matures next month (with Phoenix, originally with Sun Alliance) had a target of £21,000 and is paying out less than £16,000.

So from where I'm standing, we may as well stand in the middle of town every month and give £75 to some random person and given what's been said above by yourself and others how the hell can I possibly make any informed decision about this?


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## parish

@1animal1, Crockers, _et.al._ All the info you've posted is pretty incomprehensible to me which just goes to prove that the Low Cost Endowments that were all the rage in the '80s and early '90s were the worst thing people could have invested in and millions are now paying the price.

Of course, the FSA is worse than useless as they are working in the interests of the companies, not the customers. The policies were mis-sold and they don't cease to have been mis-sold just because some arbitrary period of time has passed since some arbitrary date.

I know it's a cliché but I'm a lot older and a lot wiser now and if I'd known then what I know now.....


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## 1animal1

Parish, hindsight is wonderful thing mate, obviously back then advice was given on the back of a postage stamp..... there are still things being sold today that will end up the 'endowment complaint ' of the future.....

also dont be fooled, the FSA seem to be working in the interests of the banks, stats i saw recently said that 97% of complaints came from bank advisers and 3% from IFA's... yet lots of whats planned works in the banks favour... good show!!

good luck with whatever you do with the endowment/s, isnt an easy decision


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## parish

1animal1 said:


> Parish, hindsight is wonderful thing mate, obviously back then advice was given on the back of a postage stamp.....


Exactly - there was no regulation. We were told that it would pay the mortgage off and the reason for the projected £14k cash surplus (on a £21k policy) was as a buffer against rates falling - we might not get all, or some, of the £14k, but the mortgage would be covered. And that's not just from memory, I have a sheet of notes here that we made at the time.



1animal1 said:


> there are still things being sold today that will end up the 'endowment complaint ' of the future.....


Doesn't surprise me as it's happened more than once before. Not only the endowments but personal pensions, critical illness cover......



1animal1 said:


> also dont be fooled, the FSA seem to be working in the interests of the banks, stats i saw recently said that 97% of complaints came from bank advisers and 3% from IFA's... yet lots of whats planned works in the banks favour... good show!!


I'm not fooled. The FSA certainly isn't acting in our - the customers' - interests. The other problem is that they are reactive rather than pro-active - very good at bolting stable doors fter the horse has bolted - which is why, as you say, there will be more of the same problems in the future.



1animal1 said:


> good luck with whatever you do with the endowment/s, isnt an easy decision


Well, I called my friend who arranged my mortgage. Turns out he's an IFA - should have realized that since he did my mortgage :wall: - and turns out that the policy that I detailed p) above is a Unit Trust thingy (Scottish Widows Managed Investment) not a WP. His advice was to stick with it as it will rise and fall on a daily basis with the markets so, provided things improve, it will recover quickly plus because we are now buying units at a lower price, so more units, it should recover and then some more whereas with a WP there is a lag due to the smoothing so 2 years is probably not long enough for it to recover.

He said pretty much what has been said above ^^ but explained it in a way I could understand.


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## 1animal1

yup sorry about that, very easy to go off on a tangent with the WP subject, its taken me years to fully understand, experience from seeing actively how WP funds are run etc....

As you've said if its a Unit trust it will be a more direct view of performance that you will get, so when its closer the time you will be able to plan your exit if times are particularly high.

all aside im glad you got it sorted


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## parish

1animal1 said:


> As you've said if its a Unit trust it will be a more direct view of performance that you will get, so when its closer the time you will be able to plan your exit if times are particularly high.
> 
> all aside im glad you got it sorted


I've found the fund on the FT website - http://funds.ft.com/funds/scottishwidows/exlloydstsbinsurance/BHMIN - am I correct in thinking that the grey line on the graph - Fund Compositie Benchmark - is the average performance of that type of fund and therefore the SW fund is performing above average?


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## 1animal1

in essence yes.... to be fair i normally use this site for its simplicity http://www.friendsprovident.co.uk/c...ageId=ifa/SitePageSimple:performancecharting# along with Citywire or Morningstar. I have had a quick look and cant seem to find your fund both under UT and OEIC guise, may be closed to new business?

It isnt clear what sector it is being benchmarked against - if i were you id look up the fund factsheet and check the quartile performance for now/historic to see what it has done over 1,3,5 and 10yrs as current benchmark figs are skewed on a lot of funds. Some funds went into banks before they 'went' belly up as an example, a few very good funds have been consumed this way and have gone from consistant performers to fallen hero's which isnt really indicative of their merits


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## Crockers

1animal1 said:


> apologies if i did miss your point....easy enough as can get quite complex depending on what your trying to acheive. With with-profits asset allocation isnt AS important as with normal funds and so the funds are chosen mainly via their strength given by both ratings agencies and the funds themselves, the advice isnt as clean as a normal transaction because you cannot wholly gauge how good a withprofit fund is.... you can gauge a normal fund but only to an extent of its history and future transactions.
> 
> .


