2.6% Mortgages with Ulster Bank

machalla

deathtocaptcha wrote: »

Anyway, back on topic... I still fail to see how this is a bargain...

At best, it's a financial strategy for bailing yourself out of debt faster than you may otherwise do. But it's not guaranteed, it comes with terms attached and ultimately it only saves most people money if they've spent money on overpriced things in the first place.

Assuming you live in Ireland then you are spending money on overpriced things every day of your life just by living here.

If you can save money on a necessity for those who have to pay for their own housing in this country then it seems to qualify as a bargain.

Cyrus

deathtocaptcha wrote: »

Anyway, back on topic... I still fail to see how this is a bargain...

At best, it's a financial strategy for bailing yourself out of debt faster than you may otherwise do. But it's not guaranteed, it comes with terms attached and ultimately it only saves most people money if they've spent money on overpriced things in the first place.

What's your solution only buy a house you can afford debt free ? Otherwise your entire post is nonsense

bk

deathtocaptcha wrote: »

Anyway, back on topic... I still fail to see how this is a bargain...

At best, it's a financial strategy for bailing yourself out of debt faster than you may otherwise do. But it's not guaranteed, it comes with terms attached and ultimately it only saves most people money if they've spent money on overpriced things in the first place.

Really, more nonsense!

I'm all for being debt free and spending money sensibly. I've never had a loan for anything but a mortgage, no car loan etc. I do have a credit card, but in 15 years I've never not paid it off in full at the end of the month.

But a mortgage is a completely different beast. Almost every adult will end up with a mortgage eventually. Mortgages aren't considered debt, they are considered an investment. Owning your own place can be much less stressful then renting and given the way rents are going in Dublin at the moment, can work out much cheaper. Plus it is nice when you come to retirement age and your mortgage is fully paid off and you don't have to worry about rent, which is easily most peoples biggest expense.

You say "bailing yourself out of debt faster" like that is a bad thing....!! Errr.. no that is called sound financial planning. Why pay more then you should for the same thing, now that would be pretty idiotic.

Now I'm not saying this particular deal is good or not. But switching mortgage providers for a better deal can save you literally tens of thousands of euro! So you that would be pretty much the best bargain alert that has ever been on this forum!

The Bishop Basher

deathtocaptcha wrote: »

I still fail to see how this is a bargain...

I'd agree. It's not a bargain when compared with European rates but that would be the case for most things in Ireland.

deathtocaptcha wrote: »

At best, it's a financial strategy for bailing yourself out of debt faster than you may otherwise do. But it's not guaranteed, it comes with terms attached and ultimately it only saves most people money if they've spent money on overpriced things in the first place.

So are you saying that you only benefit from the savings if you've over paid for the property ? Maybe i'm picking you up incorrectly but that doesn't make any sense..

Cyrus

Swanner wrote: »

I'd agree. It's not a bargain when compared with European rates but that would be the case for most things in Ireland.



So are you saying that you only benefit from the savings if you've over paid for the property ? Maybe i'm picking you up incorrectly but that doesn't make any sense..

He is trying to say houses in Ireland are overpriced ,not sure what the solution to having somewhere to live is

Thegalwayman

Anyone got a phone number for ulsterbank to discuss getting better interest rate or is the only route to get meeting with mortgage advisor at a branch?

Twiki

Thegalwayman wrote: »

Anyone got a phone number for ulsterbank to discuss getting better interest rate or is the only route to get meeting with mortgage advisor at a branch?

1890 252 272

bk

bk wrote: »

Hmm.. 45 mins drive from the city!

How about I live in an apartment right in Dublin. Surrounded by fantastic variety of interesting bars and restaurants within walking/stumbling distance.

Galway is a great and fun town, I love to visit. But it simply has nowhere near the variety of bars, restaurants, clubs, societies, museums and other things to do that Dublin does.

I grew up in Cork city, which is much larger then Galway, but I got bored of it, just not enough variety. I've no doubt Galway would have even less variety. Dublin is much bigger and more interesting.

Not everyone wants to live their life bored out of their minds in a one off house in the middle of nowhere.

Also I think your idea of the well paid job and mine are very different. 300k debt for many people with the types of jobs available in Dublin is not crippling debt at all.

There is a reason why so many people are moving to the Dublin region, despite the high property prices.

