Mortgages

So after my self-imposed exile from the internet after the decision that shall not be spoken about, I was hoping some of the YBIG smarts on here might be able to give some of their advice and life experience on mortgages.

Now, we've just bought a house, moved in a month ago. I never, ever intend to do it ever again.

Anyways, we have a mortgage of €135k, variable rate, over 20 years. Nice tidy mortgage.

BUT, I'd love to be able to pay it off early, bit by bit. With variable mortgages, there are no early payment penalties. Our first payment was made mid last month. It was c. €780, €400 of which was interest (way more than I was expecting to be honest). So that's €380 off the capital.

If I went into the bank tomorrow and handed over €1200 and said to take it off my capital, does that equate to 3 months off the lifetime of the mortgage? Or am I missing a detail somewhere?

http://digital.ulsterbank.ie/personal/mortgages/secure/mortgage-overpayment-tool.html

Sham157 wrote: http://digital.ulsterbank.ie/personal/mortgages/secure/mortgage-overpayment-tool.html Not sure which bank you're with but that might give you an idea. My interest is applied every quarter and it equates to almost 2 monthly payments in that quarter.  Now neer mind that, what are you waffling about in the first line?

Exactly,never mind small things like mortgages,get to the proper stuff...???

You'd be better off upping your monthly payment if you can - this is the best way to shorten the lifetime of the mortgage and save on the interest. Can you use the €1,200 to up it by €100 a month and afford the €100 when it's gone? Handing over the lump sum wouldn't have the same benefit.

MayoMark wrote: So after my self-imposed exile from the internet after the decision that shall not be spoken about,

The thing to remember is that paying your current monthly payment (whatever it is) in 20 years will be much easier then than it is now, thanks to inflation. Paying off your mortgage three years early may sound very positive but the impact of the extra cash then may not be as beneficial as it is now, thanks to the decrease in the value of money in the interim.

Just something worth considering, much and all as you should probably pay off your mortgage as fast as you can comfortably afford.

There was a program on RTE last night called 'the great Irish sell off'. Basically how when the banks needed help they sold off loads of mortgages to vulture funds. Had heard the term vulture fund before but didn't really know what it was before it was explained last night.

Shedite wrote: No worse than the banks are doing to be fair. If ya fall behind on the banks you'll get threatening letters too. Saw the show, was interesting to see how they worked, but it was very one-sided. The poor lad from Charleville put his house up as collateral in 2009. Every dog in the street knows there's a good chance the loan will default and the house be lost. Sounded a horrible story though. One thing the didn't point out is that these "vulture funds" are the ones that people's pensions are made up of (my company pension is in Blackstone I think it's called), so every person with a pension is a member of a "vulture fund". It mentioned that if the mortgage is worth €300k, and the vulture fund buys it for €150k, then surely it makes more sense for the home owner to buy it for €180k. That to me, would just lead to everyone stopping paying their mortgage, and buying it back cheaper. There's no excuse for these vulture funds to still be paying no tax.

they also have to appoint a servicing firm who are regulated and homeowners have all the protections of legislation

MayoMark wrote: Anyone here ever do a switch? Is it possible to find a good rate for a switcher and then just haggle with your own bank to see if they can do any better? Also, our Loan to Value is due to go below 80% by the end of the year I hope  And that's based on what we paid for the house. The value of it would have risen a few % since we bought so we could be below 80% already. Would this give us any bargaining room?

In the middle of it at the moment. A lot less stressful as you're not rushing to secure a house or move in.