Mortgages

Who do you have your mortgage with?  Who do your friends have theirs with?  How about your friend's friends?

We want to get quotes from a number of places, but I don't just want to contact places willy nilly -- I'm giving out highly sensitive information here!  So I figure if I can just get some names, I'll feel better that they're not a fly-by-night company.

Thanks!!!!!

We have ours with Northern Rock and it seems OK. Was really confusing    to me when we went to get one though...so many new terms for me to learn and try and understand before signing.  We needed the 100% one though, you could probably get a good deal with a good down payment, we didn't have that after moving over though.  SIL has one with TSB, she has the interest only mortgage and has had it for about 15 years, with how the market has dumped, she is getting totally screwed on it and having to pay tons to pay it off or take another loan out. Needless to say, she is trying to sell it and save her rear.  

Good luck in your search for a good mortgage and getting your house!  

Well, I can give some generalized advice about mortgage shopping.  I was a mortgage counselor for a little over a year.  Nothing UK specific I'm afraid since I'm in the US, but these tips should apply in the UK as well.

1) Credit Unions are usually a great choice.  They tend to have lower rates and they generally have lower closing costs too.

2) Dunno if the UK uses a point system like the US does, but usually lender quote a rate that sounds really really good, but don't ention that the rate includes points.  Points are composed of two parts: Origination fee and the other one which I have temporarily forgotten the name of.  Ask them if the rate they are quoting includes points.  Each 1 point is 1% of the loan amount, so it adds up.

3) Ask for a breakdown of the closing costs. This is where most lenders really stick it to you.  They add in a bunch of costs that make no sense, or can be cheaper elsewhere or on your own.

4) Beware Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM's), make sure of what you're getting yourself into.  Ask if there is a term in the loan contract that limits your refinancing options (some of the more unscroupolous lenders have a condition in the contract stating you can't refinance for a set number of years), ask if there are any prepayment penalties.

5) If buying a house, ask if the seller will cover a portion of the closing costs. (Mostly depends on whether it's a buyer's or seller's market)

6) Go with well-known institutions.  If it sounds too good to be true, take a second, third and fourth look at it, and do some web research.

Any other questions, just lemme know and I'l help as best as I can

Wow Lelandperrin! Wish I could have met you first too!  

Well, I can give some generalized advice about mortgage shopping.  I was a mortgage counselor for a little over a year.  Nothing UK specific I'm afraid since I'm in the US, but these tips should apply in the UK as well.

1) Credit Unions are usually a great choice.  They tend to have lower rates and they generally have lower closing costs too.

2) Dunno if the UK uses a point system like the US does, but usually lender quote a rate that sounds really really good, but don't ention that the rate includes points.  Points are composed of two parts: Origination fee and the other one which I have temporarily forgotten the name of.  Ask them if the rate they are quoting includes points.  Each 1 point is 1% of the loan amount, so it adds up.

3) Ask for a breakdown of the closing costs. This is where most lenders really stick it to you.  They add in a bunch of costs that make no sense, or can be cheaper elsewhere or on your own.

4) Beware Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM's), make sure of what you're getting yourself into.  Ask if there is a term in the loan contract that limits your refinancing options (some of the more unscroupolous lenders have a condition in the contract stating you can't refinance for a set number of years), ask if there are any prepayment penalties.

5) If buying a house, ask if the seller will cover a portion of the closing costs. (Mostly depends on whether it's a buyer's or seller's market)

6) Go with well-known institutions.  If it sounds too good to be true, take a second, third and fourth look at it, and do some web research.

Any other questions, just lemme know and I'l help as best as I can

I think maybe you need UK specific info.  LelandPerrin im sure your info is 100% spot on for the USa, but it is different here.  Certainly different terminology, and some other differences too...

1.  There are no credit unions in the UK.  Maybe a few... very few.  
2.  the UK doesn t use a "points" system.
3.  There is nothing here called "closing costs".  Your solicitor will tell you what all the costs will be.
4. They're not called ARMs here... 'adjustable rates' are the norm here... they are normally discounted for the first couple of years.  it is of course possible to get fixed or capped rates too.  But 'non-fixed' is not the nightmare people seem to think it is in the states.
5.  thre would never be a situation where the seller will pay your fees unless they somehow caused you to incur them.
6.   i agree with this.  go to the bank you bank with first.. they might be able to offer you a deal as an existing customer.


I only mention these things because if you go into a UK lender and start talking about ARMs, Points, Closing Costs  or Credit Unions, they will not know what you are talking about.  Just trying to save you some embarrassment.
Good luck!

Have to agree with Don here.  Seller's pay the estate agents fees, not the Buyer.  No credit unions.  It's banks or building societies.  Building societies might offer a little bit better rate, but definitely shop around.  Check out Motley Fool's UK site.  It has been really helpful to me.

I'm a real 'thingie' and 'wotchit' sort of person when it comes to cars and money. Can't get my head around the stuff under the bonnet. When it came to getting a mortgage here in the UK, I figured it would be a breeze since I had owned a couple of homes in the US, and the last one sold for about the same price as what I was asking for this one. I'd made three appointments with companies that lended money, only one appointment my husband couldn't make. It just happened to be the one we banked with. I strode in all confident. "Yeah, we'll get this loan...no brainer!" I thought to myself. The other two he and I went together.

The head scratcher was that is was our bank (my solo appointment) that offered the amount we needed. The others fell so far short that it was embarassing! The place we had an existing mortgage only offered £25K.  

We found out later that our bank...the manager I spoke with...he explained that there was no earthly reason we should have been loaned this amount, but I walked in with such confidence, knowing we could handle it that he took a chance.

My lesson? For us, a building society seemed to have a set of rules to follow. If you make this amount, you get loaned that amount. That's it. End of story. The bank we use knows us. Very personable. The manager is able to make decisions based on a gut. I'm certain we are paying more in the long run. But the continued relationship we have with our bank is something we really treasure. We know the managers on a first-name basis. Some have come here to our home to go over financial things with us. We just met with two managers yesterday to talk about another mortgage...and they bent over incredibly far backawards for us because we'd been able to prove ourselves with the other mortgage. We would never have gotten that sort of service from the building society my husband had his previous mortgage with.

Ohhh...Lisa... good to know.  We'll have to be totally confident when we go in there.  Maybe I'll go WITH Andrew (he was meant to go on his own).  I'm definately down at the bank more often than he is, and I'm on great terms with the tellers... though not the manager... hmmm..