> Interestingly, all the products I've looked at give you something like
> 5% fixed rate for a few years, and then it reverts to 3.2% or something.

Odd, when I looked about a year ago all were around 2.9-3.2% for a few 
years then reverting back to around 4%. I guess it depends on your loan 
to value ratio (a quick look at a few sites mentions 30% deposit is 
needed for their "special offers"). Still strange that you actually pay 
a worse rate during the fixed period than the standard rate, that's 
usually meant to be a better deal - I assume you can't just ask to go 
directly on to the standard rate then?

> Heh, yeah, because comprehending financial documents is actually
> possible. :-P

The sites I looked at clearly listed the "fee", interest rate and any 
other items (eg no early repayment fee, free valuation/conveyancing, 
cashback offer) in a simple table.

> According to channel 4, the deal you get from your estate agent is
> always the worst one. And yet, everywhere I've looked or asked has
> either offered a far worse rate, or at best the same rate as I've
> already got.

You mean for the mortgage or the solicitor fees? I've never had the 
estate agent (especially not the one representing the seller of the 
house I'm buying) try to sell me a mortgage, but often estate agents 
have a deal going with local solicitors to get business. If you're 
selling you can sometimes use this to get a really good deal on the 
combined fees, and of course your agent knows the solicitor very well so 
communications are a bit smoother.

> It seems the only way to lower the interest rate is to have a bigger
> deposit. Now if I could just magic tens of thousands of pounds out of
> thin air...

Probably true - I must admit I didn't look at how the interest rate 
offered was affected by deposit, I assumed it wasn't much (as long as 
you had 5% or 10% or whatever they require).

> (My mum is seriously suggesting that I should take out a credit card and
> put the shortfall on that, just to get the cheaper interest rate on the
> mortgage. Because, you know, *that* won't be expensive at all...)

If you're very close to a round deposit amount that will allow a much 
lower interest rate then it may not be a bad idea, assuming you can find 
a 0% offer for 6 months or something, by which time you could pay it off.

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