This is a genuine question as it may come across different in text format but genuine question. How can you afford big mortgage and all that socialising? Surely a cheaper house with less well paid job in country and would have more disposable income to pay for nights out, dinners out, etc? Not saying that is true just wondering? I'm am in the country and most certainly am not bored out of my mind and lots to do round.

Wesser

One can afford that if one earns more Julie.

This is what he means by " the type of job available".

Shefwedfan

Deleted User wrote: »

This is a genuine question as it may come across different in text format but genuine question. How can you afford big mortgage and all that socialising? Surely a cheaper house with less well paid job in country and would have more disposable income to pay for nights out, dinners out, etc? Not saying that is true just wondering? I'm am in the country and most certainly am not bored out of my mind and lots to do round.

It is fairly simple. Dublin has majority of the jobs and you have to live within reasonable distance to have any quality of life. What is point in buying a "cheaper" house and then spend the rest of your life sitting in traffic getting to and from work?

Galway/Cork etc do not have the jobs that are available in Dublin. Simple as that.

I lived in Dublin for 15 years or so, I moved to Dublin for work and I bought a house which suited me. I was close enough to city centre/trains/restaurants etc. Things have changed and I now have 3 kids so I sold house and moved to outskirts or commuter belt of Dublin. It added about 15 mins to my journey and I have a 1 acre lawn. I was still paying Dublin house prices but I didn't care. I wanted a bigger lawn and still need to work in Dublin

I would not move further from city as I would never see my kids until the weekend and what advantage is a few extra quid a month and your kids have no parent?

It is same in al major cities, my friend recently had to pay 1 mil UKP for house in London, I thought it was mental money but then that is the cost of property in London and she has a job which allows her to buy a house at that price. Again it means she is home less than an hour after work so gets to see her kids.

Shefwedfan

Shefwedfan wrote: »

It is fairly simple. Dublin has majority of the jobs and you have to live within reasonable distance to have any quality of life. What is point in buying a "cheaper" house and then spend the rest of your life sitting in traffic getting to and from work?

Galway/Cork etc do not have the jobs that are available in Dublin. Simple as that.

I lived in Dublin for 15 years or so, I moved to Dublin for work and I bought a house which suited me. I was close enough to city centre/trains/restaurants etc. Things have changed and I now have 3 kids so I sold house and moved to outskirts or commuter belt of Dublin. It added about 15 mins to my journey and I have a 1 acre lawn. I was still paying Dublin house prices but I didn't care. I wanted a bigger lawn and still need to work in Dublin

I would not move further from city as I would never see my kids until the weekend and what advantage is a few extra quid a month and your kids have no parent?

It is same in al major cities, my friend recently had to pay 1 mil UKP for house in London, I thought it was mental money but then that is the cost of property in London and she has a job which allows her to buy a house at that pricse. Again it means she is home less than an hour after work so gets to see her kids.

But say cheaper standard of living outside of dublin has meant I can (with a modest income) have a big house and land and money for socialising and lots of holidays etc. Outside of the pale is fun too and few minutes to work commute.

Shefwedfan

Deleted User wrote: »

But say cheaper standard of living outside of dublin has meant I can (with a modest income) have a big house and land and money for socialising and lots of holidays etc. Outside of the pale is fun too and few minutes to work commute.

Do you actually think people in Dublin don't go out or go on holidays?

I would classify my income as modest but I live very close to Dublin and I have a couple of hols a year so maybe I earn a bit more than modest :P

I lived in the back end of nowhere growing up. Couldn't do it again, as other poster mentions you have events every weekend in Dublin to bring kids etc....

Even small things like activities for the kids, the selection is unbeatable....

Irish_rat

Looks a good deal, only problem is I'm fixed for another 2 years with AIb at 3.65%

Shefwedfan

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Do you actually think people in Dublin don't go out or go on holidays?

I would classify my income as modest but I live very close to Dublin and I have a couple of hols a year so maybe I earn a bit more than modest :P

I lived in the back end of nowhere growing up. Couldn't do it again, as other poster mentions you have events every weekend in Dublin to bring kids etc....

Even small things like activities for the kids, the selection is unbeatable....

