Fixed Rate Mortgages – Are They Worth It?
May 31st, 2009 by Monty Burn | No Comments | Filed in financeWe’ll have a look at what benefits there are to a fixed rate mortgage for you. We’ll then look at using a mortgage overpayment calculator. You get security from the fixed rate mortgage & you may get a nice surprise from the overpayment calculator.
Of the various types of mortgage available, the fixed rate is only one of them. You get a fixed interest period for several years. Your interest rate, and therefore your payments are fixed.
What are the advantages of a fixed rate mortgage? A fixed rate of interest means a fixed monthly mortgage payment. It’s a lot easier to plan financially knowing your payment will be the same.
No matter what the average interest rate is, your rate will stay the same. In the not too distant past there have been some real scary rate rises. A rapid rise over a year or so could really see payments rise for those on standard variable mortgages.
A fixed rate mortgage could be a mistake for you under certain circumstances. You may decide you need to move house, or even have an unexpected child and simply need more room. Either of these events will cause you to trigger an unwanted redemption penalty.
Most fixed rate mortgages come tied to a nasty redemption penalty. At a time when you least need it, you could get hit with a redemption penalty. If a charge like this will hurt you then you must think very carefully before taking a fixed rate mortgage.
One thing to consider while having the mortgage is to pay a bit extra every month if you can afford it. It’s not set in stone that you have to pay the same minimum amount every month. Lenders prefer you to make payments like this but they never inform you that you could pay extra if you wish.
What benefit does paying a bit extra each month have on you and your mortgage? The extra payments reduce the sum owed quicker and the result is you save years off the term of your deal. Not only do you save years but you save piles of cash, usually many thousands.
How do you use a mortgage overpayment calculator? You can enter all the relevant figures from your particular deal. You can then play around by changing the figure you can afford to overpay.
The calculator will then tell you how many years you might reduce your mortgage by. You get to see how much money you could possibly save. The figures in years and cash saved will increase the more you overpay each month.
You may be surprised at some of the savings you can make. Quick example, 25 year mortgage borrowing 100,000 at 5%. If you pay an extra fifty each month, you can shave more than 3 years off the length and save 12,000 in interest payments.
Nice savings on a 50 extra payment. But what happens if you pay an extra 100 though? Using the same example mortgage from earlier we now pay 100 extra. You can save 20 thousand in cash. You can also shorten your mortgage by more than 6 years.
One more advantage is that the years you save are payment free, nothing at all to pay. You could be free of the shackles of your mortgage early by paying a little more now. You never get info like this from your lender. This sort of stuff is kept quiet by the industry.
In our example where we saved six years off the length with a hundred a month overpayment. You pay nothing more for the last 6 years of the term, which equates to about another 40 grand saved. This is money you can spend or save as it’s not going to your lender every month.
In this article we’ve looked at the potential of fixed rate mortgages. Regular payments and a good night sleep. We also looked at potential savings by paying extra each month. Every little helps.
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