Mortgages

[Shirls]

Hi,

Could anyone give me a personal recommendation of bank/building society or broker with a good First Time Buyer's package and who could outline my options in a reasonably pleasant manner :eek:

[WhipLash]

The problem nowadays with mortgages is that everyone is looking for one, so the bank/building society can afford to be choosy and cherry pick the safest applications. My sister has recently experienced this in the last few months and had some awful experiences with them. Apparently a good few of them were not interested, and those who were appeared to be lees than courteous. In the end she went with the ICS (http://www.mortgagestore.ie/) whom she found both friendly and helpful. I also must say that I have to second that opinion. We both agreed on one particular Building Society that were quite rude indeed, but better not name them here! Apparently the deal that Rea (http://www.rea.ie) offers is quite competitive, and they'll get you quotes from a wide variety of societies. HTH.


[This message has been edited by WhipLash (edited 31 May 2000).]

[Chancer]

It looks like there’s no stopping the increase in Irish house prices, and IMO its getting a little scary. So we hear all the experts saying there’s no chance of a correction in the housing market, but I wouldn’t like to be buying a house at the present time considering the phenomenal increases in the last few years. It can’t last forever, it won’t last for ever – just look at the high wage demands, skills shortage, extraordinary high debt levels etc that are a by-product of our Celtic Tiger. I really will pity whoever buys into the market just before the bubble does finally burst.

[Michael Power]

Shirls,

I have had good experiences with Mellon Financial services, particularly the Rathmines branch. They charge you nothing (commission charges to the bank / building society) and will shop around for the best deal on your behalf, saving you a lot of legwork. They also find much cheaper mortgage related insurance policies than your bank will offer.

Michael

[Tony]

Just as a matter of interest, has anyone here gone through the pains of switching their mortgage to a different lender? Apparently it costs in the region of £1,000 in fees, and that’s only for a variable rate mortgage! It’s probably enough to put the average person off swapping lenders, there’s just too much paper work involved. I’d say there’s probably a fair sum to be saved however between the cheapest and dearest of the lenders. I’d imagine that it’s worth looking into for a lot of existing home borrowers.

[Tony]

Just to make matters worse for the new home owners who may already be stretched in their repayments, the ECB today announced a .5pc hike in interest rates :eek:. God help those who didn't fix in for a couple of years a while back. I wonder will this now take some of the steam out of the rise in the property sector?

[Shirls]

Some interesting posts on mortgages, savings etc on www.askaboutmoney.com (http://www.askaboutmoney.com) . Mind you I didn't get much satisfaction from my query but I do remember reading some disucssions on moving your mortgage to another bank.