Don't think you are actually reading my posts! Over and out - back to my country life.

deathtocaptcha

It would appear I've shaken the hive and people don't like entertaining the idea that mortgages/property right now could be bad investments for most people.

What's your solution only buy a house you can afford debt free ? Otherwise your entire post is nonsense

That's the ideal solution, yes. It's unattainable for most of us but that doesn't mean we should therefore take out a mortgage to meet the cost of buying a new home.

Why isn't the default solution to simply 'rent'? Why *must* we take out a mortgage and buy our own home?

It's this attitude, after all (the one which all of you are promoting) that further reduces supply, increases demand and ultimately leads to over-priced property and huge debt.

trixiebust

Mortgages as a bargain alert ?!! Y'all are crazy mofos.

Irish_rat

trixiebust wrote: »

Mortgages as a bargain alert ?!! Y'all are crazy mofos.

I think it applies to those who already have a mortgage.

mathie

trixiebust wrote: »

Mortgages as a bargain alert ?!! Y'all are crazy mofos.

"Hi that big monthly outgoing you have. Would you like it to be reduced?"
"Yes please"

That's your definition of a "crazy mofo"?

bk

Deleted User wrote: »

This is a genuine question as it may come across different in text format but genuine question. How can you afford big mortgage and all that socialising? Surely a cheaper house with less well paid job in country and would have more disposable income to pay for nights out, dinners out, etc? Not saying that is true just wondering? I'm am in the country and most certainly am not bored out of my mind and lots to do round.

The size of the mortgage is irrelevant, it is the size relevant to your earnings that is important.

Ideally your mortgage is max 3.5 times your gross salary, so:

30000 salary × 3.5 = 105,000
60000 salary × 3.5 = 210,000
90000 salary × 3.5 = 315,000

A lot more of those high paying jobs exist in Dublin, then they do in rural Ireland. IT, financial services, etc.

Even for the person or couple with a 300k mortgage, they are still only paying out roughly 1/3rd of their salary in mortgage. No different to the person on 30k/100k.

However the person on 90k/300k actually has more disposable income in real terms then someone on 30k/100k.

Obviously looking at it in a simplified terms, excluding Tax, etc. you have the following:

- 90k/300k is paying 30k on mortgage, 60k disposable
- 30k/100k is paying 10k on mortgage, 20k disposable

So the folks with the higher mortgage, but also the higher wages, actually end up having WAY more disposable income.

Also for me personally, given how I'm so close to the city and work, I don't have a car or really need one. That is another €500 per month in my pocket for holidays, etc.

BTW One year, I went abroad 12 times in one year. Lots of long weekends away to different cities around Europe. Easy to do when I can jump on a Dublin Bus to Dublin Aiport and have so much choice from there.

Of course if you could have the 90k job and still live in rural Ireland with a 100k mortgage, then that would be great. But then you have to ask the question, if you can do that, why bother with rural Ireland? Why not live in Spain or Portugal?

Even cheaper again and with great weather

Of course in reality it is hard to hold onto those 90k+ jobs if you aren't in a big city like Dublin, etc. some lucky folk get to do it, but not many.

I'm really surprised so many people don't understand these basic economic concepts!

bk

Actually here is a more proper worked example.

Two people:
30k salary, 100k mortgage @ 3% over 30 years, takes home 2,109 per month, mortgage 421 per month
90k salary, 300k mortgage @ 3% over 30 years, takes home 4,672 per month, mortgage 1264 per month

2,109 - 421 = 1,688 disposable income
4,672 - 1264 = 3,408 disposable income

I know which person I'd rather be.

Of course this is a very simple example, the 90k would be even better if it is actually a couple both earning 45k, or whatever. But it does clearly show that you can't really tell the affordability of a mortgage based on the mortgage number alone, you have to look at it relative to the income.

Cyrus

deathtocaptcha wrote: »

It would appear I've shaken the hive and people don't like entertaining the idea that mortgages/property right now could be bad investments for most people.



That's the ideal solution, yes. It's unattainable for most of us but that doesn't mean we should therefore take out a mortgage to meet the cost of buying a new home.

Why isn't the default solution to simply 'rent'? Why *must* we take out a mortgage and buy our own home?

It's this attitude, after all (the one which all of you are promoting) that further reduces supply, increases demand and ultimately leads to over-priced property and huge debt.

