Do PTSB take offers on tracker mortgages

[David Costigan]

Hi all

I have a tracker mortgage on my apartment. Bought in 2006 for €278,000 with a mortgage of €250k and around €196k outstanding with a tracker of 0.8% with 20 years left.

I'm in €30k - €40k negative equity and i'm currently renting it out (and renting in a different part of the country now) My wife and I are looking into getting a mortgage soon hopefully.

My question is if I approach PTSB would they offer anything for the tracker (i.e. would they offer me a lump sum to redeem the mortgage). Are they still losing money on trackers or is their overall mortgage book covering it.

any help would be appreciated
David

 

[Sarenco]

Short answer is no - I don't think any Irish lender was offered a discount for an early redemption of a tracker mortgage for years (if they ever did).

Why would they? They're not losing anything on performing trackers (despite what the main stream media keeps telling us).

PTSB's average tracker rate is around double their cost of funds. Low margin for sure but not loss making.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Hi David

As Sarenco says, none of the lenders are doing deals on trackers.

However, ptsb allows people with trackers to trade up and move the tracker with them but they increase the rate by 1%$. So you would be paying ECB +1.8% which is still a lot cheaper than you would be paying on the rest of your mortgage.

Analysis of new ptsb tracker mover

 

[Sarenco]

Hi David

As a follow up to Brendan's post, PTSB now state on their website that "you can also apply for a tracker portability mortgage if you moved to a rented property and are renting out the home you own." Not sure if adding an additional borrower (I assume the mortgage on the apartment is in your sole name) complicates things - I wouldn't have thought so.

The other option, of course, is to continue renting out the apartment (although it might restrict the amount you can borrow for your new home). It's obviously a cheap tracker rate so whether or not it makes sense to retain the apartment as a rental (rather than porting the tracker to your new home) really turns on:- (a) the rent you are getting on your apartment and the expenses related to maintaining the property; (b) whether or not you have a diversified portfolio of other assets (e.g. a pension) and sufficient cash reserves to meet emergencies; (c) to what extent (if any) it will impact your ability to borrow for your new home and what interest rate you would be charged if you don't port the tracker; and (d) your general attitude to being a landlord (do you find it stressful?).

In the vast majority of cases, I think it makes more sense to opt for a tracker mover option over retaining an apartment as a rental.

Hope that helps.