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Jargon free mortgage advice

Buying a house for the first time? Or, are you moving, remortgaging or looking to purchase an investment property? Mortgages are time-consuming, complex and stressful but an important area of financial advice. Our mortgage advisers will guide you through every step of what will be one of your most significant purchases in life.
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What is a mortgage?

A mortgage is a loan that helps you purchase a property. You will be required to put down a deposit for the property; the more deposit you contribute the lower the value of the loan and your monthly payments. You borrow the money from the lender for a number of years until either you sell the property and pay back the loan or the loan is repaid in full. Mortgages are often perceived as simple products that are easy to do yourself. Many people often choose the cheapest interest rate but the cheapest is not always the best option. There are other factors that should be considered when buying a house, such as your unique circumstances and overall financial objectives.

On top of that, there are hundreds of mortgage brokers and lenders, each with their own options available. Instead of having to walk into local high street banks, Unividual’s financial advisers will be able to research the open market for you and bring together what you need.  Our mortgage advisers have access to the whole of the market for mortgages and remortgaging. Once you contact us, we start with a free first meeting. Ideally, this is done face-to-face at a location and time convenient to you. There are times when clients need to move quickly and our mortgage brokers can also conduct the mortgage advice meeting at short notice over a video call.

Different types of mortgages

Whether you are buying a house or remortgaging, having a sizeable loan comes with risk. To start with, you will need to look at whether you want a capital repayment mortgage, where you pay off the interest and a bit of the capital at the same time, or an interest-only mortgage. Then, we can look at the type of mortgage that would be most suitable for you.

There is a fixed rate mortgage, where your mortgage rate is fixed for a set number of years and you know exactly how much you’ll be paying each month. Variable rate mortgages are fixed payments every month but interest rates affect how the payment amount is applied to the mortgage. Tracker mortgages move in line with a nominated interest rate which is usually the Bank of England base rate. When the base rate goes up the mortgage rate will go up by the same amount, but it will also reduce when the base rate goes down. There are also discounted rate mortgages, capped rate, cashback, offset, flexible, first time buyer and buy-to-let mortgages for those renting out a property. It’s a bit of a minefield so make sure you get in touch for mortgage advice, so we can help you get what is right for you and your circumstances.

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How we charge for mortgage advice

Mortgage brokers earn commission from lenders after arranging a mortgage. This covers some of the costs of setting up and managing your mortgage. Most mortgage brokers also charge a fee of some sort, which can vary and have different parameters. Unividual clearly outlines these costs upfront in the first meeting when we find out what kind of support you need and how we can help. Due to our association with Quilter Financial Planning we are able to collectively pool our resources with other advisory firms too. This gives our mortgage advisers access to the open market whilst obtaining mortgage rates, deals and service levels that are not available to the general public. For more information on how we charge for our services, you can view our Unividual fee’s page.

Should I pay off my mortgage early?

There are options to pay off your mortgage early but in some cases, this might cost you. Unividual’s mortgage brokers are Chartered Financial Planners so can look at what options are available to you and how they will impact your financial objectives. If you don’t have the ability to pay off your mortgage early, we will then look at whether we need to move you into a different mortgage set up. There are lots of options, but the important thing is to seek sound mortgage advice at the beginning. Some clients start off utilising our financial planning service for a mortgage, but they are safe in the knowledge that if they need to start using other areas of financial advice, they have one of the most highly qualified financial advisers in the UK managing it all under one roof. For remortgaging and mortgage advice, contact Unividual today.

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For some, property forms part of our dreams

Christine and her husband had a recommendation to meet Simon, a Bristol Mortgage Adviser at Unividual. Christine will be the first to admit she was “rather sceptical to begin with”. At the age of 60 she and her husband had managed their finances well,  builing up some savings in various products, as well as having some buy-to-let properties. Whilst, she wasn’t sure about relinquishing any control of the “purse strings” she had some specific goals that she wanted to seek professional advice on.

“From the start, Simon listened carefully to our values and aspirations. We confided in Simon that we have always dreamt of being able to find a property suitable for multigenerational living, where we could live comfortably with our children and grandchildren. He encouraged us to look for that dream home and managed to secure us a mortgage on it. Simon has taken one of our ideals and has shown us how it can become a reality. He did this thoughtfully, patiently, with great respect and with astonishing attention to detail. Whatever hurdles he encountered he had a plan A, B and C. He is super-responsive whenever we contact him, and he is incredibly intelligent.”

On top of mortgage advice, Christine was also keen for Simon to then advise her on other areas of the family’s personal finances.

“We were advised to take out life insurance along with some changes to pensions and ISAs. So many things have happened in the last two years, the COVID pandemic was so frightening and I took much comfort from that life insurance. Although our investments dropped in value as the markets have dipped, Simon spread our funds differently because I had a lower tolerance of risk than my husband. This meant I could see clearly how my own savings were protected from a sharp fall and quickly recovered. My husband’s made a wider fluctuation, but one that suited him well. Simon is so knowledgeable about financial planning that he inspires confidence. I cannot thank Unividual enough for employing Simon, he has just changed the lives of three generations of our family, and we would never have achieved this without him.”

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