Saving/Applying for a mortgage 2015/16/17/18/19

Blanco100

need to get home insurance in place before drawdown of the mortgage. Silly question but what do you need to be asking for?

How much do people generally insure the house for? Absolutely ridiculous question I know, but is there a general ball park figure?

Also can anyone recommend any good deals at the moment?

Dupont

Blanco100 wrote: »

need to get home insurance in place before drawdown of the mortgage. Silly question but what do you need to be asking for?

How much do people generally insure the house for? Absolutely ridiculous question I know, but is there a general ball park figure?

Also can anyone recommend any good deals at the moment?

We’re going with 30k for contents. Seems to be what we seen when we looked about and what people recommend as first time buyers for the amount of stuff we would have in the house. Chill and Zurich are worth a shot. We’re going with Zurich

G_R

Blanco100 wrote: »

need to get home insurance in place before drawdown of the mortgage. Silly question but what do you need to be asking for?

How much do people generally insure the house for? Absolutely ridiculous question I know, but is there a general ball park figure?

Also can anyone recommend any good deals at the moment?

For the buildings cover, there will be a recommended insurance cover amount or an estimated rebuild cost on the valuation you got done for the bank when you were getting the loan offer. Go with that figure.

For contents, it really depends on what you have in the house. 30k will probably be sufficient, but it really depends on what you have in the house. Make sure you specifically add on any high value items you have like jewellery etc, as these are usually excluded unless stated on the policy

ChewBerecca

Blanco100 wrote: »

need to get home insurance in place before drawdown of the mortgage. Silly question but what do you need to be asking for?

How much do people generally insure the house for? Absolutely ridiculous question I know, but is there a general ball park figure?

Also can anyone recommend any good deals at the moment?

As the post above said, go with the rebuild figure on the banks valuation report.

You can get discounts for being a first time buyer, having an alarm on the property, paying in one lump sum etc. Each insurance company has their own discounts.

If you want to pay monthly, just be aware that some companies charge more per month than if you pay upfront for the year.

Bez Bing

Quick question if I take out a mortgage with a higher rate to avail of cash back offer and fix for one or two years, is there anything there to stop me going back to the lower rate option once the first year is up (assuming the other product is still being offered)?

For example BOI offer cash back on a 1 year fixed but the rate is 2.9%.
They have a separate fixed rate product with a rate of 2.5% that doesn't have the cash back.

Has anyone done anything similar?

TheShow

Bez Bing wrote: »

Quick question if I take out a mortgage with a higher rate to avail of cash back offer and fix for one or two years, is there anything there to stop me going back to the lower rate option once the first year is up (assuming the other product is still being offered)?

For example BOI offer cash back on a 1 year fixed but the rate is 2.9%.
They have a separate fixed rate product with a rate of 2.5% that doesn't have the cash back.

Has anyone done anything similar?

seems perfectly legit. I went form 1 yr fixed and moved to a 5 yr fixed at a lower rate when it expire and no consequences other than reduced payments.

DelBoy Trotter

I'm having the same thoughts as Bez Bing at the moment. We want to fix for 5 years. We are approved with AIB and the 5 year fixed rate is 2.85%. EBS 5 year fixed rate is 3%, however, if we got approved for the same amount with EBS, the cashback offer would mean we would get 7.5k cashback after draw down

Bez Bing

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

I'm having the same thoughts as Bez Bing at the moment. We want to fix for 5 years. We are approved with AIB and the 5 year fixed rate is 2.85%. EBS 5 year fixed rate is 3%, however, if we got approved for the same amount with EBS, the cashback offer would mean we would get 7.5k cashback after draw down

We seems to be in a similar situations, have a look at the BOI offers, I found them to be the most competitive if you want to take the cash back offer.
Granted their variable rates are one the highest out there but I don't intent in gong near any variable rate products.

colly10

Hi, i’m looking to get a solicitor organised before Saturday cause I want to buy a new home in Kilcock.
Could anyone recommend anyone they found good and is getting a solicitor just a case of giving them a call?

DelBoy Trotter

Bez Bing wrote: »

We seems to be in a similar situations, have a look at the BOI offers, I found them to be the most competitive if you want to take the cash back offer.
Granted their variable rates are one the highest out there but I don't intent in gong near any variable rate products.

The cash back deal with EBS and BOI looks to be the exact same for me at the moment. This is currently what I am looking at:

AIB:
- Application approved
- 2.85% for 5 years fixed
- No cashback
- Can defer the first 6 months of payments

EBS:
- Not applied
- 3% for 5 years fixed
- 7.5k cashback after drawdown
- 2.5k cashback if mortgage is still with them after 5 years
- Can't see any option to defer initial payments

BOI:
- Not applied
- 3% for 5 years fixed
- 7.5k cashback after drawdown
- 2.5k cashback if mortgage is still with them after 5 years
- Can defer the first 3 months of payments

I'm now thinking that maybe I should apply to BOI . For the two cash back offers, draw down has to be before 31st December, and seeing as we haven't found a house we like enough to even put in a bid yet, we would be doing well to be drawn down by the end of the year I'd say

awec

AIB don't do cashback but the moratorium on mortgage payments has the same effect really (obviously depending on what your mortgage payments are).

