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How Remortgages Work
By: Jonathan Winters
Everyone is familiar with a mortgage, an industry term for a loan given to allow
an individual to purchase a home. If a mortgage is a loan taken on the value of
your home and the promise to pay a monthly rate in the future, a remortgage is
attaining a mortgage on your home or property after you have already attained
one.
Types of Remortgages
Remortgages come in a variety of arrangements and structures. The most common is
a Standard Variable Rate (SVR). A Standard Variable Rate is a remortgage where
the interest floats upon the market rate. Even under this variable rate,
however, the first few months are typically fixed below market to entice you to
take on the loan.
The other major type of remortgage is a Fixed Rate Mortgage. Fixed Rate
Mortgages differ from SVR’s insofar as the interest rate is determined and
remains flat from the beginning. This type of loan is more dependable, insofar
as you know exactly what your payments will be from start to finish, but it is
more risky in that you may end up paying too much if rates fall (or too little
if they rise). As a result of this increased risk, banks typically charge a
slightly higher rate for fixed rate remortgages.
There are also a wide variety of intermediary remortgaging options. Lending
options like capped rate, tracker, and droplock loans are all variations on
remortgages which blend some aspects of variable rate and fixed rate mortgages.
Reasons to Remortgage
Remortgages are in many ways identical to a mortgage. It involves you presenting
your financial situation, your need, and the collateral (your property) to a
lender. Borrowers must convey a strong case for why their loan is a good risk
for the lender. But unlike mortgages, where almost always the sole reason for
the loan is to enable you to purchase a home, the reasons for taking a
remortgage are quite varied.
Saving Money
The primary reason why individuals remortgage is to take advantage of lowering
interest rates. Many mortgage holders can attain lower interest rates either
because the prevailing interest rate has falling across the lending industry,
their personal credit and financial situation has improved (meaning that lenders
can now have more confidence in them), or because the equity they have placed in
their home has reduced the total exposure of the loan and made the loan less
risky for investors.
Raising Money
The second major reason why people remortgage their property is to raise
significant amounts of cash quickly. The most popular method of doing this is
through cash out refinancing. This essentially means attaining a new loan for
the full amount of your home. You can then use the money that you attain through
this loan to pay off the remaining portion of your existing home loan and
pocketing the difference.
Improving your Home
Another reason why people engage in remortgages is to free up some cash for
another venture. This typically involves taking out a smaller loan against the
value of your home, in effect a second mortgage, which will give you money to
improve your home.
Consolidate your Debts
The final major reason for remortgaging is to consolidate debts. Often borrowers
have accumulated debts from a variety of different sources, home mortgage,
credit cards, car loans, etc. These loans can be difficult to keep up with and
many often carry high or varying interest rates. As a result many individuals
find significant savings as well as increased convenience in compiling all of
these loans into a single remortgage loan.
About the Author:
John Winters writes about a variety of financial topics. He recommends http://www.accepted.co.uk/mortgages/ to search for remortgages.
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