The typical young couple, on purchasing a first home, try to buy the most house possible, given their income. As they then go out to buy furniture, other household expenses begin to add up: landscaping, insurance, decorating, and the list goes on. Soon there will be expenses as the family grows and perhaps two income families will be reduced to one income. A pattern may result of living from paycheck...

Best Buy to Let Mortgage Deals

Jennier Tweed

Are you looking for the best buy to let mortgage products with the best rates payable? It's important to know what you can borrow first and consider the different options available to you.

Most lenders will offer a maximum loan of 85% against the investment property for sale requiring you to fund at least a 15% deposit. Some buy to let mortgage lenders may be in a position to offer more favourable rates if you have a higher deposit available. With the buy to let mortgage industry as hungry for the business as each other it is worth monitoring the market on a regular basis as new products are being launched on an almost daily basis. Always find out the best buy to let mortgage deals available at the time. Some investors may decide to retain their entire investment property portfolio with one lender, but it is important to realize that different products between different lenders can provide you with maximum flexibility and cashlow depending on how you structure your buy to let funding.

What If I don't have a Deposit?

If you are looking to invest in your first buy to let investment property but don't have at least a 15% deposit, then you may find that you could release some equity from your own residential property. Contact your current lender for more details or find out more if you don't have a deposit and how you can start your buy to let property portfolio.

Once you have established that you are in a good financial position to start on your first buy to let purchase, then you will need to know what options are available to you. Spend some time using some of the FREE buy to let mortgage quote systems and see how different buy to let mortgage products compare.

Buy to Let Mortgage Types

Variable rate buy to let mortgages

This is the lender's own mortgage rate and one that is subject to change whenever the lender chooses which is at the same time of base rate changes. This means that if you are on a lenders standard variable rate buy to let mortgage product then your monthly repayments will increase or decrease accordingly although they very rarely pass on the full percentage reduction to the client. This type of product does also allow the lender to change the rate even if there is no change in the Bank of England base rate. So if you are looking for something a bit more palatable why not look at your other options.

Discount buy to let mortgages

For a set period, the lender offers a reduction on its SVR (standard variable rate). Let's say, it might offer a discount of 1.5 per cent over three years. However much the SVR (standard variable rate) increases or decreases during the discount period, you always pay a rate 1.5 per cent lower.

Stepped Discount buy to let mortgages

Its also worth considering stepped discount buy to let mortgages, where the level of the discount reduces after a set period. For example, you may be offered a 1.5 per cent discount for a year, followed by a 0.75% per cent discount for the second year.

Fixed-rate buy to let mortgages

Regardless of the (SVR) standard variable or changes in the base rate, this kind of buy to let mortgage offers a fixed interest rate for a set period. The monthly mortgage repayments will remain the same giving the property investor the knowledge of what their monthly outgoings will be for a set term.

Capped-rate buy to let mortgages

The capped-rate buy to let mortgage offers a limit as to how high the interest rate can go. The rate you pay can move up and down below that level but never go beyond it. Your payments would reduce if there were any base rate decreases.

Drop-lock buy to let mortgages

This is a feature that is included in some buy to let discounted mortgages. Initially you decide to opt for a discounted product but for a small fee you have the option to drop into one of that lender's fixed rate products. At which time you would then be bound by the terms of the new fixed rate product.

Tracker buy to let mortgages

Tracker products can be a good option for buy to let investors. Tracker products offer a margin over the base rate for certain periods of time. Some will offer a buy to let tracker product which tracks the base rate plus a margin for a few years whereas recently there are more products coming on the market where they will track the base rate for the life of the loan. Providing it is a low enough margin over the base rate and the base rate remains at a comfortable level, this can be particularly cost effective to a buy to let landlord as it can avoid the necessity for regular refinancing and the costs involved in the exercise.
About the Author

Jennifer Tweed is the founder of buytolet4sale.com, one of the UK's first property portals dedicated to all types of investment property for sale and everything you should need for your sale and purchase. Learn more about buy to let

The latest information and news on Mortgages:

Yahoo! News Search Results for mortgage

Wells Fargo, Baltimore in talks after mortgage suit (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Wells Fargo & Co said on Friday it is in talks with Baltimore officials that could avert further litigation by that city over the bank's mortgage lending practices.
Mortgage rates remain below 5%, fall to 4.95% (USA Today)
Mortgage rates held below the 5% threshold for the second straight week, a report said Thursday, weeks before a government program that has been keeping rates low is scheduled to expire.
Mortgage lending halves as tax break ends (Daily Telegraph)
Mortgage lending to people buying a home dived by 49% during January following the end of the Government's stamp duty holiday, the latest figures showed.
Average 30-year mortgage rate drops to 4.95%, Freddie Mac says (Los Angeles T...
The average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 4.95% this week from 4.97% last week, Freddie Mac said Thursday.
Mortgage lending slumps by half (Daily Telegraph)
Mortgage lending to people buying a home dived by 49pc during January following the end of the Government's stamp duty holiday.
Yahoo! News Search Results for refinance

Refinance may limit financial flexibility (Bankrate.com via Yahoo! Finance)
Reduced financial flexibility may be the price for a home refinance that lowers your mortgage rate.
Pernod Ricard Plans to Issue Bonds to Refinance Absolut Buyout (Bloomberg)
March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Pernod Ricard SA , the world?s second-biggest liquor maker, is planning to sell six-year bonds to help refinance loans used to buy the Absolut vodka brand in March 2008.
RLPC-Mubadala looks to agree $2.5 bln refinancing -bankers (Reuters via Yahoo...
LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi government-owned Mubadala Development Company has invited banks to participate in a self-arranged $2.5 billion, three-year club loan to refinance existing debt, banking sources close to the deal said.
(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-12 13:34 RLPC-Mubadala looks to agree $2.5 bln refinan...
LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi government-owned Mubadala Development Company has invited banks to participate in a self-arranged $2.5 billion, three-year club loan to refinance existing debt, banking sources close to the deal said. Pricing on the revolving credit will not be set until the en...
Coal producer ICG prices stock, debt offerings (AP via Yahoo! Finance)
International Coal Group says it's priced stock and note offerings it's using to refinance debt. The Scott Depot-based company says in a regulatory filing Thursday that it's also upped the size of the offerings.