Bez Bing

awec wrote: »

AIB don't do cashback but the moratorium on mortgage payments has the same effect really (obviously depending on what your mortgage payments are).

No there are not. While on a moratorium the mortgage still accrues interest and as term stays the same your re-payments end up being higher. Cash back is a different concept to a moratorium.

Bez Bing

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

The cash back deal with EBS and BOI looks to be the exact same for me at the moment. This is currently what I am looking at:

AIB:
- Application approved
- 2.85% for 5 years fixed
- No cashback
- Can defer the first 6 months of payments

EBS:
- Not applied
- 3% for 5 years fixed
- 7.5k cashback after drawdown
- 2.5k cashback if mortgage is still with them after 5 years
- Can't see any option to defer initial payments

BOI:
- Not applied
- 3% for 5 years fixed
- 7.5k cashback after drawdown
- 2.5k cashback if mortgage is still with them after 5 years
- Can defer the first 3 months of payments

I'm now thinking that maybe I should apply to BOI . For the two cash back offers, draw down has to be before 31st December, and seeing as we haven't found a house we like enough to even put in a bid yet, we would be doing well to be drawn down by the end of the year I'd say

Look at the BOI 1 and 2 year fixed with cash back, the rate is 2.9%. They also offer a 2.5% 5 year fixed which I'm planning to move to after my initial fixed term is up (assuming there is not a better option in the meantime)

awec

Bez Bing wrote: »

No there are not. While on a moratorium the mortgage still accrues interest and as term stays the same your re-payments end up being higher. Cash back is a different concept to a moratorium.

Yes but the other two banks have higher interest rates to start with.

Bez Bing

awec wrote: »

Yes but the other two banks have higher interest rates to start with.

True, however in my case the cashback is a much more attractive offer than a moratorium.
I wouldn't compare one to the other, the are different concepts.

Mickiemcfist

Bez Bing wrote: »

No there are not. While on a moratorium the mortgage still accrues interest and as term stays the same your re-payments end up being higher. Cash back is a different concept to a moratorium.

They're different ways of doing the same thing. You pay for both over the life of the loan whether you know it or not.
The cashback is lumped onto the interest rate.

Blanco100

ChewBerecca wrote: »

As the post above said, go with the rebuild figure on the banks valuation report.

You can get discounts for being a first time buyer, having an alarm on the property, paying in one lump sum etc. Each insurance company has their own discounts.

If you want to pay monthly, just be aware that some companies charge more per month than if you pay upfront for the year.

Its very difficult trying to get all our ducks in order and what tasks to sort first.

Approved by bank, we have our letter of offer, we are sale agreed (engineers report held things up but all sorted now) but solicitor said we will sign letter of offer together and return to bank once he has contracts at hand. its only then he will do title searches etc.

The bank however are chasing us for the letter of offer to be signed, to sort out home insurance, mortgage protection and a valuation report in meantime.

To me it seems silly to organise all these before the solicitor does his work, no point in getting these policies/ valuation in place only to have solicitor tell us theres an issue. Am i correct in holding off?

Hard to know whats the most efficient way of doing things

Bez Bing

Mickiemcfist wrote: »

They're different ways of doing the same thing. You pay for both over the life of the loan whether you know it or not.
The cashback is lumped onto the interest rate.

Well that's back to my original question, if I chose a 1 year fixed term to avail of the cashback and then move to a different option at the end of this term (with the same lender) that offers a lower interest rate then I'm getting the best of both worlds?


In this scenario I'm only stuck with the higher rate for 1 year.

KingCong

Mickiemcfist wrote: »

They're different ways of doing the same thing. You pay for both over the life of the loan whether you know it or not.
The cashback is lumped onto the interest rate.

That's why you should take the cash back offer then switch away after a year to a bank with a better rate (or another cash back bank and then rinse/repeat)

DelBoy Trotter

Bez Bing wrote: »

Look at the BOI 1 and 2 year fixed with cash back, the rate is 2.9%. They also offer a 2.5% 5 year fixed which I'm planning to move to after my initial fixed term is up (assuming there is not a better option in the meantime)

The 2.5% fixed rate isn't available to FTBs who are looking at a 88-90% LTV so that's no good for us.

DelBoy Trotter

KingCong wrote: »

That's why you should take the cash back offer then switch away after a year to a bank with a better rate (or another cash back bank and then rinse/repeat)

What is the cost of changing provider?

