mortgage stuff (1 Viewer)

snap-apple

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so me and the wan are entering scary grown-up world and looking around for a gaff and checking out mortgages etc. and i know some of the folk here have been through the whole thing so any advice? not looking for advice on the type of place to buy so much as general things to look out for. any help with interest rates, what do people think of these tracker rates? what should you look out for with a new gaff? what should you look out for in a 2nd hand gaff? what freebies should we scab off the building society/bank and which place did you go with etc. etc.
 
snap-apple said:
so me and the wan are entering scary grown-up world and looking around for a gaff and checking out mortgages etc. and i know some of the folk here have been through the whole thing so any advice? not looking for advice on the type of place to buy so much as general things to look out for. any help with interest rates, what do people think of these tracker rates? what should you look out for with a new gaff? what should you look out for in a 2nd hand gaff? what freebies should we scab off the building society/bank and which place did you go with etc. etc.

Think you can get a tax break or some sort of a discount for your first year of morgage paying, about 200 per month, if i remember exactly what it is i'll let you know.
 
snap-apple said:
so me and the wan are entering scary grown-up world and looking around for a gaff and checking out mortgages etc. and i know some of the folk here have been through the whole thing so any advice? not looking for advice on the type of place to buy so much as general things to look out for. any help with interest rates, what do people think of these tracker rates? what should you look out for with a new gaff? what should you look out for in a 2nd hand gaff? what freebies should we scab off the building society/bank and which place did you go with etc. etc.

i know a bit about de mortgages, used to work in a building society.
advice may be slightly out of date though...
 
It's not scary at all Conor, congrats and enjoy it, it's a really exciting time!

Now, I am a scabby bitch and refuse to believe anything the bank tells me so some words of advice:


DO NOT take their 'offers' of mortgage protection insurance as being the best you'll find, this is bullshit. Go with labrokers.ie (one years mortgage protection discounted by at least a hundred quid - ours cost 40 for the first year). The bank wanted about 180. Fuck that shit. Similarly, don't get your home insurance with them unless they give you a really good deal. The AA do excellent home insurance deals.



DO NOT let them frighten you into doomy tales of bankruptcy thus frightening you into taking out payment protection insurance. Is it likely you'll both be out of work at the same time? NO. Why pay for something you'll probably never use?



We have our mortage with ICS, first year fixed at 2.75%. I would be inclined maybe to get a fixed rate if you could get a really low one, maybe 3%. Mortgage interest rates will climb, and it's not likely they'll be as low as they are now. If I had the chance to fix at 3% I'd do it.



Other things - don't be swayed by numbers of bedrooms / what other people are buying, buy what you can easily afford and do up the way you want it. Remember it's only going to be your first place and you will gain equity in it, and then trade up. No one gets everything they want first time round, so don't expect to, cos that really breaks the bank and you're sitting on beanbags for the first 2 years. You still want to have a social life!

You will get extra tax relief for the first 5 years and this is about 132 a month for the pair of you, it's about 60 quid each. You need to apply for this first, you fill out a form which the bank should give you. Then you'll see your mortage amount taken out of your account and the interest relief is paid back in. It's great, it pays the bills.

Get a joint bank account. Your solicitor will recommend you do this anyway, and it is a seamless and really easy way to manage things. No one is asking anyone else for the money for the ESB, it's all taken care of out of one account. Decide on what you both need to contribute each month and set up debits from both of your personal accounts to pay the mortagage and bills. Handy also in the worst case scenario..

Good luck!
 
Oh and conor, with regard to what you should look for - storage, storage and more storage.

If you're buying an apartment, find out what the annual service charge is.

Unless you've got a lot of cash to spare don't buy somewhere that needs an anwful lot of work unless you're prepared to live in concrete dust until you can afford to fit a new kitchen and bathroom etc.
 
On the finance side - the int rates are printed on thurs and fri in the property sections of the times and indo. Compare on the basis of APR only.

I have a tracker mortagage which is .2 of a % cheaper than the best variable rate that was about at the time; as both of them follow the ECB rate I didn't see any benefit of choosing the variable rate. Some banks offer a discounted rate for the first year, especially for new business; don't be fooled - judge them on the apr of the variable rate you will go on to after the discounted fixed term.

I bought a house last June and these were the best insurance buys for a semi detached second hand house:

home/contents - allianz
Mort protection (pays your half of the mortgage if you die) - caledoian life
...shop around though.

(very generally)Second hand houses are more expensive and you have to do them up, but they tend to be closer town; newer houses are shiny, but you don't get to see the (exact) house before you buy it, and most new houses are in north county dublin and west dublin.

As the stamp duty for first time buyers of second hand houses is gone, they're more accessible tyhan ever, but the price is likely to rise over the next 6 months to reflect this.

Banks can be extremely flexible on the amount they'll give you but not on the rates.

If you wanna meet for lunch to discuss all this shit just ring me.

(this is like a mortgage thingsyouremissing)

by the way - congrats
 
The old system of salary multiples (borrowing two and a half times/three times one's salary) is effectively dead. Banks now look at it from the point of DSR (Debt Service Ratio). This should not exceed 40% - i.e. your total commitments (commitments means mortgage and other loans) should not exceed 40% of your total net monthly income. In other words if your net monthly income is €3,000 then you would be considered good for a mortage costing €1,200 p.m. However the bank will "stress-test" this i.e. see what your DSR would be if interest rates went up by 2%. If the DSR comes in around 45% after this you should be ok.

