Aug 1, 2008

The Flexible Mortgages

The Flexible Mortgages
by Richard David

The Flexible Mortgages take many shapes and forms, with borrowers choosing from a host of exciting features and methods of rate control. People have reacted to rising house prices and interest rates with the search for greater control over their financial lives.

Flexible mortgages can help restore some of that control because their very flexibility makes it easy for people to manage their money in the way that suits them best.Although you tend to pay slightly higher interest rates for flexible mortgages; the benefits make this product the best mortgage choice for some.

A flexible mortgage offers the possibility of altering your monthly payments in line with your circumstances without penalty. For example, you may wish to pay off the mortgage quicker. You can do this by making occasional over payments. You could also make underpayments or even take a 'payment holiday' or draw down cash if the circumstances arise.

Flexible mortgages put you in charge of your finances, and offer the potential to save a huge amount of money if used properly. They can be ideal for anyone with a fluctuating income, such as the self-employed. A flexible mortgage is designed to give you more control over your finances with varying degrees of flexibility - you should be able to overpay, borrow back over payments, underpay and take payment holidays when you make a payment, plus as soon as you make a mortgage payment you start paying interest on a smaller loan amount.

Flexible mortgages are not always offered at the lowest interest rates. You may have to pay a slight premium for maximum flexibility. Borrowers can also look into standard mortgages with flexible features, as these might also be a good option. An offset mortgage broker like the offset mortgage centre will be able to give professional advice. It's important to realize that not all flexible mortgages offer the same amount of flexibility.

The minimum features that you should be offered are the ability to overpay or underpay, borrow back your over payments, take a payment holiday, benefit from daily interest calculation, not be tied in by extended early repayment charges. Flexible mortgages take the form of many different types of products, with fixed rate flexible mortgages, discount flexible mortgages and tracker flexible mortgages all on offer. It's important to know exactly what the mortgage lender is offering and to take care to work out whether it will be worth your paying extra for these features.


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