Hells_Belle
Registered User
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I've some very basic questions I hope some kind soul will help answer. I've only ever bought the one house and suspect I didn't learn as much in the process as I should have because I had an excellent broker who made everything very easy.
We bought our house for $220,000 two years ago. We put down €100K in cash and got a mortgage as follows:
Loan Amount: €120k
Interest Rate: 6.45% variable
Term: 40 years
This was a sub-prime mortgage because I am self-employed and did not yet have two years of accounts. I was aware at the time the interest rate was high, but we didn't have a lot of choice at the time. The plan was always to wait until I did have two years of accounts and change lenders, presumably at a lower rate.
We got a 40 year mortgage to keep payments down in anticipation of becoming a one-income family. We anticipate paying it off completely before year 30 with a lump-sum payment at some (distant) future point. We have had no issues making the payments.
While the value of the house has dropped with the market as it is, we also undertook significant renovations and think we bought back some of that price drop with upgrades like heating and hot water and other such luxuries. I'm not really sure, but still: we have significant equity in our home.
I will shortly have the magic two years of accounts to hand and would like to switch to a lender who will give us a better rate. We are also looking at putting an extension on the house, which would require about €30K.
I asked, and our current lender is making no new loans, full stop.
My questions are:
1/ Is it feasible that I would be able to switch my mortgage in the current climate or am I stuck at my current lender?
2/ Will a new lender typically release funds to enable the extension?
3/ What is it I am actually looking to do - refinance? Re-mortgage? Top up?
4/ Is my 40 year term a stumbling block? We are 38 years old and two years in.
I'm not really sure how feasible this all is, and would appreciate advice.
Thank you!
We bought our house for $220,000 two years ago. We put down €100K in cash and got a mortgage as follows:
Loan Amount: €120k
Interest Rate: 6.45% variable
Term: 40 years
This was a sub-prime mortgage because I am self-employed and did not yet have two years of accounts. I was aware at the time the interest rate was high, but we didn't have a lot of choice at the time. The plan was always to wait until I did have two years of accounts and change lenders, presumably at a lower rate.
We got a 40 year mortgage to keep payments down in anticipation of becoming a one-income family. We anticipate paying it off completely before year 30 with a lump-sum payment at some (distant) future point. We have had no issues making the payments.
While the value of the house has dropped with the market as it is, we also undertook significant renovations and think we bought back some of that price drop with upgrades like heating and hot water and other such luxuries. I'm not really sure, but still: we have significant equity in our home.
I will shortly have the magic two years of accounts to hand and would like to switch to a lender who will give us a better rate. We are also looking at putting an extension on the house, which would require about €30K.
I asked, and our current lender is making no new loans, full stop.
My questions are:
1/ Is it feasible that I would be able to switch my mortgage in the current climate or am I stuck at my current lender?
2/ Will a new lender typically release funds to enable the extension?
3/ What is it I am actually looking to do - refinance? Re-mortgage? Top up?
4/ Is my 40 year term a stumbling block? We are 38 years old and two years in.
I'm not really sure how feasible this all is, and would appreciate advice.
Thank you!