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Could you be saving money on your mortgage?

It’s more likely than you think – here’s how.

THINK FIRST TIME buyers get the best deal on mortgage rates? Think again.

It used to be that first time buyers had access to the lowest mortgage rates, as banks tried to entice them to take out a mortgage with them, but the times they are a-changing.

Following pressure from the government on financial institutions and the upturn in the economy, banks are now offering better rates to those looking to switch their mortgages.

401(K) 2013 401(K) 2013

Statistics from the Central Bank show that one in five mortgage holders could benefit from switching their mortgage.

And the good news is – it’s much easier than you think.

Why switch?

Ano Lobb. @healthyrx Ano Lobb. @healthyrx

The main reason, of course, is to save money. You could stand to make substantial savings over the course of your mortgage, depending on what rate you’re paying.

Here are some calculations from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission that show your potential savings – bearing in mind, this does not factor in additional costs such as penalties for breaking with your current provider:

You have a remaining balance on your mortgage of €250,000
Your house has a market value of €350,000.
Your mortgage term is 25 years.
Your current monthly repayments are €1,400 on a variable interest rate. Using the mortgage comparison tool, you could potentially save €73 a month or €22,000 over the lifetime of your mortgage if you switched to a lower interest rate.*

*Remember this does not factor in any additional costs. This example is for illustrative purposes only.

jakeliefer jakeliefer

Can everyone do it?

Unfortunately if your payments are in arrears or your property is in negative equity, you won’t be eligible to switch mortgage. If you’re on a fixed rate mortgage, you will have to pay a penalty if you want to switch.

If you’re on a tracker mortgage, you probably won’t find a cheaper rate mortgage to switch to.

However, if you’re on a variable rate or coming to the end of a fixed rate mortgage – you should have a look at the mortgage comparison tool and see if it’s worth switching.

How easy is it?

JorgeGT JorgeGT

First things first- have a look at the mortgage comparison tool from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. This contains all the switching rates from financial providers in one place so comparison is a doddle.

Next, you should contact your existing mortgage provider and see if they can offer you a better deal than what you’re currently on. If they will – you won’t need to switch. If they won’t, it’s time to start looking for a new provider.

What are the benefits?

Money-50-Euro_32705-480x360 Public Domain Photos Public Domain Photos

All dem dolla dolla bills, yo.

Sure, what else do you need?

Anything to remember?

Shutterstock / racorn Shutterstock / racorn / racorn

Check out if there are any fees or penalties associated with breaking your current contract and whether overall it’s worth it for the savings in the long term.

Banks aren’t exactly transparent about how much/whether it will cost you to switch your mortgage away from them, so get in touch with your individual provider to see if they will charge you.

Don’t be distracted by offers of free legal expenses or discounted insurance – look at the mortgage package as a whole and make sure the savings outweigh the costs of switching.

It’s worth bearing in mind that you can’t predict what the new lender will do – so interest rates could go up in the future.

Thinking of switching your mortgage? The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s consumer website, Consumerhelp.ie, provides information on consumer rights and personal finance to make an informed choice on important decisions. They even have a handy mortgage tool so you can figure out how much you could be saving by switching. Head over to Consumerhelp.ie to see how you could benefit from switching your mortgage. 

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23 Comments
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    Mute Scaldychops
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    Jan 7th 2014, 1:48 PM

    Why do they use the word ‘raise’ when the correct word is ‘borrow’?

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    Mute Cillian_Durkin
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    Jan 7th 2014, 2:35 PM

    because that is the industry terminology since time immemorial (last decade anyways).

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    Mute David Burke
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    Jan 7th 2014, 2:40 PM

    They both mean the exact same thing.

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    Mute Richie Rodgers
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    Jan 7th 2014, 3:08 PM

    Scaldychops
    Why do you continue to use the Journal in much the same way as most use Wikipedia but in this case you simply highlight how little you know on any subject.
    Perhaps you could help us further by letting us know who you are !

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    Mute Scaldychops
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    Jan 7th 2014, 3:41 PM

    Cillian/David, my point was that the word ‘raise’ is spin. It’s used by governments to avoid using the word ‘borrow’. We pay interest on this loan (well, our grandchildren will). Whilst I didn’t expect attention-seekers like Richie Rogers to get the point I thought you guys would. Having said that, you probably don’t expect nuance on the Journal, and I wouldn’t blame you!
    Anyway, I’ve just been refused help by my Credit Union to ‘raise’ Euro500 although they did say they’d give me a loan for the same amount.

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    Mute Clive Hand
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    Jan 7th 2014, 2:03 PM

    Hardly a great day, borrowing billions to keep the lights on.

    If raising billion for capital expenditure on infrastructural projects then happy days.

    How much is the annual interest bill for the country for 2013 compared to previous years.

    How much is the annual interest bill as a % of tax receipts and how has that compared to previous years.

    Solving a debt crisis with more debt is madness.

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    Mute YouNeek
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    Jan 7th 2014, 2:26 PM

    You do realise that govt current expenditure is a weekly and daily occurrence but revenue is staggered at various times throughout the year. On that fact alone the govt needs an “overdraft” facility if I can put it like that. Secondly it also needs to secure funding going forward in case of severe shocks. Thirdly debt is not necessarily a bad thing if it us limited in growth to equal inflation and economic growth combined.

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    Mute Cillian_Durkin
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    Jan 7th 2014, 2:38 PM

    Every country borrows, a lot do for deficit spending, like what we are doing.

    As long as the economy is growing faster than the debt and interest then happy days, it is good Governance then.