Hi - yes we have drifted off subject ...what I was was meaning is ..lets say client has £100,000 to invest and has £50,000 in a WP fund. If that fund is Scot Mut for example then the client is holding 33% of his portfolio in FI - whereas if he has Pru for example he has a well balanced fund - but may be too high in equities...so IMHO knowing the asset allocation in ANY fund is crucial before an investment decision is made.


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## 1animal1

Crockers said:


> Hi - yes we have drifted off subject ...what I was was meaning is ..lets say client has £100,000 to invest and has £50,000 in a WP fund. If that fund is Scot Mut for example then the client is holding 33% of his portfolio in FI - whereas if he has Pru for example he has a well balanced fund - but may be too high in equities...so IMHO knowing the asset allocation in ANY fund is crucial before an investment decision is made.


I appreciate what ya saying fella, and agree to an extent on the wp part.... the asset split is not AS important when advising on withprofits because they are generally cautious/balanced funds internally.... there are limits as to what they can invest in just like any sector, this is no different hence why they are looked upon for their historic figures - your average IFA will not go trawling through the asset split, nor willl they check the make up of the fund beyond the fact sheet (top ten holdings) purely because the lack of transparency can send the fund in any direction. Just the way it is, if i was buying id do the same- on any other fund i would be checking weightings, alpha, beta's, sharps etc so wholly agree with you there


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## Crockers

1animal1 said:


> I appreciate what ya saying fella, and agree to an extent on the wp part.... the asset split is not AS important when advising on withprofits because they are generally cautious/balanced funds internally.... there are limits as to what they can invest in just like any sector, this is no different hence why they are looked upon for their historic figures - your average IFA will not go trawling through the asset split, nor willl they check the make up of the fund beyond the fact sheet (top ten holdings) purely because the lack of transparency can send the fund in any direction. Just the way it is, if i was buying id do the same- on any other fund i would be checking weightings, alpha, beta's, sharps etc so wholly agree with you there


Fair point ..but top 10 holdings within a WP fund is meaningless. The point I was trying to make is that many people think of WP the same as a managed / balanced fund ............but WP is *just* a mechanism - the actual investment can vary dramatically. You're right in not looking at alpha's and beta's in a WP fund as without knowing the full asset split you have no index against which you can measure it....mind you the sharp should be fantastic.. - pointless but fantastic..

I gather you're an IFA....if so you have a hard time at the moment and I wish you the best.:thumb:....


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## 1animal1

haha na im a broker now mate far safer, got fed up with the repetitive teaching aspect of the job, my attention span is tiny ..... where i am im dealing with corporate sales to IFA's. I have to ask.... as you seem very astute, you in the business?

regards to the above, yup i agree again but what i said about the top ten, i find that this is what the IFA's use, the ones that dont know how to differenciate the funds..... regardless my money wont be going into the 'chuff's'......


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## Crockers

Am now retired (took early retirement)- worked in fund management, training investment salesforces - designing investment products...negotiating with HMG
regarding tax issues with investments..

By Broker - do you mean broker sales?


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## 1animal1

yup exactly, ie working for insurance company pushing their invest,pension, protection business to IFA's - otherwise known as broker consultant...... when you say designing products what type were you doing structured?


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## Crockers

1animal1 said:


> yup exactly, ie working for insurance company pushing their invest,pension, protection business to IFA's - otherwise known as broker consultant...... when you say designing products what type were you doing structured?


PM sent


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## n80krr

is there any others on here that are feeling like it's time to sell up and rent? I'm 23 I live with my fiancee of 21 and we're finding it so difficult to pay all the bills we're now in and out of our overdraft. but now I'm starting to question whether buying our first house together was a good idea. Don't get me wrong I love my house but I could get something twice as big for almost half the price I'm paying for my mortgage. We're seriously looking at renting due to lots of reasons, but is there anything that should keep me paying my mortgage other than owning my own house?


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## JJ_

I'll be looking at mortgages in abou 3 months time glad I found this !!


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## s2kpaul

I'll be looking next week lol small world.


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## MR Ray

How much should I be look to knock off an asking price for a new build house directly from the construction company?


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## APK

MR Ray said:


> How much should I be look to knock off an asking price for a new build house directly from the construction company?


No set amount, look at what comparable "used" properties are selling for locally, and offer a little below them as youe first offer.

Use something like www.ourproperty.co.uk to find out what properties have actually sold for.


