Hello again. This has been a great week for me – one of my closest friends has come to stay for a couple of weeks and I am showing her London! Needless to say, we have stacks planned but will probably exhaust ourselves and slump in front of the telly after a few hectic days!
One of the things we are going to do is to see a favourite of mine - Martin Shaw - in a play at the Richmond Theatre. Plus a possible Bat Walk at the Wetland Centre…and there’s a jazz festival at Canary Wharf…whew, I feel tired already!
No matter how canny you are, today it just isn’t easy to predict what’s going to happen in the foreseeable future is it? Take mortgages: after the recent emergency budget, many industry experts are now predicting that the base rate will remain stable at around 0.5% until perhaps the end of 2012 – I even saw 2013 mentioned.
Even Chancellor George Osborne made reference in his budget speech to Bank of England governor Mervyn King’s recent comments that if growth does prove to be slower, interest rates will remain lower. So…for those of you thinking of buying a new home or re-mortgaging, where does this leave you over the next couple of years?
You can take a competitive fixed rate now – and with this you get the ability to budget. For those more risk-averse borrowers who simply want a planned budget, a fixed rate is a highly attractive option. It does mean however that you give up a low standard variable rate (SVR) and ignore the tracker rate linked to the Bank of England base rate.
In contrast, if you choose to embrace the prediction of a continued low base rate, in the short to medium term certainly there are some competitive choices. You can of course remain on a low SVR until you see signs of an upward trend, but should you want to exchange you may find that your lender excludes existing borrowers from their best products…
Perhaps you need to take advice here from a mortgage expert? If you don’t know who to ask about this I know that the friendly team at the Overseas Guides Company Resource Centre can recommend someone – give them a call on 0207 898 0549.
But sometimes even for the most experienced broker, there isn’t really a right or wrong answer. However I always feel that two heads are better than one, especially when that second ‘head’ has been concentrating on the mortgage market for years…!
I’m off to have fun – in the sun I hope – with my friend now. Fortunately, because she’s from South Africa, a few cooler days are quite welcome - I hope you are enjoying summer too.
Best wishes,
Carol.
http://www.GreeceBuyingGuide.com
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