Buy To Let Property Finance
Why Managing Cash is Crucial with Buy to Let Property Finance
Buy to let property finance is all about making sure you have the money you need to pay for your property investment. However, there's a lot more to think about than just getting hold of the property and you'll need to make sure you stay on top of the finer details to avoid losing out in the long run. Here's why.
There are lots of approaches to taking out buy to let finance. You may have looked at buy to let property finance deals online, comparing incentives and interest rates to see how these matched with your circumstances. You may have popped along to the high street to examine the buy to let property finance deals offered by major lenders. Or you might even have gone to a specialist broker to search through the entire buy to let property finance deals available. Whichever approach you have chosen you are sure to have looked for the best combination of interest rates and types, incentives and repayment methods to suit your circumstances. After all, the whole point of buy to let finance is to help you to make money on your property investment.
Many buy to let finance deals come with an initial interest rate which may track the Bank of England base rate or may be a discount on the lender's standard variable rate. However, all good things must come to an end, and sooner or later, you will get a letter that warns that the rate you pay will soon revert to the standard variable rate. When you have buy to let property finance, you should be aware that lenders' standard variable rates vary quite considerably and you can't be sure that this will be a rate you will want to pay. This is the signal that it is time to shop around, but by the time you get the letter it could already be too late to make the greatest savings on your buy to let property.
Finding BTL Mortgage Deals
This is because it can take quite some time to find a buy to let property finance deal that you are happy with and to arrange the move to a new lender. Switching to a new deal with the same lender is sometimes possible, and this can be relatively quick. However, many property investors may find that they get a better deal by switching. Buy to let property finance for remortgage customers will usually include free legal fees, free valuations and some may even include cash back, making them very appealing indeed. However, even with remortgage packages, there is no guarantee that the handover will be completed before you have to pay the standard variable rate on your original deal, and this could leave you out of pocket, pushing the interest rate up by a couple of percentage points.
The best way to make sure that you don't get caught short with your existing buy to let property finance deal is to make a note of when the preferential rate expires. It's also worth noting when any early repayment charge period ends. Put a note in your calendar a couple of months before and start looking for a new deal. That means that by the time you get the letter, you'll be ready to switch and save with a new buy to let property finance deal.
