Advice for landlords: Switching your buy to let mortgage
A buy to let mortgage can be a great way to make money. If you do it right, you will have tenants paying off your monthly mortgage payments, leaving you with a property to your name, and perhaps even some cash profits. There are, however, a great deal of aspects to take into account in order to make buy to let work for you.
Figuring out the right amount to charge for rent in order to cover the mortgage payments is a priority. Then, it is important to ensure you are making enough from rental income to cover unexpected interest rate rises, repairs, or void periods, when there are no tenants in your property. It is also a good idea to shop around for landlord’s insurance, to make sure you are not paying out more than you need to in order to keep covered in case of damages. When all of that is running smoothly it is important not to become complacent. It is still wise to review your finances regularly and, every three years or so, consider how well your buy to let mortgage is working for you.
Is it time to switch your buy to let mortgage?
It is easy to keep plodding away at paying your buy to let mortgage if rent money from tenants is coming in, but you could be missing a better deal. This is especially relevant if you have an SVR mortgage. With these, you are often offered a tempting low interest rate for a limited period at the beginning of the mortgage term. After a while, however, your interest rates may rise dramatically, making life difficult if you are forced to put rents up or face losing money. Provided you are not tied in with a redemption fee, you can look around for a better buy to let mortgage deal, or even ask your current mortgage provider if they can provide you with a more competitive product. Even if you are tied in by a redemption fee, it may work out cheaper in the long run to pay it, be released from your mortgage, and save money with another mortgage lender.
Mortgages can be confusing at times. Once you have discerned what all of the different types actually entail, there are hundreds products from countless lenders to wade through in order to find the right deal. There are, however, easier methods of applying for buy to let mortgage quotes, avoiding the stress, extra work, lost time and money worries. A mortgage broker who specialises in buy to let deals will search the market to find you the best possible deal. Mortgage brokers (provided they are “whole of market”) will find you the best deal so you don’t have to. They are also more likely to find you great deals on buy to let mortgages from smaller providers, which you might have missed if you only looked in high street banks and building societies. Alternatively, you can use online buy to let mortgage comparison to have instant access to quotes on hundreds of mortgage products.
Tags: buy to let mortgage, Landlords
