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What other options are there?
Usually secured loans are cheaper than unsecured personal loans, but they
carry the risk of losing your property. If you decide to take this risk
then why not opt to remortgage or obtain a further advance on your mortgage
instead?
Here are a few of the benifits that make secured homeowner loans so popular.
Raising capital
There are several reasons why remortgaging may not be an option.
Firstly you may be early on in your mortgage and within the early
redemption penalty period, with fees that make remortgaging a non-option.
Secondly remortgaging can be expensive. Your credit record has
suffered since obtaining the original mortgage or you may not be able to
afford the up-front fees that need to be paid on a remortgage.
Also conventional mortgages rarely allow borrowing at above the value of the
property. Whereas a secured homeowner loan may be available for as much as 125%
of the property value.
Length of the loan
If you choose to remortgage you may find yourself locked in for 20-25years.
For some people this is not an option. Up to half of all secured loans are
taken out by people looking to consolidate their debts into a single cheaper loan
and are thereby only looking for a short term loan. Others may be nearing the
end of their mortgage and wish to pay it off rather than extend it.
Arranging the loan
If you are in a hurry to obtain funds then a secured loan may be the best
option as they complete much faster than remortgaging. There is much less
paperwork and no valuation or solicitors fees are involved. It can
normally be arranged simply by a phone call or an online enquiry and an
completion of an application form. 23 days is the average length of time
to complete a secured loan, whereas a remortgage can easily take twice as long.
Customer loyalty
Although there are fewer and fewer of them,
many borrowers still have their mortgage with a mutually-owned
society. Where this is the case, they may be unwilling
to move due to loyalty or the possibility of getting
windfall if the society converted to a bank.
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