What is an Offset Mortgage? -

Home
>
Mortgage Refinance
>
What is an Offset Mortgage?

What is an Offset Mortgage?

An offset mortgage is very similar to a current account mortgage - but instead of having everything all in one account, all accounts are held separately.

The offset mortgage concept treats your money as one giant pot, with each element (mortgage, savings, current account etc) separate to the rest. The result is basically a giant overdraft, although it behaves differently.

Offset mortgages are where the interest on your mortgage is reduced by the funds in both your savings accounts and your current accounts. The more you have in your savings account, the less interest you pay on your mortgage, which helps you to repay your mortgage faster and more cheaply in the long term. Your part of the deal is that you don't receive any interest on your savings or your current account.

The interest is work out by taking the state of each account separately and offsetting them against the others so that you can benefit from your savings and pay less interest. A current account mortgage allows you to benefit in the same way, except it also acts a bank account so your salary goes into the same account that your mortgage is in.

This is slightly different to the current account mortgage because your mortgage account is separate from a savings and income account that you open with the same company. Like the current account mortgage, your income and savings are offset against your mortgage, which reduces what you owe. The interest is calculated on a daily basis on that reduced balance.

Offset mortgages work by setting the money held in savings and current accounts against your mortgage debt. So instead of earning interest on your cash balances, you pay less interest on your borrowings. The idea of offsetting is that, with less interest to pay, the mortgage is paid off more quickly and as a result costs you less.

Some of these mortgages can even be linked to your other personal financial commitments and arrangements. One of the main attractions of these mortgages is the prospect of paying less interest.

All your other debts, such as your credit cards or your personal loans are also linked into the nest of products, and this allows you to repay all of your debts at the mortgage rate, which is likely to be a lot lower than your pay rate on those borrowings.

A further advantage is that the credit cards and loans remain unsecured borrowings even though they are paid off at the mortgage rate, so if you can't keep up the repayments on those your home is not at risk.

The people that will find offset mortgages very suited to them are people with volatile incomes, such as the self-employed or people often paid in large bonuses. People with significant amounts of savings will also find offset mortgages useful.

If you do opt for an offset mortgage, especially one linked to a current account, you can maximise its benefits by keeping your cash in your account for as long as possible each month. With interest calculated daily, each day's credit balance can make a small difference.

The rate on an offset mortgage will be higher than the cheapest rates available.

The benefit of the offsetting feature is that you can always have access to your savings if you need them. So you can make them work to pay off your mortgage, and access them when you need to.

The advantage to the offset mortgage is that the feeling of being in debt is not as all encompassing as with a current account mortgage. However an offset mortgage is quite complicated and you need to make sure that your accounts are offset in the best possible way to benefit.

You may freely reprint this article provided the author's biography remains intact:

About The Author

John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help UK homeowners find the best available loans via the http://www.directonlineloans.co.uk website.

In The News:

