What Difference will it Make?
With interest rates currently at their all time low, many home buyers are wondering whether the time to fix their home loans is now.
Rising interest rates can potentially impact your lifestyle significantly. Due to this, whenever you are deciding whether or not you should get your loan fixed, you should take into account financial flexibility, your budget and any future plans you might have.
What are the Advantages?
Having a home loan with a fixed rate will enable you to lock-in your interest rate for a specific time period. One year up to five years are the most popular terms. During that time, your monthly repayments and interest rate will stay the same regardless of whether or not the interest rate charged by lenders increases or not. Once the fixed term is over, you can either fix your loan once more or switch over to a variable rate loan.
Whether you are looking to purchase a second property or home or searching for your first home to buy, it can be the right time for you to opt for a fixed rate home loan. Having your home loan rate fixed is a way to manage risk. If rising interest rates could potentially impact your ability to pay your loan back in any significant way, then it makes a lot of sense for you to fix the rate.
Are There Any Disadvantages?
However, before you make an important decision such as fixing your home loan, you first have several important factors that you need to take into consideration. First of all, you will need to shop around to search for a lender who will offer you some flexibility. You also should get some advice on how it would work out in three to five years from when you fixed your loan. It might make more financial sense for you to fix your loan for a shorter time period as you continue watching market trends.
Is certainty something that is important to you? If so, then the main advantage to going with a fixed rate home loan is that it allows you to plan ahead and sleep better at night since you know ahead of time what your monthly obligation is. However, one drawback of opting for a home loan with a fixed rate is that a majority of lenders won’t allow you to pay your loan off early or make extra payments to any large extent without penalties being incurred.
Can I Have My Cake and Eat it Too?
If you still can’t decide, you can always try the split loan option which allows you to have part of your loan at a variable rate and part of it fixed.
After you have conducted your research and decided on the kind of loan to get, keep in mind you won’t get what you want unless you ask for it. If you are working with a mortgage broker, ask that the most flexible option meeting your financial needs be negotiated for.
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