parthiban
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Posts posted by parthiban
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What happened then was a little different, it was actually due to the increased rates leading to increased cash deposits. As the banks were sitting on a lot of cash and no one was buying any property because of the uncertain environment the banks started aggressively competing with each other to try to win whatever business was out there.
Seems sensible, whatever happens it will take a while, so no point waiting indefinitely if your deal is up.
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The rates never dropped at the start of the year though?
If this level is affordable for you make sense to fix, the rest of this year is going to be very unpredictable given the elections here and in the US.
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There's been a lot of murmuring from both BoE and the Fed about rate cuts so they're definitely preparing for it, it'll all be timed around the elections though - I know they're not supposed to be linked but I'm sure they are lol. When banks start raising their rates it's often because they're expecting rate cuts.
It's all very uncertain though so right thing to do to just lock in at a rate that is affordable for you - sorry your plans to move didn't work out!
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14 hours ago, eddie said:
unless you set yourself up as a limited company... I can see why all this is putting private landlords off
And existing owners can't do this without paying stamp duty again........
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18 hours ago, eddie said:
You mean there is a different tax relief regime?
Yep - as an example, interest is fully deductible for corporates, not for private landlords.
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On 10/04/2024 at 12:58, eddie said:
Is there a war on private landlords? My experience of renting when I was younger was not a good one. The balance of power was always with the landlords. We should have rent controls here and I agree that everyone should have an affordable home. Having said that, stopping speculation is easier said than done - specially when we have politicians that are as bent as nine bob notes 🤣
Definitely - not all private landlords are great and the system definitely needs more control in place for how they operate but now that all reliefs have been removed for private landlords but not for corporate landlords it's created the perfect environment for them to simply buy up everything (which they are doing rapidly).
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Exactly, it's a perfect storm. Also the war on the private landlord was made to look like it'll free up a lot of property for people to buy, but that's not happening at all - it's all being snapped up by the likes of Blackstone in their 1000s so the property market is about to get a whole lot worse........
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On 29/03/2024 at 09:51, Rich said:
now interest rates have gone up he's making the same return from having the money in the bank as he was in the rent he received.
This is the key, if interest rates had never dropped to such a ridiculously low level we never would have ended up in the mess that we are in. It's funny when you think that those who created the 2008 financial crisis are the ones who have benefited the most from the post 2008 financial environment......... 🙄
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Interesting they're going up again - do you think they're getting ready for rate drops as we head towards the election?
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Haven't looked at it in a while, have you seen rates drop any further over the last few weeks/months?
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Right that makes sense, if you'll be settling a large chunk of the balance then the ERC is relevant. However, is your ERC constant throughout the term of the deal? I'm with Halifax and I believe (although not sure now if I'm wrong!) but I think ours reduces by 1% each year, so is 5% in the first year, 4% in the second year and so on.
I can totally see the rate dropping quite considerably before the end of the year because of the upcoming election - never know what might happen but I'd be very surprised if the rate isn't a lot lower than it currently is by the time of the election (and the same will most likely happen in the US too).
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On 24/01/2024 at 22:14, Rich said:
If I had no plans to move then I would fix today at that rate for 5 years. But when we do move the ERC will wipe out all savings made from the lower rate.
Sorry if I've missed it earlier but if you move are you not planning to buy another house?
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On 19/01/2024 at 13:33, Rich said:
I probably won't do a 5 year fix but 3.89% seems very good compared to 2023. It's unlikely to drop back to what they used to be but how much lower do we think it might go. I can't see it being under 3% for a very long time.
True, 3.89% is a decent rate and it's unlikely to go back to how it was - I'd maybe wait a month to see what happens and then fix at the lowest rate available then.
I did hear that Santander have bucked the trend and are increasing rates, so it's possible this rate war won't last forever.
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My hunch is that the base rate will drop through the year as we head towards the election, so if you can afford it it might pay to stick on a tracker for a few months to see how this plays out.
I definitely wouldn't want to fix for longer than 2 years at the moment, the base rate is very unlikely to go any higher but the banks are fighting against each other for business (hence rates reducing) because no one is buying anything at all.
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This sounds like a right nightmare of an experience! I'm surprised they're trying so hard not to sell a car, especially in times like these.
Agree on heated seats, wouldn't buy a car without them - in Canada it's not just the front, most cars have rear heated seats too!
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18 hours ago, Viking said:
Things must've changed since I remortgaged earlier this year. I got a 5 year fixed deal, no fees, free survey at 1.67%... 😬
Wow - what a difference a few months make......
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Generally unless your mortgage amount is really small, paying the fee upfront is always cheaper than the higher rate no fee option (as you've found!)
Also factor in the legal fees/valuation fees/other costs if you were to remortgage to another lender so sometimes it's easier and cheaper to just switch deal with the same lender. We're looking at similar rates so that's consistent - I think the lowest option for us was around 2.2% I think but lending criteria didn't suit us!
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I think that's the right decision and we're leaning towards the same, with the price of everything else going up this at least being constant does make things a bit easier!
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Going through this dilemma at the moment, and it's a tough one given the current interest rate environment! The fact that 5 year and 10 year fixed rates are the same does suggest that banks are not expecting interest rates to continue to increase in the long term, and that makes it even more confusing.
Best option is to consider whether you could still afford the mortgage if the rates rose and if you're happy with the risk, if you're not then stick to a fixed rate as I can't see rates coming down again in the short term.
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I have PS4s on my Lexus and they're great! Very quiet and comfortable. Haven't had them long enough to comment on wear, but they don't seem to be wearing particularly quickly.
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Not much to add on what others have said, but I feel the same, don't see a huge amount of point in it continuing without Tony or WIM. Been great being a part of this, and it's really sad to see it end like this but sadly it is what it is.
As others have said huge thanks to Rich for all his hard work keeping this going, think it would have died a long time ago without you!
For the few of us who use this as a kind of social platform, perhaps a FB group or something? But the costs of running the forum does seem a bit pointless now.
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Canadian drivers, seems about right lol
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On 24/12/2020 at 16:12, Tony said:
Really a heated car park?
Not that uncommon in Canada, especially in nicer buildings. And there is something weirdly nice about getting into a warm car in the middle of winter!
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The garage isn't big enough to work in sadly, but the weather down here hasn't been bad at all. Weirdly there is no red and black wire at all, and when I count the pins 14 works out to be a beige coloured wire?
Either way I really don't need the reverse cam so I'm not bothered, everything has been tidied up and fully installed, and the dash cam is in place too - pretty happy with the results! Got too dark to take decent photos, will grab some soon.
And wireless android auto is brilliant, just jump in the car, it automatically connects and everything works way more flawlessly than I expected! The annoying part is now I'm going to want to have android auto in the 360........
Tracker or Fixed mortgage
in Insurance & Legal Discussions
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Yep I'd go for it, I can't see anything happen until we get closer to the election. It all surrounds the US and UK elections and both countries will start dropping rates together.
It makes sense too, they'll drop the rate to try and win the election, and even if it doesn't work the new govt needs to be the ones to put the rates back up again which is unpopular so it's a win win scenario.