Get rid of any loans you have beforehand. Otherwise they will impact on the amount you can borrow. Ideally your only commitment should be your mortgage.

You'll need to have savings/or else generous parents. Banks generally will only lend up to 92% of the purchase price. Some professionals may get up to 100% mortgages. Or bank staff :eek:

Remember the term can be up to 40 years in some cases depending on age. There is no obligation on you to borrow over an "even" or "round" term. A 27 year mortgage is not uncommon.

In terms of rates I would recommend you start on a variable tracker. You can change at any time if you want to fix whereas if you fix now and want to switch to a variable before the fixed period expires you will be charged a break cost.

Remember the ECB rate is currently 2%
A tracker mortgage basically states that the rate will always be ECB+the Bank's margin. An example would be a flexible tracker mortgage which is 3.15% i.e. the rate will always be ECB+1.15%.

Not all brokers are good. A lot of them are paid on a commission basis by the banks so you may not necessarily get the best deal. In some cases it may be worth approaching the bank directly. It is worthwhile remembering that the cheapest rate may not always be the best option.

Get approval in principle if possible first - then you can revert for formal approval when you identify a property you like.

There will be costs - solicitors fees vary but anywhere between €1,000 - €2,000 for standard conveyancing. Some banks will pay for the valuation, others won't. Always get a structural survey done. Then furniture etc.

Life Assurance is naturally mandatory. It is worthwhile getting an element of critical illness cover rather than going for the standard decreasing and cheap option. You do not have to take the critical illness cover from the same company as the regular cover.

Know your limit and stick to it - although it's very easy get sucked into a bidding war with another party. Consider going up in €2,000s or even more if you wish to kill off the competition.

If you want a decent sized place that's not going to cripple you financially then you might have to consider moving out of Dublin. That's what I did. The commute from Newbridge to Blackrock was a bitch - had to do it for 12 months but I eventually got a job transfer to Naas.

Don't order any furniture from Foko, George's St. They are a complete bunch of brain-dead, call-centre mentality, vague, lazy, lying CUNTS and if there's any justice the pricks will go out of business.

Best of luck.
 
nlgbbbblth said:
Don't order any furniture from Foko, George's St. They are a complete bunch of brain-dead, call-centre mentality, vague, lazy, lying CUNTS and if there's any justice the pricks will go out of business.

.

I think you might have got your wish - the place was closed for weeks and now they only seem to be doing contract sales.
 
kirstie said:
Go with labrokers.ie (one years mortgage protection discounted by at least a hundred quid - ours cost 40 for the first year). The bank wanted about 180. Fuck that shit. Similarly, don't get your home insurance with them unless they give you a really good deal. The AA do excellent home insurance deals.

Top advice. LA Brokers are the business, mine works out at €25 for the first year, then €171 after that.
 
I can't remember but I presume you can change your insurance companies if you want?

Look at loads of gaffs. Anyone I know in new houses can hear their neighbours really clearly. Which means as soon as you put on SYBE they'll be giving out (although they might have a point).
 
We have our mortgage with the EBS and we found them alright...getting the mortgage organised can be stressfull at times, but it's not exactly overwhelming. Just be prepared to take lots of half days/days off.

If you are going with the EBS you will probably talk to a different person (which can be frustrating) each time you contact them and they will have a file. This file is meant to contain all the info. you have supplied and what is still needed. We got to the stage where we asked them to write down all outstanding info. still required by them because it seemed like everytime we sent them a form or a statement they requested they had something new they wanted...dont be afraid to hassle them.

If you get a loan/gift of some cash for the deposit you may also be asked for a letter to confirm this by that person.

If you are self employed (which I was at the time of getting the mortgage) you will need at least 2/3 years of audited books.

Whatever you do don't get a fixed mortgage. Interest rates are going to go up, but most forecasts don't predict much of a rise...maybe .25 to .50 by the end of this year but thats manageable. I know somebody who a couple of years ago was on a 10 year fixed at somehting like 9% and was desperately trying to get out of it.

Buying a house is not that bad...the good thing is that you will probably pay less a month on your mortgage than on rent in Dublin (we are paying € 850 month between 3 of us at the moment) which make it all worth while.

Good luck man !
 
yeah you can, unless you've signed something to say you can't, like.

In our old flat, we could hear the next door neighbours going for a piss. Not nice.

Anthony said:
I can't remember but I presume you can change your insurance companies if you want?

Look at loads of gaffs. Anyone I know in new houses can hear their neighbours really clearly. Which means as soon as you put on SYBE they'll be giving out (although they might have a point).
 
P. Littbarski said:
Whatever you do don't get a fixed mortgage. Interest rates are going to go up, but most forecasts don't predict much of a rise...maybe .25 to .50 by the end of this year but thats manageable. I know somebody who a couple of years ago was on a 10 year fixed at somehting like 9% and was desperately trying to get out of it.

jaysis, that's crazy, 10%? That's like 80's style interest rates! I'd fix ours if I could get it fixed at 3, for sure. Apparently over the course of a mortgage you will pay less if you fix it, according to some report I read, somewhere.
 
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