Six Properties,
One Approaching Mortgage Deadline

Meet Marcus

Marcus drives lorries full time out of Bristol. Over fifteen years he has built up six rental properties, one at a time, mostly with money he saved and a broker he trusts. He is good with tenants and hopeless with paperwork, and he will be the first to tell you so. He does not track his mortgage dates. He waits for his broker to call or email when something is coming up, and until now that has mostly worked. But six mortgages means six renewal dates across different lenders and years, and mostly worked is a thin margin.

What the review found

A PROXERA property review pulled all six mortgages into one place: the rate, the lender, the balance, and the date each one ends. One was only a few months from finishing its fixed rate. If it lapsed, it would roll onto the lender’s standard variable rate, usually a good bit higher, and that property’s spare cash each month would vanish. Two more were due within a couple of years. The review also showed something Marcus had not clocked: after years of paying down and rising prices, one property had a lot of equity sitting in it.

What he did next

Nothing drastic, he did not need to. With every date in front of him, Marcus sent the review to his broker weeks earlier than he normally would, so there was time to shop around properly instead of scrambling. He asked whether the equity in that one property could help fund the next deposit. PROXERA did not advise on any of it, the mortgage decisions are the broker’s job, but for the first time Marcus could see the whole board, not just the square his broker happened to mention.

What you can take from it

If you have more than a couple of properties, your mortgage dates are a rolling job, not a one-off. Waiting for a phone call is fine, right up until the one call that does not come. Seeing every date in one place, months ahead, is the difference between choosing your next rate and being handed one. That is most of what a property review is for.

What a deadline is really worth

A date you know about is an opportunity. The same date, unnoticed, is simply a cost.

• Lead time is leverage. Spotting a rate ending months ahead gives your broker room to work. Spotting it afterwards gives them very little.
• One conversation, once a year. Most portfolios need surprisingly little attention, as long as that attention arrives on time.
• Certainty is worth having. Knowing what is coming, and when, takes far more weight off your mind than any single decision does.
• Momentum beats perfection. You do not need the optimal answer to every question. You need to not miss the ones with dates on them.

Six properties and one date in the diary. Handled early, it is a good news story rather than an expensive one.

Example scenario. Figures are illustrative and not advice. Speak to a qualified adviser, accountant or solicitor before acting.