Property prices thread

[Admiral Yi]

Jacob is right about refinancing.  It's like paying off credit card debt with another card that has a lower rate, but for a mortgage.

Which is different than a 2nd mortgage, which is when you've built up some equity in your home and you borrow against that.

[Grey Fox]

Jacob is right about refinancing.  It's like paying off credit card debt with another card that has a lower rate, but for a mortgage.

Which is different than a 2nd mortgage, which is when you've built up some equity in your home and you borrow against that.

UK, like Canada, has short term fixed mortgage. 3-5 years. You refinance your interest rate at the end of a term but not the entire mortgage.

[Barrister]

Jacob is right about refinancing.  It's like paying off credit card debt with another card that has a lower rate, but for a mortgage.

Which is different than a 2nd mortgage, which is when you've built up some equity in your home and you borrow against that.

UK, like Canada, has short term fixed mortgage. 3-5 years. You refinance your interest rate at the end of a term but not the entire mortgage.

I remember years ago some on Languish (OvB maybe?) being astonished that in Canada we had to distinguish between the mortgage term and the amortization period.

[Admiral Yi]

UK, like Canada, has short term fixed mortgage. 3-5 years. You refinance your interest rate at the end of a term but not the entire mortgage.

Right.  Tamas was asking about the drop in US refinancing.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah - I recognise more what the Canadians are saying but still need to learn a lot.

[Jacob]

Jacob is right about refinancing.  It's like paying off credit card debt with another card that has a lower rate, but for a mortgage.

Which is different than a 2nd mortgage, which is when you've built up some equity in your home and you borrow against that.

UK, like Canada, has short term fixed mortgage. 3-5 years. You refinance your interest rate at the end of a term but not the entire mortgage.

You can also refinance mid-term in Canada. We've done it several times. You pay a penalty, but with falling interest rates the penalty is often less than the savings you get from the lower rate.

[Sheilbh]

Interesting on fixed term - although you fix them ever 3-5 years rather than for the term, that is still incredibly common (from chart dump by Resolution Foundation after the latest interest rate rise by the BofE):

[viper37]

In 10 years, my house market price went up by 2.3x and they say Montreal still has a long way to go before calming down.

there are signs it is calming down now.  But of course, the city will triple your taxes long before that.

[Gups]

Interesting on fixed term - although you fix them ever 3-5 years rather than for the term, that is still incredibly common (from chart dump by Resolution Foundation after the latest interest rate rise by the BofE):

10 year fixes are increasingly common. I just got one which should take me through to the end of the mortgage.

Luckily I got it just before receent rises - until I started researching, I didn't know you could re-mortgage six months in advance - getting the deal sorted out at current rates to come into play later. Saved me at least £2K a year.

[Tamas]

I want a full term fixed one when we get there. Especially if we do end up buying this year, just before the crash.

[Gups]

I want a full term fixed one when we get there. Especially if we do end up buying this year, just before the crash.

Good luck. Last time I looked they were seriously uncompetitive (about 2.5% more than 5 year fixes), probably because there is such a tiny market for them here.

[Grey Fox]

In 10 years, my house market price went up by 2.3x and they say Montreal still has a long way to go before calming down.

there are signs it is calming down now.  But of course, the city will triple your taxes long before that.

 

I live in Laval, it was going to happen no matter what.

[Josquius]

I'm on a 5 year fix. There was the balance between not having interest rates go crazy so it costs more total and being able to pay it off ASAP.

[Richard Hakluyt]

I used standard variable rate for mine back in the day; figuring that the rate would fall in hard times and rise in good (but be affordable). Stagflation did not seem likely back then.
In 2007 we bought another house for my mother-in-law to use and got a very sweet deal, the rate was the Bank of England rate + 0.9%. When the financial crisis hit the bank rate plummeted so buying that place cost us virtually nothing in interest 
That was from a Dutch bank that exited the UK market shortly afterwards 

[Tonitrus]

The place I rented in the UK is back on the market, and half the rent I pay now...

Any of our resident Brits know a nice lass that take on a retired-young Yank in a couple year's time?