Unemployment top tip - hopefully
The biggest worry most of us unemployed people have is paying the mortgage, if one has one. I could never get the payment protection stuff as I'm self-employed. Anyway.

Ring up your company and change it to interest only. They'll do it straight away, no questions asked, regardless if you are on fixed rate or variable.

Did this yesterday and it should save me more than £300 / month.
( I_Was_Mordred, Wed 8 Apr 2009, 9:38, 6 replies)

In a previous life
I was a mortgage advisor. I'd recommend switching to interest only to anyone who's struggling to pay the bills at the moment. Also, give your lender a call and see if you're actually tied into a rate - these fuckers don't usually bother telling people when their current mortgage product expires in the hope you won't notice and just keep paying them at the base rate when you could get a better deal elsewhere or even a remortgage product with the same lender. What a load of bankers...
( SpankyHanky, Wed 8 Apr 2009, 9:42, closed)

I'm on interest only at the moment
parlty because my mortgage is large, but also because we thought we'd be better off ploughing the money into the house for a couple of years, on things like double glazing and a new bathroom.

this would have worked fine if the fucking market hadn't gone tits up....
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 8 Apr 2009, 9:45, closed)

Fuck it
The market will get better, eventually - If your not planning on moving or releasing anymore captial from your property at the moment it doesn't really make much difference. Ride out the recession and then reap in the cash when the economy picks up; doesn't look like the recession is gonna be as long and hard (ooo-eerr) as some so-called economists have suggested. The RPI is not as fucked as first thought, for a start.

As an economist myself I'd just like to say: "Cunty-Fuck-Wads!" Well, this is QOTW...
( SpankyHanky, Wed 8 Apr 2009, 9:48, closed)

I have friends who bought a normous
pile of a house on interest only, fully expecting to improve and flog at a profit.(which I realise on re-reading sounds like they intended to open an S&M brothel).
Now if conversation goes anywhere near money they both turn white. Their income is from City jobs, they cleverly mortgaged to the max.
Any day their playhouse could come tumbling down. BUT - life is risks. A year ago I envied their acumen and wished I had had the balls to do the same.
( Larry Vest One day at a time, sweet Jesus, FFS., Wed 8 Apr 2009, 10:04, closed)

we've got a biggish house
but not absurd. both paid pretty well too, so it's not beyond our means.

we've been saving hard since the recession started to pay off a lump of mortgage, which should help matters, but the uncertainty is in the current value of our house. Exeter prices haven't dropped much, so hopefully we will be quids in.

if not, the worst that happens is we stay in the house a bit longer. it's big and nice enough that we can stay there indefinitely, and we ain't planning on having kids, so we'll be laughing in the long run!
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 8 Apr 2009, 10:27, closed)

One thing...
... that confuses me - perhaps someone can shed light. When my ex swapped her mortgage from her and her partners name to her name only there were charges involved - something like 2.5k added to the total borrowings, now this had to happen, but if you're just swapping about mortgages to get better deals a friend said that when you factor in the arrangement fees - often there is little or no benefit. Well besides the immediate reduced payments I guess.,... confused.
(feedingtimeatthezoo day 1 of his bikini diet started, Wed 8 Apr 2009, 12:01, closed)