Because we don't have a rental market that facilitateS renting for life and and the last bit of your post is bizarre , don't buy houses because if you do you are pushing prices up

peustace

How do people think other banks will react to this? Will we see variable and fixed rates falling a bit more in the Irish market?

jester77

peustace wrote: »

How do people think other banks will react to this? Will we see variable and fixed rates falling a bit more in the Irish market?

It's mad that this is considered a bargain. There is definitely room for rates to fall in Ireland. I've a fixed rate mortgage for 20 years, with the first 100k at 1% and the rest around 2%. And that was before ECB rates dropped to their current value, so could probably get a better deal if looking today. Ireland still has a long way to drop.

peustace

While I agree that it could fall further there are reasons we're not as low as European countries. Our repossession rules are different it seems which pushes up our rates. Our central bank doesnt appear to be pressuring banks to reduce either and the reductions we're seeing is all competition / market driven.

Etnies

Is this not just for 80% mortgages though? Don't t think many get that as it is especially not on a 300k mortgage

Cyrus

Etnies wrote: »

Is this not just for 80% mortgages though? Don't t think many get that as it is especially not on a 300k mortgage

most new mortgages of over 300k should be 80% or better should they not

bk

bk wrote: »

Actually here is a more proper worked example.

Two people:
30k salary, 100k mortgage @ 3% over 30 years, takes home 2,109 per month, mortgage 421 per month
90k salary, 300k mortgage @ 3% over 30 years, takes home 4,672 per month, mortgage 1264 per month

2,109 - 421 = 1,688 disposable income
4,672 - 1264 = 3,408 disposable income

I know which person I'd rather be.

Of course this is a very simple example, the 90k would be even better if it is actually a couple both earning 45k, or whatever. But it does clearly show that you can't really tell the affordability of a mortgage based on the mortgage number alone, you have to look at it relative to the income.

A teacher in Dublin earns the same as a teacher outside of Dublin so as that's line of work I'm in none of any of the above makes any difference.

bk

bk wrote: »

The size of the mortgage is irrelevant, it is the size relevant to your earnings that is important.

Ideally your mortgage is max 3.5 times your gross salary, so:

30000 salary × 3.5 = 105,000
60000 salary × 3.5 = 210,000
90000 salary × 3.5 = 315,000

A lot more of those high paying jobs exist in Dublin, then they do in rural Ireland. IT, financial services, etc.

Even for the person or couple with a 300k mortgage, they are still only paying out roughly 1/3rd of their salary in mortgage. No different to the person on 30k/100k.

However the person on 90k/300k actually has more disposable income in real terms then someone on 30k/100k.

Obviously looking at it in a simplified terms, excluding Tax, etc. you have the following:

- 90k/300k is paying 30k on mortgage, 60k disposable
- 30k/100k is paying 10k on mortgage, 20k disposable

So the folks with the higher mortgage, but also the higher wages, actually end up having WAY more disposable income.

Also for me personally, given how I'm so close to the city and work, I don't have a car or really need one. That is another €500 per month in my pocket for holidays, etc.

BTW One year, I went abroad 12 times in one year. Lots of long weekends away to different cities around Europe. Easy to do when I can jump on a Dublin Bus to Dublin Aiport and have so much choice from there.

Of course if you could have the 90k job and still live in rural Ireland with a 100k mortgage, then that would be great. But then you have to ask the question, if you can do that, why bother with rural Ireland? Why not live in Spain or Portugal?

Even cheaper again and with great weather

Of course in reality it is hard to hold onto those 90k+ jobs if you aren't in a big city like Dublin, etc. some lucky folk get to do it, but not many.

I'm really surprised so many people don't understand these basic economic concepts!

I find your final comment very condescending which isn't a good trait in anyone. Some people don't want to live abroad they want to live beside their family and friends.

LeChienMefiant

The real bargain alert here is to have another look at your mortgage rate in light of recent discounting. You may not be on the best rate. I have to say the level of drivel on this thread is a pain to follow when subscribed to a "bargain alert" thread. This is not "the property pin" and it's not "accomodation and property" either.

cojomo2

When is this oficially available, tomorrow? Anyone know how long it takes for other banks to react to situations like this? With KBC and hoping they will drop their rates rather then going through the hassle of moving..