Ash Tree Financial Services

For most people, their home is their biggest asset and their mortgage is the largest borrowing that they have.

Buying a property is usually a stressful and time-consuming experience and obtaining a suitable mortgage is far from being the easiest part of the transaction. There are many mortgage lenders that offer a wide variety of different products, with varying terms. It is difficult to decide, which of the 100's available is best for your particular circumstances.

This is where you will find our services invaluable. With our long experience in this field and our access to all available products, we can help you find the mortgage loan that is suitable for your own circumstances and requirements.

Ways to repay your mortgage

There are two main methods of repaying a mortgage:

Repayment of Capital and Interest Mortgage

Under this method, usually known as a repayment mortgage, your monthly repayments comprise interest and capital elements. Initially, most of the repayment is required to cover the interest and, so, the capital sum will reduce slowly in the early years. Reduction of the borrowing accelerates in the latter years. So long as you maintain repayments throughout the term at the level required by the lender, it is certain that the borrowing will be cleared on time.

This is now the most usual method of mortgage repayment and suitable for most people.

Interest-only mortgage

As the name indicates, your monthly payments cover interest only and you will have to clear the capital by other means.

The traditional way to provide for the capital repayment was by means of an endowment policy. However, experience of recent years shows that many such plans have under-performed, leaving the borrowers with a remaining borrowing after maturity of the endowment.

Other means that can be used to build up the capital are savings products such as ISAs, or the tax-free amount from pension plans.

Whatever the investment chosen though, there can be no guarantee that sufficient capital will be built up by the time the borrowing is due for repayment. This is a much riskier way of repaying a mortgage, therefore.

It remains the choice for some people though. They may be aware that their income will rise or their commitments fall in the foreseeable future, when they will be able to start making capital repayments at a suitable level. Or, they may know that they will receive a capital sum within the borrowing term. Another area where it remains popular is in the "buy-to-let" market, where the borrowers may intend to sell the property to clear the borrowing.

Because of the inherent risks, this method of mortgage repayment should only be chosen after considerable thought and after advice from a qualified mortgage adviser, such as Ash Tree Financial Services.

Types of Mortgages

Having decided upon the repayment method required there is then a choice to be made regarding the type of mortgage. These include:

• Variable interest rate
• Fixed interest rate
• Discounted interest rate
• Tracker interest rate

As we said at the beginning, the decisions regarding a property purchase and mortgage are amongst the biggest financial ones that most people will have to make. It is important to make the right choice, as an incorrect one can cost a very large amount over the borrowing term. The mortgage that begins at the lowest rate is not necessarily the most suitable in the long term.

Our experience will help you locate the mortgage that is most suitable for your personal circumstances.

How do we charge for arranging a mortgage?

We apply no fee for standard mortgages, subject to the lender offering commission at a level sufficient to cover our costs. In those cases, we will be paid commission from the lender. Otherwise, a fee will be agreed as detailed below.

Fee only - Whether or not we are able to arrange a mortgage acceptable to you, you will pay us a non-refundable fee of £100 upfront. Additionally, an agreed fee of up to 1% of the agreed loan will be due on completion. If you choose this option we will refund to you any commission we earn from the lender.

A non-refundable fee of £250 will be paid at the outset for non-standard mortgage cases; for example where there has been an adverse credit history. Additionally, an hourly fee of between £150 to £200 (as agreed) will be payable on submission of the mortgage application. The typical time required for advice and research is three hours. In such cases, the fee applied will be in addition to any commission we may receive from the lender.

Building & Contents Insurance and Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance

In addition to helping you find the right mortgage to buy your home, we can advise you on protection of the property, by locating what we regard as the most suitable home insurance plan, in terms of features offered and price.

Also, we can advise on suitable ways of helping you to keep up with the mortgage repayments, if you are unable to work because of long-term illness or through redundancy.

We are independent financial advisers, with no tie to any product provider. This means that the advice we provide is totally unbiased; we work for you, not for the mortgage lenders or insurance companies. Recommendations are made after we have considered what is available across the market.

Please contact us for further information on how we can be of help to you. We look forward to hearing from you

Ash Tree Financial Services is an appointed representative of Lighthouse Advisory Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

The services offered on this website are for UK residents over the age of 18

How to contact us:

By post: Ash Tree House, 48 Sutton Mill Road, Potton, Bedfordshire, SG19 2QB
Telephone: 01767 262760 or 08458 68139 (local rate)
Email: info@ashtree.uk.com

Or please use the online mortgage enquiry form