Hi
Hoping someone can give some advice. My wife and I have obtained mortgage approval with both EBS and Ulster Bank for a self build.
We've been offered a variable rate of 3.30% with EBS versus a rate of 3.35% with Ulster Bank.
Advantage of Ulster bank is:
1. €1500 towards legal fees
2. Valuation fees of €150 x3 are covered
Disadvantage of Ulster Bank:
1. They only do the valuation after we've signed the mortgage contract and so we cant be 100% sure that we're under the 80% LTV limit to qualify for the 3.35% rate. (Although we have done a valuation already, no guarantee that the UB valuer would arrive at the same figure).
Advantage of EBS:
1. Rate is slightly lower at 3.30%. Works out about €9 saving per mth v UB rate.
2. No transaction fees on mortgage accounts.
3. EBS do an initial valuation (which we've done already with them) and they will permit the market value figure for determining the LTV to be based on this. So even if the final valuation when the house is completed is lower than the initial valuation, EBS will abide by the initial valuation. This seems a valuable advantage since we can have certainty in relation to the market value and so know when we're near the 80% limit.
Disadvantage of EBS
1. No comparable sweetner to the UB legal fees contribution of €1500.
2. Customer has to pay for the valuations.
Cant figure out which one to go for. The slightly lower rate with EBS or the €1500 offer with UB. Hoping anyone with experience of dealing with either EBS or UB can give some advice
If anyone has any thoughts or notices anything incorrect in what I've said, all suggestions/criticisms greatly appreciated.
Dan