Has anyone successfully refinanced lately?

Addle

I have a mortgage, credit union loan and credit card bill.
All outstanding finances were incurred in purchasing and renovating my home.
Luckily, and thankfully, the value of my home is greater than my outstanding debt.
I'd like to amalgamate all my repayments.
Do banks offer such opportunities anymore?

Anyone

Addle wrote: »

I have a mortgage, credit union loan and credit card bill.
All outstanding finances were incurred in purchasing and renovating my home.
Luckily, and thankfully, the value of my home is greater than my outstanding debt.
I'd like to amalgamate all my repayments.
Do banks offer such opportunities anymore?

Doubt it. Its a pretty stupid idea to take non mortgage debt and pay it over a mortgage term. ie paying a credit card bill over 20 years.

The Rooster

Anyone wrote: »

Doubt it. Its a pretty stupid idea to take non mortgage debt and pay it over a mortgage term. ie paying a credit card bill over 20 years.

While building up a big balance on an credit card with high interest rates is not a clever idea, its certainly not a stupid idea to move debt from 15%+ down to mortgage rates.

If you have €10,000 on a credit card bill and can only allocate say €125 a month against it, then you are just paying the interest and the amount owing will remain at €10,000.

But if you can move that €10,000 to a mortgage rate and allocate €125 a month to it, you will be paying both interest and capital, and you would have the full capital balance paid off in 8 years.

If you have a 20 year mortgage, it doesnt necessarily mean you have to take the full 20 years to pay it down. Increased or lump sum payments are allowed (subject to any fixed rate you lock into).

However, for a bank to agree to increase your mortgage, they'd wanna be very sure your loan to value ratio is very good.

Addle

Thanks for the replies.
Is it worth my while even approaching a bank?!
My debt is about 60% of the value of my home.

Addle

And I'm only a couple of years into my mortgage.

Is it bad to have a refused application on record?

Addle

Anyone wrote: »

Doubt it. Its a pretty stupid idea to take non mortgage debt and pay it over a mortgage term. ie paying a credit card bill over 20 years.

Would that be better than struggling to pay for it now though?

roro2

Addle wrote: »

Would that be better than struggling to pay for it now though?

No - it's not a stupid idea in the slightest.

But, if you're struggling to pay it, it wouldn't look good for getting a mortgage top-up.

wonski

Addle wrote: »

And I'm only a couple of years into my mortgage.

Is it bad to have a refused application on record?

It isn't really bad, unless you make number of applications in short period of time. The result of an application isn't recorded, only number of them.
What is bad on records is arrears and missed payments really.

hfallada

Would you not get a credit card that has an interest free period? The most ridiculous thing to do is to pile on short term debt on to long term debt.

You might still be paying for that credit card bill in 25-35 years

murphaph

hfallada wrote: »

Would you not get a credit card that has an interest free period? The most ridiculous thing to do is to pile on short term debt on to long term debt.

You might still be paying for that credit card bill in 25-35 years

As noted above, it's not silly to do what the OP wants to do, in principle. If he has the discipline to make over payments to clear the added capital. If he just adds the CC debt to the mortgage and pays it off over the remaining life of the mortgage then yes, it's a poor decision as it will cost a lot more in the long run.

Addle

I have the means to pay off my credit card bill with savings but can only access the savings if i pay off my credit union loan...