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## WopaDoBop

I have many questions, but to be honest, dont feel comfortable putting up figures/numbers for everyone too see. 

Anyone with abit of knowledge when it comes to these things feel kind enough to give me abit of an idiots guide/some advice.

I've done a fair bit of reading about interest rates/fixed vs tracker/arrangement fee's/LTV etc, but i'm when i'm left looking at 10 mortgage products i'm still not sure I fully understand/appreciate the differences/risks.


(I.E My own mortgage advisor has suggested one product (a tracker with northern rock), but with the interest baserate as it is, surely a tracker is a bad idea and I would be much better off going with a 2 year fixed deal? *Our situation will change dramitically in 2 years so will be looking to remortgage/move to a new property)


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## The Cueball

People can give you the run about with this that and the next thing....

I always go for a 2 year fixed deal... nice simple and if/when the rates start to rise, I will be protected for a time frame...

Just depends on how long that time frame is! 

I have too much going on in my life to worry about if the mortgage rates will be the same this month as the next.....just another reason for the fixed term...

I am looking into the possibility of a "double dip" at the moment - i.e. another market crash and further issues for the UK and EU economy....

I feel there are some uncertain times still ahead of us all....

:thumb:

Oh, and I am not a IFA, btw


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## WopaDoBop

My thoughts exactly, It doesnt seem sensible to go on a tracker when surely interest rates can only rise from this point (currenty base rate being 0.5%)?

As mentioned, my other factors for chosing the "fixed term" is the 2 year stability, I know exactly what i'm going to be paying for the next 2 years until our situation changes.

Although i'm informed enough to know what i'm looking at, i'm not aware enough to work out "which is the best deal" between a £267pm @ 3.09% fixed or £262pm @ 2.39%+BoE base traker for example.


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## APK

WopaDoBop said:


> My thoughts exactly, It doesnt seem sensible to go on a tracker when surely interest rates can only rise from this point (currenty base rate being 0.5%)?
> 
> As mentioned, my other factors for chosing the "fixed term" is the 2 year stability, I know exactly what i'm going to be paying for the next 2 years until our situation changes.
> 
> Although i'm informed enough to know what i'm looking at, i'm not aware enough to work out "which is the best deal" between a £267pm @ 3.09% fixed or £262pm @ 2.39%+BoE base traker for example.


This is really a "would you like a red one or a blue one?" type question, generally at the moment fixed rates are at too high a premium over trackers, trackers will certainly rise over the next 2 years but by how much? rates were slashed because we were in the brown sticky stuff, we still are! so they will not rise dramatically (in my opinion, but watch them now go back to 5% next week!) you have to decide how much you think they will rise over the next 2 years and so effectively what the "average" rate will be.

However, given the small difference in figures above (I assume the mortgage is small) if fees are the same for both, I would take the fixed.

I like fixed rates, however currently I am paying 0.69% on a lifetime tracker, so currently I am more than happy with a tracker as well, Fixed rates provide peace of mind, if rates go up with a tracker at worse you could lose your house, if they go down, you have a bit more money for toys..............


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## RedUntilDead

My 2 year fixed deal is up with the RBS and my head is spinning after reading all the offers on the comp. sites/money saving sites.
Anyone give a heads up on a good 2 year fixed deal at the moment?


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## Derekh929

Hi guys another IFA DW member good to see others still doing this work i have had to work harder and smarter over the last 3 years but as i do little mortgages the stress is a bit less been doing this for 20years in march 2012 and been change after change but i enjoy seeing clients and meeting new people all my work comes from clients calling me from referrals lets hope this continues.


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## Clark @ PB

RedUntilDead said:


> My 2 year fixed deal is up with the RBS and my head is spinning after reading all the offers on the comp. sites/money saving sites.
> Anyone give a heads up on a good 2 year fixed deal at the moment?


I'm in the same situation, my RBS deal ends in March.


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## david g

Go and seek some Independent Financial Advice with regards to mortgages ,im no longer in this field but a local google search will put you on the right road :thumb:


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## Jonny2400

Guys just to let you know am a chartered financial planner, I cover the full financial range, investments planning, wealth managent, pensions, life cover, income protection not just mortgages l am seriously Not looking new clients or to generate any business !! , but if you have any problems or questions in these areas or just want to run something by me, am only a pm away !


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## G.P

Jonny2400 said:


> Guys just to let you know am a chartered financial planner, I cover the full financial range, investments planning, wealth managent, pensions, life cover, income protection not just mortgages l am seriously Not looking new clients or to generate any business !! , but if you have any problems or questions in these areas or just want to run something by me, am only a pm away !


Do you think Investec are as safe to invest in as the HSBC?