TheShow

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

I'm having the same thoughts as Bez Bing at the moment. We want to fix for 5 years. We are approved with AIB and the 5 year fixed rate is 2.85%. EBS 5 year fixed rate is 3%, however, if we got approved for the same amount with EBS, the cashback offer would mean we would get 7.5k cashback after draw down

If you're already approved with AIB, you may not be able to get approval from EBS and vice versa as EBS is owned by AIB. I think there were a few posts earlier saying that one wouldn't quote against the other.

DelBoy Trotter

TheShow wrote: »

If you're already approved with AIB, you may not be able to get approval from EBS and vice versa as EBS is owned by AIB. I think there were a few posts earlier saying that one wouldn't quote against the other.

There was one person who had that said to them, but a few posters countered that with examples of being approved by both AIB and EBS

ChewBerecca

Blanco100 wrote: »

Its very difficult trying to get all our ducks in order and what tasks to sort first.

Approved by bank, we have our letter of offer, we are sale agreed (engineers report held things up but all sorted now) but solicitor said we will sign letter of offer together and return to bank once he has contracts at hand. its only then he will do title searches etc.

The bank however are chasing us for the letter of offer to be signed, to sort out home insurance, mortgage protection and a valuation report in meantime.

To me it seems silly to organise all these before the solicitor does his work, no point in getting these policies/ valuation in place only to have solicitor tell us theres an issue. Am i correct in holding off?

Hard to know whats the most efficient way of doing things

You cant get the home insurance policy without a rebuild cost which most people obtain from the bank valuation report.

The solicitor will get you to sign the letter of offer/mortgage pack with the contracts when they are happy to let you sign.

We got our insurances in place just before we signed, policies starting around the expected closing date (mortgage protection insurance was approved the day of). The home insurance is a quick one to do and is recommended to be in place when you sign in case the house burns down before closing and the vendor tries to claim it's your responsibility after signing.

The insurance piece has been more difficult than the mortgage itself. We just got the assignment documents filled in and sent off. It could take a while to assign the mortgage protection policy because it's not with the bank so we needed to get them sorted before we go to drawdown.

Closing date is due Friday week but we highly doubt the vendor will be ready so are expecting another week or two minimum.

TheShow

Blanco100 wrote: »

Its very difficult trying to get all our ducks in order and what tasks to sort first.

Approved by bank, we have our letter of offer, we are sale agreed (engineers report held things up but all sorted now) but solicitor said we will sign letter of offer together and return to bank once he has contracts at hand. its only then he will do title searches etc.

The bank however are chasing us for the letter of offer to be signed, to sort out home insurance, mortgage protection and a valuation report in meantime.

To me it seems silly to organise all these before the solicitor does his work, no point in getting these policies/ valuation in place only to have solicitor tell us theres an issue. Am i correct in holding off?

Hard to know whats the most efficient way of doing things

The solicitor will just review the terms of the contract for now. Title searches etc are not done until closing day.
If you have the engineers report and are happy with it, then go ahead with the valuation, no point in holding that up.
The rest can be done very quickly when you are closer to closing the sale. No point in getting an home insurance policy without the rebuild cost as the bank wont accept it, so it is just a waste of time.
Contract/offer letter can be be done on the same day when you're in with the solicitor and he/she is happy with the terms of the contract.

drunkmonkey

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

There was one person who had that said to them, but a few posters countered that with examples of being approved by both AIB and EBS

I thought they said approval in principle from both...that's not approval to draw funds...

nak

Is it possible to get final approval on a mortgage without having sufficient funds for 100% of solicitors fees? We have the stamp duty and deposit saved and will have the rest in a month . It's a new build that isn't finished yet. The broker submitted the application and didn't mention it.

Brian201888

nak wrote: »

Is it possible to get final approval on a mortgage without having sufficient funds for 100% of solicitors fees? We have the stamp duty and deposit saved and will have the rest in a month . It's a new build that isn't finished yet. The broker submitted the application and didn't mention it.

Was possible for us anyway, was a condition of drawdown that we needed the other funds.

nak

Brian201888 wrote: »

Was possible for us anyway, was a condition of drawdown that we needed the other funds.

Great, waiting on a response from PTSB and starting to panic!

ChewBerecca

nak wrote: »

Is it possible to get final approval on a mortgage without having sufficient funds for 100% of solicitors fees? We have the stamp duty and deposit saved and will have the rest in a month . It's a new build that isn't finished yet. The broker submitted the application and didn't mention it.

It wasn't possible for us with AIB.

Our mortgage advisor knew that one set of our parents was planning on paying the solicitor (family friend, mortgage advisor knows both the parents and solicitor) and another set the stamp duty.

We were still asked to have 6k deposited into one of our accounts and gift letters signed before they would submit the application in order to prove if the sale closed the following day we had all funds in place.