    A state’s finance cannot be compared to a family budget, unless you have a family that live for hundreds of years and use inflation to destroy debt.

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    Mute David Burke
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    Jan 7th 2014, 2:41 PM

    Well if you want to swing the axe on public spending go ahead. Might have a few problems with that though.

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    Mute Clive Hand
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    Jan 8th 2014, 7:59 AM

    People seem to miss the point. Media and Government are spinning it as great news for the country. Ability to borrow to add more debt to debt.

    Government is funded to the tune of 25bn to Q1 2015. NTMA went to the markets at the first possible opportunity, why do you think they done this?

    Inflation in the Eurozone is a real worry. We have experienced deflation since 2009 in pay while goods and services increase in price.

    Am not saying stop or cut spending. Am saying why has our government not done more to reduce a debt burden of banks that should not be shouldered by The people of this country. For example what happened to the EU commitment last June 2013 to buy out the governments shares in the banks. Why did the government crystallised Anglo Prom Notes into national debt, especially after we exit the bailout troika members said it was wrong to pay non secured bond holders. Why can’t the ESM return this 30bn to us, especially as Ireland has to contribute 11bn to the fund. Banking Union first non sense. Applications can not be back dated non sense. What is the government doing on that?

    Solving a debt problem with more debt doesn’t work, on a governmental or personal level.

    Debt to GDP ratio of 124% is the highest in EU and not sustainable.

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    Mute Nigel O Keeffe
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    Jan 7th 2014, 3:01 PM

    After 6 years of austerity..is it time the government borrowed to give the economy a jump start…5 billion or so spent on unemployment payments cost as much as 5 billion spent on infrastructure..
    I know there would be a gap between the first impacting on the second but surely its worth trying!

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    Mute YouNeek
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    Jan 7th 2014, 3:25 PM

    No Nigel, the country tried that before late 70s, early 80s. It didn’t end well. We are an open economy so money spent is only partially retained within the domestic economy. Compare that with the US or Germany for example where money is much more likely to recirculate in the domestic economy. That’s one reason why large scale capital expenditure would have only short term positives with long term costs.

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    Mute Nigel O Keeffe
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    Jan 7th 2014, 3:56 PM

    I see your point but would it be worth investing locally..in a lot of small projects? Schools..remedial works on viable ghost estates..i mean ones in areas with schools and the like ..as opposed to large scale projects which would have to go for open european tender?

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    Mute YouNeek
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    Jan 7th 2014, 4:11 PM

    Capital expenditure is necessary and small and big projects are needed. But a large scale capital expenditure program would not benefit the Irish economy in the medium to long term.

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    Mute richardmccarthy
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    Jan 7th 2014, 4:22 PM

    Sure go ahead,the ability to raise or borrow another yet another €10 billion of debt on the open market just to keep the country from sinking is nothing to boast about at all when future generations will have a mountain of debt to pay back on the double, whatever happened to living within our means and not spend money we dont have,like the prevous generations lived before the bubble bust,borrowing is akin to gambling with your future,sometimes its works,and if it dont,well.

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    Mute YouNeek
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    Jan 7th 2014, 4:54 PM

    The country has always borrowed money, every country for the last 1000 years has.

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    Mute Alan O'connor
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    Jan 7th 2014, 6:01 PM

    Wasting your time trying to explain things on here. The economic illiteracy of some commenters is staggering. Interesting that there’s been no update at the time I write that the sale of bonds was a huge success.

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    Mute Cillian_Durkin
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    Jan 7th 2014, 7:36 PM

    Richard.

    Can you point out even one successful country that has done what you propose.?

    Your proposals are well meaning but they would quickly lead to an end to long term investment and economic decline and collapse in a a short few years, even worse than we are now.

    Your ability to repay has to grow faster than your repayments. So if you are running a deficit of 3% per annum and are growing at 4% with inflation of 2%, then every year your repayments are getting smaller in real terms and your economy is growing.

    It has never been tried because it does not make financial sense.

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    Mute richardmccarthy
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    Jan 7th 2014, 11:24 PM

    At 120% of GDP our total national debt is set to cost the Irish taxpayers €10 billion just to service next year and every year there after, if there is little growth in the economy over the next few years there is little hope of reducing the interest paid not to mind start to reduce the € 200 billion debt princible, how long the country can suffer this kind of loss is anyones guess,what is 100pc certain, it is not sustainable in the long term.

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    Mute YouNeek
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    Jan 7th 2014, 11:36 PM

    No it’s not Richard, ten years of average 2% inflation will reduce the debt in real terms by approx 25% without ever reducing the principal as you put it. The value of money decreases over time, if we stabilise the debt it will shrink naturally. Economic growth will increase our ability to service that debt. It’s a simple equation, inflation plus growth must be less or equal to any increase in debt over the long run. This is where he 3% deficit target comes from.

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    Mute Clive Hand
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    Jan 8th 2014, 8:03 AM

    Germany, Saudi Arabia, check out The CIA’s world fact book for more examples.

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    Mute Clive Hand
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    Jan 8th 2014, 8:05 AM

    @youneck Japan took that approach and didn’t work.

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    Mute YouNeek
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    Jan 8th 2014, 8:48 AM

    Have no idea what sort of point you are trying to make Clive

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    Mute Liam Treacy
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    Jan 7th 2014, 10:18 PM

    Maybe we should take the advice of SIPTU’s Jack or David the economist or indeed the Tanaiste before the election and burn them all even those who agreed to loan us money today.

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