Future Mortgages - a misunderstood lender

Advantages: An excellent sub prime lender with very competative rates
Disadvantages: They only deal with brokers or mortgage packagers

...Having read every review on this site for Future Mortgages I immediately became disturbed at the reactions and negative feedback that so many people have had towards this particular mortgage lender. However, after digesting each review it became apparent to me that, although they are from personal opinion, and of course, we are all entitled to our opinions, I felt they were unfairly directed towards the mortgage company itself. Many of the complaints were focusing on the high rates and other criteria offered by Future Mortgages, but it seems that the fact they are a sub prime mortgage lender has been forgotten. Sub prime mortgage companies do offer rates higher and sometimes considerably higher than the high street rates as their customer base is made up of people with current or historical adverse credit history. Many people...

Pixie1979 05.01.2008 · Read review
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Review of Future Mortgages

A MORTGAGE LENDER LIVing UP TO ITS NAME

Advantages: Flexible, cheap, helpful and efficient
Disadvantages: It wasn't around a year ago when I needed it then!

...Indemnity Guarantee (MIG), no arrangement fee, and a valuation cost us a whopping £1. We also got £350 Cashback. This was on a repayment basis, so there was also an element of stability attached to the loan. So why am I moving my mortgage to another lender? Because I discovered Intelligent Finance (IF), or rather a very nice Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) made the introductions – some are nice, honest! IF, as most of us are aware by now, are part of the Halifax group, so they have quite a substantial backing, and I believe this helps when it comes to trusting them with the biggest loan in my life (well at the moment anyway!). (I should let you all know now, that our new loan is on an interest only basis not repayment, but I shall include the figure that we are going to be paying into an ISA in order to cover the mortgage so...

nicci13 25.06.2001 · Read review
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Review of Intelligent Finance Mortgages

Halifax Mortgages

Advantages: good for 1st time buyers
Disadvantages: did not offer a good rate after fixed term ended, overcharge customers

...and following the instructions from Money Saving Expert, I contacted them through their dedicated phone number dealing with exit fees. I was informed that I had been overcharged by £100. I am now happy to say that I have received my cheque from Halifax refunding me the overpayment. Overall, Halifax do offer good mortgages to first time buyers as we didn?t have any problems until we decided to change provider and for his reason my rating of their mortgage service is low. I am unlikely to return to them in the future as I feel that they do not reward loyal exiting customers. I would recommend looking elsewhere once your deal comes to an end as other lenders offer more competitive rates and deals. Thanks for reading xx...

sweetdaisy 21.10.2006 (19.08.2007) · Read review
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Review of Halifax Mortgages

Mortgages, Mortgages & Mortgages

Advantages: Not many unless you like parting with ££££
Disadvantages: Loads of errors, poor communication

...We have just terminated our Mortgage with Mortgages Plc at the end of our one year fixed deal. We had to go down the route of self certification as my partner had a job which paid heavily on commission, making it difficult for a high street lender to give us anything more than 65% loan to value. We went through a broker and he came up with a deal through Advantage Home Loans, a sub company of Mortgages PLC. The deal itself was OK, we had expected a higher rate for self cert candidates, it tied us in for 1 year. We thought the quote was good enough to continue with and we propmptly found a place and put an offer in, we got a quote again for the amouts we would be paying per month from Mortgages Plc, the quote seemed fine, we could afford it and it set out their charges which they informed us could be added to our final loan amount...

memphisto_chick 12.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of Mortgages Plc

mortgage

Advantages: none
Disadvantages: very expensive and our always delaying by 2 months plus ? joining they interest rate drop

...hi every one heres the snag iv got 2 mortgages kensington & capital home loans kensingtons mortgage £233.000 im paying £833 a month capital home loans £296. 500 im paying £433.00 a month im also in a tied in for 3 years with kensington wich ends in december thank god £14000 charge if id of sold before my 3 year contract ended as plus they dont allow you un der no circumstances to be able to draw down off your property no matter how much equity you.v got also there lack off comunication . so in a nut shell big deposit ? high rates compared to other lenders? impossible to draw down ? and if you should lose your job ,and youv built a lovley extension on your house your shnucked, they cant even get repossetion prices.{1} my advice dont go self cert .{ 2} if you.v got a big deposit keep hold off it and rent why 'buying is dead money...

BOOTSO 02.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Kensington Mortgage Company

First Direct Offset Mortgage

Advantages: First Direct - great offset mortgage
Disadvantages: Too easy to access the equity in your home!

