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Mortgages For most people, choosing the right mortgage will be one of the most important financial decisions they ever make. We can provide you with unbiased advice on which mortgage is most suitable for you. As independent financial advisors, we are not restricted to a single lender when advising you - we can draw on information from the whole marketplace. When giving advice, we will take care to help you select a mortgage to fit your needs by asking for relevant information about your circumstances and objectives. Our advice will also depend on your particular requirements and on the market conditions at the time. Mortgage calculator Are you unsure how much you can afford to borrow? Perhaps you have seen a mortgage advertised and would like to know how much it would cost. Why not try our mortgage calculator tool? Simply click here to give it a go... Other costs in buying a home When you buy a house, there are a good deal of extra costs involved other than the actual purchase price of your property. If you take out a mortgage, as the law stands at the moment, (this may change shortly) at the very least you will be involved in the cost of a valuation, legal expenses, Stamp Duty and Land Registry Fees. Lending institutions, quite naturally, want to ensure that the money they are lending to you on behalf of their shareholders or members is secured against property which has sufficient value to cover the debt in the event of a default. Therefore there will be a cost for a valuation. Typically this will be in the range £100.00 - £150.00, but you should ask your lender for a guide here. Stamp Duty currently costs 1% for a property sold between £125,001 and £250,000.00, 3% between £250,001 and £500,000 and 4% for properties in excess of £500,001 Lenders often charge an arrangement fee to cover the paperwork involved in arranging your mortgage. Typically these rates can vary between £50.00 and £250.00 of thereabouts. You may decide that a structural survey is necessary. Structural surveys can cost anything between £250.00 and £500.00 or more. As one of the biggest investments you may ever make however, you may feel that a structural survey is a luxury you cannot afford to do without. If you are buying a property, unless you specifically employ an estate agent to work for you to acquire that property, you should pay no fees to your estate agent. The estate agent is paid by the vendor or seller of the property for whom he acts. The FSA do not regulate all forms of mortgages

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