Marine Mortgage???

[destiny]

Contemplating "liveaboard", but would need $-boost.
Has anyone any tips on a marine mortgage (freelance Brit, living in Malta)...

 

[Stingo]

If you own any property, what about taking a further advance because it will be at a much lower interest rate than a marine mortgage?

 

[destiny]

Thanks for the reply -
No House, but 50% deposit I was hoping would provide enough security...

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

50% deposit should'nt be a problem. Boat will need to be Part 1 registered and insured and I guess you'll need to demonstrate proof of income. Stingo's advice is correct vis a vis house mortgage but I dont like 2 things about it. Firstly, if the increase in mortgage payments causes you to default then you could lose your house whereas, with a marine mortgage you're just going to lose your boat and, secondly, if you're not paying off capital as fast as the boat is depreciating (as is likely with a 25yr house mortgage)then potentially you're in a negative equity situation

 

[Lizzie_B]

Depending on the amount you want to borrow (say up to 25k ) we found on line fixed rate unsecured loans were available at significantly cheaper rates than Marine Mortgages. We ended up going with Northern Rock Building Society at 5.9% APR, fixed for 10 years and no early repayment penalties, etc. At the time the cheapest Marine Mortgage we could find was 7.9% variable for 10 years.But with Northern Rock it was an any purpose loan so none of the expense and hassle of valuation and it kept our registration options open. Also cheaper were Alliance & Leicester and Lombard Direct. Having said that, my local branch of the Nat West has just offered me 3.2% fixed compared with their standard unsecured loan rate of 7.9% as I've been with the branch for over 25 years. So shop around. There are plenty of people keen to lend you money. Just avoid the ones with tie in clauses and early repayment penalties

 

[jfm]

Deleted User you are a bit wrong there mate imho. These loans are not limited recourse. So if you own equity in a house, and buy a boat on a boat mortgage, then default, you WILL lose your house. The boat lender has first recourse to the boat but if that doesn't pay off the debt he will come after all your other assets including the house. His recourse is not limited to the boat

All giving security to any lender does is make that lender stand at the front of the queue (viz a viz other creditors) so far as repossessing that particular asset is concerned. But you will always have to pay back any debts until you run out of assets, whether those debts are unsecured or secured

Alas....

 

[destiny]

Many thanks for the input!
I spoke with a lady from Barclays Marine mortgage this morning and she laid down a few of the "difficulties" with mortgaging a US import vessel - e.g. must be in EU waters before payment, must be deregistered in US registry before payment, must have "Barclays conformant" proof of title etc. etc...
So I'm leaving it and buying what I can outright!
Thanks again.

 

[NevisTheCat]

Am I correct in thinking though, that Marine Mortgages calculate the interest daily, like a residential mortgage, so you dont end up paying all the interest and capital when settling early?

Whereas with a loan, youi pay a whacking great amount of interest, plus the capital.

Not sure

 

[Lizzie_B]

That's why as I said in my post you have to look at the small print to find out about the early repayment conditions. Some so called cheap mortgages hit you with massive penalties for early repayment.

 

[NevisTheCat]

Aha.

Been looking around myself and also looked at the Northern Rock offer. Will have another look. Ta.

 

[Roy]

With BoS Marine Mrtgs - they wont allow extra or full settlement within first 6 months, but thereafter you can settle part or all without penalty and with big rebate. They will do up to 15 years for 20% minimum deposit providing boat is (I think) less than three years old. Also, some dealers can fix mortgages for people for more than 10 years under certain circumstances. Worth shopping around because money is cheap and will be so for at least another year.