...The first thing that attracted me to a First Direct (a division of HSBC Bank plc) offset lifetime tracker mortgage was that it was listed at the top of the 'best buy' tables on moneysupermarket.com. A quick search revealed that it had also been voted the best lender for customer service in the Which? Money survey on mortgages 2008. This was the second year running that First Direct had come out on top. With a score of 90% first direct was 11% ahead of its nearest rival in the survey of 18 lenders. First Directs mortgages have won numerous awards over the years, the most recent being What Mortgage Magazine's winner of Best Direct Lender over 5 Years (February 2007). In January 2009 their offset mortgage was one of the lowest rates on the market. Although I was not actually looking to remortgage at this stage because I still had nine...

Krazikas 28.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of First Direct Mortgages

Kensington Mortgages

Advantages: You get what you need out of them
Disadvantages: Obscenely high interest rates, no reward for loyalty.

...to now be paying DOUBLE per month than we were. They ARE literally the last chance saloon style mortgage lender, the type that are there to help your broker do you over and earn mega bucks for himself in the process. I would seriously urge people to only consider them as a last resort when all other avenues of high street lenders and sub-lenders has been exhausted. I only hope when we do get out, it doesn't result in as much expense and hassle as some other people have experienced....

jedimasterlincoln 21.01.2008 · Read review
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Review of Kensington Mortgage Company

  DESIGN your Mortgage INTELLIGENTLY....

Advantages: flexible, available for 95% mortgages, interest calculated daily, no arrangement fee, no indemnity premium, no tie in period, online/ telephone 24hrs
Disadvantages: lacks personal touch, not available for 100% mortgages, (mortgage deeds not stored), may not suit older persons i.e. up to 65 years due to age restrictions

...another Fixed rate mortgage. Essentially, I was looking for a mortgage product that’s flexible (by this I mean it allows overpayment or underpayment), requires a minimal deposit (5%, i.e. 95% mortgage) a no-frills mortgage with no penalties for leaving early! I also did not wish to pay an ‘arrangement fee’ like I had to do so with my previous lender for the privilege of the lender pushing a few buttons on a PC saying they’ve arranged my mortgage and added on a whopping amount of interest too! What one really needs to look at together with flexibility is the ‘Annual Percentage rate’ (APR), this usually represents the true picture of borrowing taking into consideration all costs and this is the figure you should use to compare different lenders mortgages not just the interest rate itself. Fortunately, many...

Connoisseur_Haggler 30.12.2002 (02.01.2003) · Read review
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Review of Intelligent Finance Mortgages

A mortgage for life, whether you choose it or not.

Advantages: Always extremely accurate with figures
Disadvantages: Drag their heeks when you wish to move lender

...I am writing numerous reviews on mortgage lenders similar to this review as I am giving an inside respective on how certain lenders treat their customer and how their processes work in regard to repaying your mortgage. I do not own this product, but work to remortgage Preferred Mortgages loans on a semi-regular basis, and work with their parent company Capstone Mortgage Services a little more often. Unfortunately both Preferred Mortgages and Capstone Mortgage Services are quite notorious in my company, but not for many reasons. I cannot speculate on their rate or fees as it is much easier to note these down with the more common mortgage providers, but Preferred Mortgages is worth mentioning simply due to their difficulty when you wish to repay your mortgage. Preferred and Capstone both tend to drag their heels when it comes to...

heavenlie 28.08.2007 · Read review
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Review of Preferred Mortgages

Woolwich Open Plan Mortgages

Advantages: Payoff chunks of mortgage whenever you want. Offsetting saving accounts, interest calaculated daily
Disadvantages: Can be tempted to borrow to the max

...We've had a Woolwich Open Plan mortgage for just over seven years. On the whole we have been very satisfied. The mortgage work by allowing you to set up a number of accounts and under Woolwich a number of saving pots, ie mini accounts that cannot be overdrawn, which can be offset agai9nst the mortgage. In simple terms this means all of these funds are taken off the mortgage total and interest is then calculated on the result. We set up pots for a new car, holiday and for a small inheritance, which was to be used by our daughter to help her through university. We also had a reserve that is an extra amount of money that we could borrow at the mortgage rate. In our case this was around £20,000. As you npay off the mortgage this amount increases. We now have an overdraft facility of around £70,000. While the acount...

odtaa 07.11.2008 · Read review
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Review of Woolwich Mortgages