How did you choose your mortgage provider?

ixoy

I'm wondering what criteria people used when trying to pick a mortgage provider?

I've been glancing at the rates offered by the main ones: AIB, EBS, BOI, KBC, TBS and Ulster Bank and there's not a huge difference in the variable rates with the LTV ratio that I'd be going for. All seem to allow top up payments, etc as well.

So what were the driving factors for people? Was it purely down to the percentage difference in rates? I see KBC do appear to have the lowest ones - a good thing or just a trigger to lock us into future steeper rate rises?

Was it hedging a bet on the future rate rises? I would have thought AIB would be more shaky for example given their finances so maybe more likely to rise.

Was it incentives offered at the start of the mortgage (cheap first year, stamp duty payments, etc)?

Not sure which I'd be best talking to - I can crunch the numbers on their sites myself so wondering what else I should be thinking of.

DavyD_83

May not help you in your decision, but we ended up with Ulster because nobody else would give us a mortgage without demonstrating much higher savings for a 6 month period. As it turns out, we got a pretty good rate, which I think is still lower than AIB rate; ufirst account at the time meant reduced rate at the time.
we went sale agreed before applying (not to be advised, but worked out for us), so didn't really want to try hold off for 5 or 6 months.
good luck!!

rotun

We went with the only ones who'd talk to us three years ago, BOI

connected1

Eh, we didn't have the luxury of choosing. We went with the one that choose us ie gave us a mortgage

_Brian

We didn't.
Our mortgage provider was taken over by Ulster Bank.

TheDriver

I am currently picking and went for AIB because:
a) I can pop in locally
b) rates are good (maybe not the best but average)
c) they more than likely won't be taken over in the 20-30 years ahead
d) already with AIB so less paperwork gathering.
e) they seemed helpful in the branch

pawrick

I went with the one offering the best rate at the time and who had the best staff to deal with, which for me was EBS.
I'm a BOI customer but my local branch for day to day transactions really makes it a pain to deal with them in person although the paperwork side would have been easier as they have all my records.

Bateman

We haven’t yet bought but from the offers received, I think we will go with KBC. I think they have less exposure to trackers than some of the Irish banks so are unlikely to screw SVR customers – that’s part hope, part expectation. The Irish banks just seem generally rotten too

Gloomtastic!

We went with BofI because I'd had an account there for years and the manager filled out all the forms for me. Likewise, Life Assurance and Mortgage Protection Insurance.
I hate filling out forms ....... :roll:

NIMAN

I think I picked AIB simply because their SVR was just slightly lower than BOIs.

TheDriver

on a point by another poster re KBC, that's the reason why I kept away from them. AIB has a lot of mortgages here and if they start hiking up the svr, politicians will be in on it. Not sure you would get any influence with KBC and maybe they can screw the customer base when they get sick of the irish market?? Or maybe I am talking crap......

Bateman

KBC do have plenty of non-performing rubbish in their book but I assume it's proportionally less than the domestic players

complexity

Bateman wrote: »

We haven’t yet bought but from the offers received, I think we will go with KBC. I think they have less exposure to trackers than some of the Irish banks so are unlikely to screw SVR customers – that’s part hope, part expectation. The Irish banks just seem generally rotten too

We chose KBC based on their cheapest rate, and also from a general antipathy towards Irish Banks. They have been meticulous about asking for huge amounts of information about every account, have taken their time about everything, have asked for the same confirmation of details 3 times over, and though we forwarded them an email from the vendors threatening to put the house back on the market because of the delay, it still took them 5 days to send out the mortage pack, though they had all the information needed.

Our insurance guy told us that KBC are notorious for suddenly asking for obscure proofs of things, just when you thought you were done. I don't know if PTSB would have been the same, but I wish we had gone with them.

ixoy

I have accounts spread over multiple banks so I no longer have a single bank that would make my transactions easier - I'm doing paperwork either way. It doesn't bother me: I'm more than willing to put a bit of extra work in to get the best deal.

Banks being exposed to bad loans could mean interest rate increases, which would be a concern but from what I can tell once one bank puts up their rates, all the rest follow.

Ulster Bank seem to have decent rates and maybe not as widely exposed. They could be the right answer. EBS seem to have higher rates, although I thought their Mortgage Information Evening gave an impression of being quite prepared about how they handle FTBs.

Of course they could all turn me down but it seems they're lending again and I have, I believe, a good credit history and savings so hopefully I'm the one that gets to choose!

Balmed Out

I intend going with KCB as they have the best rates and because rightly or wrongly I believe them to be less exposed to bad debts and so less likely to have higher rates going forward.

opus

NIMAN wrote: »

I think I picked AIB simply because their SVR was just slightly lower than BOIs.

Same for me I think, as well their branch was pretty close to where I work so handy for the many times I had to call in.

.338lapuamag

We went with KBC - really good to deal with.

andrea2010

Avoid Kbc. All great when you're applying etc... Like most corporates they love selling things to you. I have an investment mortgage with Kbc for 10 years I pay capital and interest and have never missed a payment. I pay by standing order before the end of the month but kbc has decided in the last year that this doesn't suit them anymore. They call me roughly 6 times a month to tell me my mortgage is late because it's not paid by 2nd . I have asked them to stop calling and send me a letter a request they ignore every time mainly because they have nothing to actually say to me. I haven't answered the phone to them in about 4 months and they still haven't written to me which shows the purpose of this " payments team" is purely to exert additional pressure on their clients they have decided are at risk of falling into arrears, this is not me and no matter how many times I've told them that I have paid by standing order on the same date for 10 years they still continue to call me every month. Their staff are rude aggressive, ill informed and ignorant, so imagine what they are like if you are actually in arrears!
If I could walk away from Kbc I would. They treat their customers appallingly. I would stay with a bank under the state guarantee scheme who will have some sense of responsibility to an Irish customer. KBC are nothing but corporate bullys who treat their customers as a statistic and not a person. Don't be fooled by the sales blurb and know that if you are with Kbc and at some point in the future you find yourself in difficulty Kbc will make your life hell, you just have to google "priory hall Kbc" to know that's true.