If you are looking to save money on your existing mortgage or to raise some additional money against your property, remortgaging your home could be the perfect option.
Remortgaging involves moving your mortgage from one lender to another without moving home.
As well as the possibility of raising additional funds, cheap remortgages also give you the opportunity to benefit from lower or fixed monthly repayments.
What to look for when searching for the best remortgage rates
There are three main things to consider when looking for remortgages: best deals, fees and qualifying criteria.
When you begin to look for the best remortgage rates, a good starting point is to search for the mortgage deals that offer the lowest or most competitive interest rates.
These tend to be either fixed remortgage deals or discounted or tracker mortgage rates.
Fixed remortgage rates are where your repayments are guaranteed for a certain period, while discounted or tracker rates link the amount of interest you pay on your mortgage to another rate, typically the Bank of England Base rate or your lender’s Standard Variable rate (SVR).
As well as searching for the lowest interest rate on your remortgage it’s also important that you take any associated fees into account. Many cheap remortgages offer low rates but come with a substantial arrangement fee that adds to their cost. You may also have to pay substantial valuation or legal fees depending on the provider you're looking to switch to.
Finally, when you compare remortgage deals you should check that you are eligible for any product you are considering.
Remortgages are generally limited by ‘loan to value’ which is the proportion of your home’s value that you need to borrow.
Many of the best remortgage rates are offered to applicants with 30-40% equity in their home ( 70 - 60% LTV) and so there’s no point applying for these deals if you only have 10-20% equity.
Instead, you should find the best remortgage deal for the loan to value you need to borrow.
You should also check requirements like whether the offer is only available to existing customers of the mortgage provider, or those who already have a mortgage with them.
And, if you have a less than perfect credit rating then you may not be eligible for some of the best deals and a remortgage with bad credit may be more suitable.
These are all things to check before you apply for any remortgage deal.
How to compare remortgage deals
When you start your search for remortgages the best thing to do is to undertake a remortgage comparison so you get a good understanding of the types of deals that are available to you.
Remember to compare the interest rates offered by lenders as well as any fees and eligibility criteria. You should check whether you're tied to the mortgage deal for a fixed term, whether the rate of interest applied during this time is fixed or variable (and if so what rate it tracks) and whether early repayment charges will apply if you want to overpay.
With the market containing many thousands of remortgages it's simply a case of finding the best deals for your individual circumstances.
You can use our remortgage comparison table to compare the remortgages best deals available and find an option that suits.
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