Reap the Rewards by Overpaying on your Mortgage
Here’s how to save ten of thousands on your home loan and become mortgage-free years early
Have you ever considered overpaying on your mortgage? If not, there’s two major reasons why you should start giving it serious thought right now. The first is that savings rates are still extremely poor. You’ll be hard pressed to find a safe investment where you can get a decent return. Overpaying on your mortgage will save you tens of thousands, guaranteed. The second is that interest rates are expected to continue to increase over the coming years – increasing repayments. Overpaying will reduce the total you begrudgingly give over to the bank and end your indebtedness years in advance.
Monthly Overpayments or Lump Sum Overpayments?
You can make a lump sum overpayment which will have an immediate effect on the remaining length of your mortgage. For obvious reasons this option is not available to most but those who have come into an inheritance or sold an asset can save enormous amounts of money.
An alternative option is to repay slightly more than required each month on your mortgage. Money Saving Expert have a useful calculator to help you determine how much you can save by regularly overpaying each month. Say, for instance, you have £150,000 left on your mortgage, 25 years to go and an interest rate currently at 4.5%. By paying just £100 per month extra you would save £20,010 in interest repayments and pay off the mortgage nearly four and a half years earlier.
Check the fine print
In you are in a fixed rate period, or an introductory offer then a lot of lenders may only allow you to pay up to 10% of your mortgage balance as an overpayment each year. You really need to check the fine print on your terms and conditions as you don’t want to be liable for penalty fees. These can typically be between 1% and 5% of the overpayment made. Again, you’ll need to check the fine print to check what the exact penalties are.
If you are on a standard variable rate then the vast majority of lenders won’t have any restrictions on the level of overpayments you make. Keep in mind standard variable rates are more expensive so you might be better off getting a re-mortgage and fixing your rate.
Overpayments and Re-mortgages
If you have been overpaying your mortgage consistently and then you go to re-mortgage you may find you get a far better deal than you expected. The reason for this is the deal your lender will give you will depend on your loan-to-value ratio (LTV). This measures the size of the outstanding mortgage compared with the market value of your property. If you purchase a property with a 10% deposit then your LTV is 90%. As you pay off your mortgage your LTV will drop. If you’re overpaying on your mortgage it will drop at an increased rate. Then you can get an even better deal on your re-mortgage.
Make sure you have a contingency fund
It is all well and good making overpayments on your mortgage but what if you were unexpectedly made redundant or you needed to spend significant money on something that you did not anticipate. You would still be obligated to make your mortgage repayments in full each month (although some mortgages allow you to underpay if you have built up some credit). Therefore you should really have some funds saved for emergencies before you start overpaying your mortgage.
If you would like advice in relation to any issues regarding remortgaging your property please give us a call on 02891 817715 or contact our property team by email at property@boydricesolicitors.com.