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## Jonny2400

It depends on the type of fund your investing in, is it a fund, deposit or in company stock , HSBC have the highest credit rating at the min, like most bank it's up for review 30th June (expect a downgrade)

Can't see either of these companies getting stuck, focus on the quality of funds first !


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## G.P

Jonny2400 said:


> like most bank it's up for review 30th June (expect a downgrade)


What website can I use to see bank ratings? is there one?


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## GJM

david g said:


> We are independant and have the ability to research the *whole market place *on your behalf


Just a question and something that may benefit others, not sure of current status but when you say 'whole' market place is it actually whole or whole who pay a commission.

Reason is this, my other half try and few independents in the past, few years ago now but turns out the whole of the market was not actually an accurate statement.

She got refused by some and offered a couple of deals but nothing great, ended up going to Brittania who said they looked at it on the affordability and no broker would have pointed to them as they did not offer any commision.

If still the same might be helpful to someone who is finding it a struggle to get a deal


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## Derekh929

GJM said:


> Just a question and something that may benefit others, not sure of current status but when you say 'whole' market place is it actually whole or whole who pay a commission.
> 
> Reason is this, my other half try and few independents in the past, few years ago now but turns out the whole of the market was not actually an accurate statement.
> 
> She got refused by some and offered a couple of deals but nothing great, ended up going to Brittania who said they looked at it on the affordability and no broker would have pointed to them as they did not offer any commision.
> 
> If still the same might be helpful to someone who is finding it a struggle to get a deal


You make a good point and it depends on if the Adviser has a system that researches direct deals as well as broker only, and can be done on fee basis half the one's i see know are direct deals, bank want you in the branch to sell you bucket loads of other stuff you don't need, i think some that go direct have no problem at all if clean mortgage but believe you me other's have had nightmare's banks don't care about anyone, but if you are self employed your livelihood relies on it.


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## bigslippy

I'm a self employed "whole of market " mortgage broker , it's Saturday and I've got my feet up so here's a link

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/smallfirms/resources/faqs/dual_pricing.shtml


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## dcj

The few years ive been on DW and its the first time ive noticed this thread.
So can anyone give me advice on switching to a repayment mortgage as opposed to part endowment,part repayment. Currently paying £420 per month with 12 years left,would it go up much if we went to repayment?


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## TooFunny

dcj said:


> The few years ive been on DW and its the first time ive noticed this thread.
> So can anyone give me advice on switching to a repayment mortgage as opposed to part endowment,part repayment. Currently paying £420 per month with 12 years left,would it go up much if we went to repayment?


Jesus Christ!!! My rent is £1000 more a month yet I can't get a mortgage as I have no deposit....go figure!! :wall:


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## Itstony

Here's another not seen this section, as I was looking to post a completely different topic on scammers and phishing mail.
Just fortuitously saw this topic.

Not going in to details and a story, but will state I was lost and confused. Hard woking, saving, investing, a few private pensions talked into and to be honest "Not a Danny La Rue" about where I was financially. Why would I, my vocation was an Engineer. :lol:
The more I tried to work out what everything was, what I had and how was my retirement going to be.
In short it was just confusion and the more I looked at things the more I realised I was simply financially dyslexic with these matters.:wall:
Then I contacted an FA, younger lad that got everything together at the time and the rest is history. Ever since I have had all that worry and concern lifted and my financial situation in order. Since retired and everything coming together with a situation I could never have dreamed of as a working class lad.
If that rings true to anyone, I can recommend this lad, whom eventually opened up a new venture up north, Liverpool area that is doing really well and I'm so pleased for him as he is doing really well. He has added so many letters behind his names from financial courses and schooling and tells me they are ongoing as he must keep up to date with that business, so fully qualified.
I have recommended many to him, but come to learn most just put this FA idea as a non priority. The fact is the earlier you get finances in order, the better it is. Only regret being I wish I had done it even earlier.

I will not share his details here, but if anyone is interested, PM me and I will give you all contact details. It will be up to you to decide and deal with him direct.
This lad Sam is good and what's more a really nice lad too. There are no costs or fees which is a relief and no pressure. Only when funds etc are invested, never paid a penny to him direct yet.
I'd be right made up if this helped anyone as it has me. :thumb:


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## Darlofan

TooFunny said:


> Jesus Christ!!! My rent is £1000 more a month yet I can't get a mortgage as I have no deposit....go figure!! :wall:


This was caused by the mass panic in 2008 over 100% mortgages in the financial crash. Usual government then decided that we all need to be controlled so told banks that affordability checks need to be done. Which as in your case is madness. I know lots of people who rent because of no deposit/don't meet affordability checks yet pay hundreds more in rent than a mortgage would be.

Debt is not bad, badly managed debt is bad.


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