Читать книгу Money: A User’s Guide - Laura Whateley - Страница 45

A mortgage is likely to be your biggest financial outlay for the next twenty to thirty years. Choose wisely and you save thousands of pounds. There are a lot of mortgages to choose from, however, so it’s not easy. A broker will help you navigate the market, but first understand what you are signing up for yourself.

How much a mortgage will cost you up front, when you first get accepted for one, and from month to month for the next few years, depends on what that mortgage ‘product’ is made up of and the length of its term. Most are a mix of capital repayment, interest, and arrangement fees. These fees are significant, sometimes several thousand pounds.

The ‘term’ is how long a period you are given to pay back your mortgage. Many are twenty-five years, though the first forty-year mortgages have started to appear. You can lower the amount you pay month on month by opting for a longer term, but longer terms accrue more interest over time. It is a balancing act.

Similarly a mortgage with the cheapest interest rate is not always the cheapest deal over the longer term. You need to work out whether lower arrangement fees mean that you may be better off with a slightly higher interest rate, or vice versa. Banks are clever at making an offer look more attractive with low advertised rates but ultra-high arrangement fees.

Also look out for flexibility. Can you overpay your mortgage without being charged fees if you expect a bumper pay rise in the future? Can you take any break from mortgage payments without penalty if, for example, you know there’s a period when you will see a dip in earnings?