Technology's Helping Hand - Online Mortgage Resources to Help First Time Buyers
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The world of mortgages has never been easy to enter into as a first time buyer - finding yourself suddenly faced with jargon that you aren't familiar with, different offers being thrown at you from all sides, and the inevitable question of "but how much is it going to cost?" Thankfully, the technological age that we live in is making the whole process a bit easier, and can help to lessen the worries of those who are new to buying property. The first and quite possibly most useful technological trinket to help you out with your mortgage search is the mortgage calculator. Designed specifically to simplify your sums for you, it can ease the pressure of what can otherwise be a rather complicated process. Most banks now have such loan calculators on their website which, with a few key figures from you, can estimate how much (a) you can afford and (b) how much your monthly costs could be. For example, if you use NatWest's mortgage calculator to work out the monthly repayments for a mortgage of £110,000 over 15 years, you will be given a monthly sum for each of their policies ranging from £921.72 to £1000.43. With this handy invention, you can compare and contrast policies from different mortgage brokers' websites, or go to an independent site like www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk and use their tables to compare and contrast. Most banks and mortgage brokers also now go out of their way to make their websites as accessible and helpful as possible, knowing that the internet can be a source of many new customers. Simple little gadgets like the "Help Me Decide" section of Alliance & Leicester's Mortgage page take you through the questions you may need to be asking yourself in order to pick the mortgage that is best suited to you. For example, if you select "First Time Buyer" you can then choose to investigate mortgages that follow the Bank of England base rate, or mortgages to help you budget and save if you are worried about the costs. Equally, if you take some time to look over the FSA's Mortgage site (mentioned above) there are many helpful sections - from mortgage and budget calculators to jargon busters to fact pages about additional fees and costs. Budget calculators can be very helpful when it comes to working out if you can really afford a mortgage - if you haven't saved in advance for the deposit, now may be the time to start looking into savings accounts. Always be sure to consult impartial sites to get a good idea of what variety is available and what to be aware of in the small print. Though there's nothing quite like face to face advice from an expert to make you feel you're in safe hands, the ever-expanding services available online are definitely worth checking out first to get a good grounding in the basics of the mortgage market. Make use of technology's helping hand to get you all the information you need to make the right decision. For home insurance, try RIAS. Rates and products quoted are correct at the time of writing and may be changed at the discretion of the provider.
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