Unfortunately, over the past number of months anyone who has a mortgage will have noticed that the interest rates have increased time and time again. Its also likely that we have not seen the end of these interest rate hikes. This is why it is so important that anyone who has a mortgage examines the market to ensure that they are on the best possible rate. There are various types of mortgages being offered by various lenders. Some people have decided to opt for variable rate mortgages and others have decided to opt for fixed rate mortgages. The advantages of a fixed rate mortgage is that you have a fixed monthly payment for the duration of the “fixed rate period”. The duration of the fixed rate can vary but its typically for around 5 years. Once the fixed rate is over you can shop around with different banks and go with whichever bank is offering the best rate at that particular time.
The switching process from one bank to the other is relatively straight forward. However, there are certain things that you will need to do if you are thinking of switching your mortgage:
- If you are thinking of switching your current mortgage to a new mortgage provider then it is extremely important to speak to your solicitor as early as possible. This is because when your new mortgage provider issues the mortgage paperwork to your solicitor your solicitor will need to certify the legal title to the bank. In order to do this your solicitor will need the physical title deeds from your bank. It is currently taking most banks around 4 – 6 weeks to issue title deeds to the solicitor. Therefore, if you are thinking of switching mortgage providers the first thing you should do is to contact your solicitor and sign an authority authorising your current bank to send the title deeds to the solicitor. If you do this at an early stage it will cut out delays later in the process.
- Shop around and speak to various banks/mortgage advisors or financial advisors to ensure that you are on an interest rate and mortgage that suits the needs of you and your family best.
- Once your new mortgage has been approved the bank will send the full legal pack to your solicitor. You can then meet with your solicitor and execute all of the security documentation provided everything is in order with the title documents. You will also need to ensure that any requirements that the bank have are met. These typically include getting an up-to-date valuation done on your property and ensuring that you have adequate life and home insurance.
- Once all of the above is taken care of your solicitor will request that your new mortgage provider releases the mortgage funds. Once the funds are received by your solicitor they will ensure that the new mortgage is registered over your property and that the old mortgage is redeemed in full. They will also ensure that the old mortgage is removed/cancelled from your title deeds.
- When all of the above is done your solicitor will then return all of the title documents to your new lender who will retain them until the new mortgage has been redeemed.
Should you have any questions in relation to new or existing mortgages please do not hesitate to contact us.