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g9k5ci5oSKGrWzjygJuIimhNkUogD93PQTQO1cid=1257390724ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNH74WCS2Y3iI2_MG2MznKA2BB8kzwimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=rg91VCFAogIJimgurl=ap.google.com/media/ALeqM5gpX63yahj3YRzCM06eIA-R42iyEA width=80 height=53 alt= border=1brfont size=-2The Associated Press/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g9k5ci5oSKGrWzjygJuIimhNkUogD93PQTQO1cid=1257390724ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNH74WCS2Y3iI2_MG2MznKA2BB8kzwOfficials: Financial crisis can lead to violence/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Associated Pressnbsp;-/font nobr13 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1She tried to brefinance/b but was declined. In July, on the day the house was to be auctioned, she faxed the note to the bmortgage/b company. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-upside-down-mortgage-monoct13,0,2329863.storycid=1257260377ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNE28gDlpS-TqEvcLy3lIju-W1NdOwbMortgage/b crisis has turned homeownership upside down/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fChicago Tribune,nbsp;United Statesnbsp;-/font nobr21 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1quot;If you have some kind of disruption to your income and you can#39;t make your bmortgage/b payment, it#39;s going to be very hard for you to brefinance/b or anything b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php%3Fid%3D14772811cid=1255977840ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNH6G61a_TcQkGRm21wJwquNQC1Q0gimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=4zc7cQtrRSgJimgurl=im.sify.com/sifycmsimg/oct2008/Finance/14771912_executives_200.jpg width=80 height=62 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Sify/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081013.RBANKSEXPLAINER13/TPStory/Businesscid=1255977840ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNHWEuv4KxJRy8YsWih1HR5XMj39-wFrom subprime to stock swoon/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fGlobe and Mail,nbsp;Canadanbsp;-/font nobrOct 13, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Borrowers were led to believe that they would be able to brefinance/b their homes at this point because the value of the property would have increased. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/11/AR2008101100149.htmlcid=1255977840ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNGbFh9H24wFBM2eXTyj9qM8AAYs2wARM Holders Would Do Well to Shop Around Now/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWashington Post/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews%2Barticleid_2699695.htmlcid=1255977840ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNEimlWbCWOrDVAYZ1m6u_YNYsprQgEDITORIAL: Let Bailout Money Trickle Up, Not Down/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobristockAnalyst.com (press release)/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm%3Fnewsid%3D20161858%26BRD%3D1675%26PAG%3D461%26dept_id%3D18168%26rfi%3D6cid=1255977840ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNHaDA1JsGMiYuhRMFn-vdUQgklYBQLetter: Economic trauma can#39;t be excused/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Delaware County Times/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20081008/OPINION05/810080303/1006/OPINIONcid=1255977840ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNGLT4lQdRQM7yZZlX0n6m6vEBcBGgnobrTallahassee Democrat/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.twincities.com/ci_10650793%3Fsource%3Dmost_emailedcid=1255977840ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNEfLJzVV1qxWn-nv9qW6DVGMfc0NQnobrPioneer Press/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1255977840hl=ennobrall 244 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.sbwire.com/news/view/22363cid=0ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNE1CKRWyOuzOpcmOkK65619_NwhsgThe Truth About bMortgage Refinancing/b Revealed By Oregon bMortgage/b b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fSBWire (press release),nbsp;WInbsp;-/font nobrOct 8, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1The site is designed to give Oregon residents all the facts about bmortgage refinancing/b so they can make an educated decision when obtaining a bmortgage/b. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-livoice135881819oct13,0,6929750.storycid=1257173810ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNHQ4natFHJYjzKLaRHBhvlC66oiogFreeport family battered by struggling economy/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fNewsday,nbsp;NYnbsp;-/font nobrOct 13, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Joan Fennell said her bmortgage/b broker quot;promisedquot; verbally she could brefinance/b again within the year into a fixed-rate loan and she assumed she#39;d earn enough b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D20601070%26sid%3DagoIVK3xOols%26refer%3Dhomecid=1257615421ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNEx_O2OpDb4cg4ZQagcAyAtyhVYAAMcCain, Obama Promoting Populist Appeals on Wall Street Rescue/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fBloombergnbsp;-/font nobr5 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1The Democrat is focused on recapitalizing banks while halting foreclosures and creating new jobs, while the Republican wants to purchase and brefinance/b b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/world/mccain-proposes-300b-mortgage-buyout/2008/10/08/1223145420040.htmlcid=1255319735ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNESEO43BrLwmpWbAsL5-JbiAiWpsQimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=jcJP5nTES5oJimgurl=www.brisbanetimes.com.au/ffximage/2008/10/08/mccain_wideweb__470x303,0.jpg width=80 height=52 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Brisbane Times/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi%3Ff%3D/c/a/2008/10/09/BU9B13DNI7.DTLcid=1255319735ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNH43xnnnrVAPIvKJLWKBX2HcwzdrAMcCain campaign outlines bmortgage/b-rescue plan/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fSan Francisco Chronicle,nbsp; USAnbsp;-/font nobrOct 9, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Barack Obama, McCain#39;s Democratic rival, has proposed helping troubled homeowners brefinance/b their mortgages, but his campaign attacked McCain#39;s proposal for b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DBAdIBCGcEo8cid=1255319735ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNH3jvwK3NAfkCDI-lCRbGuisLYofQVideo: Obama: #39;Taxpayers Shouldn#39;t Pick Up Tab#39;/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrAssociatedPress/nobr/fontobject width=448 height=356param name=movie value=http://www.youtube.com/v/BAdIBCGcEo8/paramparam name=wmode value=transparent/paramembed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/BAdIBCGcEo8type=application/x-shockwave-flashwmode=transparentwidth=448height=356/embed/objectbr/fontfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/us/politics/09mortgage.html%3Fref%3Dbusinesscid=1255319735ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNEq_aofeRiCKtLTsdSWLF4NKf4ptATaxpayers, Not Lenders, Would Bear Costs of McCain’s bMortgage/b Proposal/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrNew York Times/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2008/10/08/mccains-300-billion-mortgage-plan-better-than-the-700-billion-rescue/%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsjcid=1255319735ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNHRKUJm2LD-n_sIg15WLYahx8uxRAMcCain’s $300 Billion bMortgage/b Plan: Better Than the $700 Billion b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWall Street Journal Blogs/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usmort095875394oct09,0,1162571.storycid=1255319735ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNGeAk8J5e8_uyKYp7jKX-7wtHeOKAnobrNewsday/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2008/oct/11/principal-is-key-to-housing-solution/cid=1255319735ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNH1hgcqzvdoqYYJQPLiSBsx8G1XagnobrWinston-Salem Journal/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1255319735hl=ennobrall 816 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/10/prweb1468384.htmcid=1257614373ei=4270SO-BOKGO6APl5uGVDQusg=AFQjCNFr17pEFF2pin7qSGwHTGotW5AY6gFHA Loan Adviser Connects Lenders with Homeowners/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fPR Web (press release),nbsp;WAnbsp;-/font nobr58 minutes ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Under the new program, certain borrowers will be eligible to brefinance/b into an affordable FHA-insured bMortgage/b. FHA will insure up to $300 billion in new b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

mortgage refinance - Google News

What is an Offset Mortgage?

Mortgage Refinance