Key Post Should I fix my mortgage rate

Edit: This thread is now closed, but you can post your mortgage details in the switcher thread (in the format shown in the first post). You'll get an estimate of the savings you would make from re-fixing with your current lender (or from switching to another lender if you want to go that route).


If you want to ask whether you should fix or not, please provide the following information:

1) Existing mortgage rate
2) If fixed, when does the fixed rate expire?
3) Amount outstanding on your mortgage
4) Remaining term
5) Lender
6) Value of your home
7) Might you trade up or overpay your mortgage?
8) Do you face any barriers to switching? E.g. an impaired credit record, a mortgage with a warehoused portion due to a restructuring, reduced income since you took out your mortgage.
9) What rates are you considering fixing at?
10) Does your house have a high BER rating which might qualify it for a lower rate? Check it here or estimate it if necessary.

I have opportunity to fix now. 20 years left with 107k balance.
Options are 2.2% for 2 years, 2.35% for 5 years or 2.8% for 10 years. Thoughts?

Ush1 said:

I have opportunity to fix now. 20 years left with 107k balance.
Options are 2.2% for 2 years, 2.35% for 5 years or 2.8% for 10 years. Thoughts?

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@Ush1 Consider posting your mortgage details in the switcher thread (in the format shown in the first post). I'll estimate the savings you would make from switching to another lender (or re-fixing with your current lender).

Brendan Burgess said:

If you want to ask whether you should fix or not, please provide the following information:

1) Existing mortgage rate
2) If fixed, when does the fixed rate expire?
3) Amount outstanding on your mortgage
4) Remaining term
5) Lender
6) Value of your home
7) Might you trade up or overpay your mortgage?
8) Do you face any barriers to switching? E.g. an impaired credit record, a mortgage with a warehoused portion due to a restructuring, reduced income since you took out your mortgage.
9) What rates are you considering fixing at?
10) Does your house have a high BER rating which might qualify it for a lower rate? Check it here or estimate it if necessary.

Click to expand...

Hi Brendan,
Is it possible to get a fixed rate mortgage on an AIB mortgage without having the correct BER rating and it being for less than 250,000? Struggling to find info online and their online message system is not helping! Can anyone choose should they wish to fix their mortgage? First time buyer here and just went sale agreed. Goy my AIP on a Variable rate and I basically think now that that's a no no. Thanks

Orlaith1 said:

Is it possible to get a fixed rate mortgage on an AIB mortgage without having the correct BER rating and it being for less than 250,000? Struggling to find info online and their online message system is not helping!

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@Orlaith1 Yes, absolutely. I'll assume your loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is over 80%. For example, if you take a mortgage of €204k and you buy a property for €240k, your LTV will be 204/240 = 85%.

You are eligible for the following rates (excluding the green rate and the high-value rate). They are taken from this webpage.



Go to that page and change your LTV bracket to >50% <=80% if your LTV will be 80% or less.

Orlaith1 said:

Can anyone choose should they wish to fix their mortgage? First time buyer here and just went sale agreed. Goy my AIP on a Variable rate and I basically think now that that's a no no.

Click to expand...

Yes, you are free to choose any rate – fixed or variable – that you are eligible for, not just the variable rate quoted in your AIP.

How much will you be borrowing?

215 for a 245 property so LTV IS 215/245 is 87% ?

Thanks so much. That's a relief!!

@Orlaith1 Bear in mind that you can't "lock in" those rates – they might have increased by the time you draw down the mortgage.

The only way to possibly avoid that is to apply for AIP with other low-rate lenders (but of course they could increase their rates too):

• Haven have some good rates and I believe they offer €2,000 for first-time buyers (FTBs). Edit: they do not offer cashback for first-time buyers (FTBs).
• Finance Ireland's 10-year and longer fixed rates allow you to avoid any potential break fee if you move home in the future (as long as you take out a new mortgage with them, and subject to certain conditions). And you can "take your mortgage with you" – meaning that you get to keep the same interest rate when you move (provided that at least 3 years have passed since you started the Finance Ireland fixed rate and subject to certain other conditions).
• Avant have recently increased their rates and so we might hope that they won't do so again for a while. (While their rates are not the lowest at present, it is possible that they will be amongst the lowest in the near future when other lenders increase their rates.) All of Avant's rates allow you to avoid any potential break fee if you move home in the future (as long as you take out a new mortgage with them, and subject to certain conditions).

Bank or Ireland and Permanent TSB discriminate between new and existing customers, i.e., their best rates are not available to existing customers. And their standard 5-year fixed rates are significantly higher than AIB's (3.0% versus 2.55%).

I know you have just gone sale agreed but it may not take long to get AIP with one of the above low-rate lenders. For example, you can apply for Approval In Principle (AIP) via Avant's website (scroll to the bottom of the page). You have nothing to lose. Be aware that Avant seem to refuse to lend against one-off rural housing.

If you engage a broker for one of the above lenders, confirm that they will not charge you a fee if you abandon the mortgage application.

Whether it is worth getting AIP with another lender partly depends on how far along in the process you are with AIB. If you have completed a lot of the steps after AIP, starting from scratch with another lender makes less sense. But if you have only just got AIP, it could make sense.


Edit: This thread is now closed, but any user can post their mortgage details in the switcher thread (in the format shown in the first post). You'll get an estimate of the savings you would make from re-fixing with your current lender (or from switching to another lender if you want to go that route).