If you’re coming to the end of your current mortgage deal, it’s time to start thinking about remortgaging, as ‘just leaving it’ could cost thousands of pounds you don’t need to spend.
We have access to a huge range of deals across the market, including exclusive rate offers, helping get you the remortgage deal you need – and we’re specialists in helping people get a rate that really fits their circumstances.
“We often get new clients who took out their original mortgage at a really high rate – maybe they didn’t get the right advice, or picked the wrong lender. They will come to us to remortgage and it can save them thousands” says Kye Collier, Crescent Mortgages director.
“The funny thing is we haven’t necessarily done anything special, we just did our job of finding the right mortgage. But clients are so grateful because it can save them so much time and money.”
Step One
Through our years of experience we’ve developed a simple process to help you remortgage as easily as possible.
“We start by having a chat, to take your information and understand what you’re looking for,” says Daniel.
“This way, we have a firm grasp of your situation, and we can then provide 100% accurate information to a lender, meaning you get the best rates and a smooth process.”
Step Two
We research the market to find the remortgage deals you’re actually eligible for (and check to see if your existing lender can offer a competitive rate too).
If you’re happy with what we suggest, we’ll submit the application for you, confirm the documents you’ll need to send and oversee the application until it’s all fully agreed.
Step Three
Next you need to find a conveyancer or solicitor, but don’t worry if you don’t have one – we can guide you on this.
Although there are legal costs, they’ll be a lot lower than when you bought the property in the first place, and some lenders offer cashback to deal with these fees, which we’ll highlight when we present you with mortgage options.
Step Four
Once the mortgage is agreed and the solicitor has completed their work, they’ll organise completion of the remortgage and make sure your new deal starts on the right date.
After that, it’s just a case of putting a note in our diary to contact you again in the future when your deal is coming to an end, to see if you’ll need our help again!
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Put simply: remortgaging is changing from one mortgage deal to another, usually to save some money on monthly premiums, and avoid moving onto a much higher ‘follow on’ rate.
Many of you will have at least one mortgage for a large portion of your adult life. During this time, remortgaging regularly – and at the right time – is one of the best ways to keep your mortgage payments down and ensure that you pay back as little as possible over the course of your term.
The most common reason for remortgaging is because your current mortgage scheme is ending, to avoid moving onto a much higher ‘follow on’ variable rate.
If you’re unsure, just give us a call. We’ll help you find out the details you need. There are a few reasons you might want to do this – let’s take you through a few of the most common.
Most mortgage deals will only run for a specific time – mostly two-, three- or five-year deals (although some people lock in for longer).
When this period ends you’ll want to avoid the lender’s Standard Variable Rate (SVR), as moving onto this can cause your monthly bills to rise, and there are often better deals available.
So knowing when your deal ends is key (check your paperwork, or get in contact with us and we can help work this out).
The end of a deal is the perfect time to remortgage as you’re no longer tied into the product and can shop around to get a better deal for you.
That’s where we step in: we use our access to thousands of deals (with some exclusive ones in there too) to find the best mortgage for you, without charging a broker fee.
In terms of exactly when to start planning a remortgage, we suggest 3-6 months before your current deal ends. This allows us time to find the right choice and ]carry out the work involved, making sure it starts at the right time.
Of course, if you’ve got less than three months (or your deal has already ended) give us a ring straight away and we’ll reduce the amount of time that you’re paying more than you need to.
When your introductory or fixed-rate deal is coming to an end, it’s important to have a look and see what offers are available. If you just do nothing, you’ll be put on your lender’s SVR, which will usually track at varying amounts above the Bank of England base rate.
“The most common reason people come to us to remortgage is because their deal is ending, and they want to avoid the SVR,” says Kye. “They want to shop around first before deciding what to do.”
While the SVR is flexible (meaning you can leave it any time without penalty fees) it’s rarely the best deal you can get, meaning your monthly payments will rise, and there are likely better options out there that we can find for you.
Another reason you might want to remortgage is to make the most of any rises in your home’s value – if it’s increased then the Loan to Value (LTV) (an important measure for lenders to assess risk) will have dropped.
A lower LTV means that the amount you owe will be a smaller percentage of the value of the home, and this can trigger better rates from lenders. This is because there’s less risk on their part if you can’t pay your mortgage and they need to sell your home to get their money back.
You also might want to release some of the equity that you’ve built up – if your home is worth more, you can use that money elsewhere.
However, it’s important to consider this decision carefully, thinking about whether it’s the best choice for your long-term financial situation – for instance, you might end up in negative equity if house prices fall in the future, so it’s important to have a plan in place with how you might cope with that.
Releasing equity and borrowing more will also increase your mortgage payment and could mean it takes longer to fully clear your mortgage.
We’re just highlighting some of the scenarios it’s important to think about – but don’t worry, we can talk you through everything carefully so you’ve got all the information you need to make the right call.
There are a number of different kinds of mortgages out there, and they suit the differing needs of homeowners. You might have been happy on a fixed-rate deal in the past, but want to move to a tracker (which follows the Bank of England base rate).
Perhaps you used a scheme to get onto the property ladder that’s no longer applicable and you want a more conventional mortgage.
“Quite a common remortgage question these days is around how to clear Help to Buy loans,” says Kye.
“This is becoming more popular, because the scheme finished about five years ago, so those loans are starting to gain interest and people want to find a way to change that.”
Alternatively, you might want to lengthen or shorten your deal; whatever the reason, just drop us a line and we can help.
If you decide you want to remortgage, it can sometimes be a little more complicated than just going for the best rate.
If you move to a new lender, it can incur some additional fees. This will make it more expensive in the long run, plus you’ll need to go through a few steps to apply and be approved, which will slow down the process.
We can remove that stress of moving to a new lender by handling the application process.
But, first, we’ll also look at what your current lender is offering for you to stay. Sticking with your current lender is usually simpler, can avoid those extra fees and is often a competitive option.
“We keep clients with their existing lender a lot. These days, we find it’s actually more common than remortgaging a client to a new lender” says Daniel Pitman, Crescent Mortgages director.
However, sometimes it isn’t that simple, so we always consider the circumstances when making our recommendations to stop people making choices that can cost them a lot in the future.
“Recently, we had a client who was separating from his partner, selling one property and buying another on his own,” says Daniel.
“He was about to lock into a new deal with his current lender on the property he was about to sell, which made no sense, because he’d have tied himself into a two-year fix just to borrow extra to buy her out.
“I took a step back and said, ‘There’s no point remortgaging on a property you’re about to sell – you’re much better off waiting until the sale goes through and using the equity instead’ – that saved him a fair amount in an early repayment charge.”
We built Crescent Mortgages to offer a service that helps people. We’re local to the Bath area (we’re based in Trowbridge), meaning we understand the markets all around Wiltshire – but we’re equally comfortable helping people based anywhere in the country.
With a combined 28 years’ experience, we know the specific needs people have when they’re coming to remortgage, the fees to be aware of and the lenders to think about.
The fee you certainly don’t need to worry about is ours – we never charge broker fees. Instead, we get paid by the lender when you take out a mortgage (other brokers take fees from the customer and lender, but we’re happy to be just paid once…)
We’ve put together some information that you might want to think about if you’re planning to remortgage. However, if you’d rather just have a quick chat, we can take you through it all on a quick phone call, to answer any questions you might have.
“So happy with Kye’s professional approach and guidance from start to finish! He makes you feel at ease with the process. Can’t thank my friend enough for recommending him!”
“Exceptional fee-free service. It has been a hassle-free and stress-free transaction. Dan was very helpful and patient in explaining and walking us through every step of our mortgage application.”
“Communication was brilliant from the start. Dan was friendly, professional and knowledgeable. He tracked the interest rate on my new mortgage deal and secured a lower rate before I was locked in, saving me considerable money.”
“The communication has been brilliant, every step and option available to us has been explained and Kye has been readily available for discussions and questions, which has made the whole process go very smoothly.”
“With my partner being self-employed, I was scared this would be a barrier to us getting a mortgage—no such thing as barriers with Kye and Crescent Mortgages! They made the whole process so simple.”
“Dan was thorough and explained everything in a way that was easy for us to understand as first-time buyers, without being patronising. His communication and manner were excellent, and he guided us through a slightly tricky requirement.”
Enter your income details to get an estimate of how much you may be able to borrow. It’s a quick way to understand your potential budget before exploring your mortgage options.
This is an estimate only and the amount you could borrow will depend on your circumstances and the lender’s criteria. Your outgoings, credit history, deposit and mortgage term may all affect the amount available.
The results shown are not a mortgage offer or a guarantee of lending. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
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We’re here to talk you through any questions on the mortgage process, whether you’re thinking of remortgaging, ready to get a new deal, recently self-employed or a first-time buyer.
Email: info@crescentmortgages.co.uk
Phone: 01225 690 120
Monday – Friday: 9.00am – 5:30pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday/Bank Holidays: Closed
