IS IT WORTH CHANGING MY MORTGAGE LENDER?

Q In 2010 I took out a mortgage with AIB. My loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is less than 50% and the interest rate is 3.1%. KBC is offering an interest rate of 3% subject to me opening a current account, plus €2,000 towards legal fees. If I switched to KBC, the difference in repayments would be around €5 a month. What are the benefits and/or disadvantages of switching to KBC? A

Fair play to you. Most people won’t make the effort to switch, even though most would get far bigger savings than you – up to €70,000 in fact over the lifetime of the loan.

You are already on the second-cheapest mortgage rate but it’s still worthwhile for you to switch.

A fiver a month may not sound like much; but it adds up to €60 a year and €1,380 over 23 years.

If you switch to a new lender, the main costs are around €150 for a valuation of your home, and legal fees, which range upwards from around €1,000.

Yet, as you’ve discovered, most lenders provide a cash sum for switching.

KBC will give you €2,000. If you can get your valuation and legal work done for less, you could come out with a profit.

The downside is that you must open an account with KBC, which may not suit everyone if you use it as your main account.

If you keep your old bank account, you’ll have to pay charges on two accounts. If you close it, you’ll have to use KBC as your main bank.

There may be nothing wrong with that. Its online platform is excellent and its staff are helpful.

However, it doesn’t suit everyone. You should be willing to do most of your business online as there are only 15 branches in Ireland.

The other downside to switching is that there is an onerous amount of paperwork.

Borrowers need P60s, photo IDs, payslips and six months of bank, credit union or loan statements. Life and home insurance must also be rearranged.

Q Is now a bad time to buy a house? I’m worried that, with all the building going on, there will be another oversupply of homes in a few years’ time. A

Not according to the global economic experts Standard & Poors. They recently forecast that it will take a decade for construction levels to catch up with the huge demand for housing in Ireland.

Irish house prices will continue to increase for the next two years, going up 7% this year and a further 5% in 2018, S&P predicts.

There’s always a risk of another downturn if the economy goes pearshaped.

Most experts predict continued growth, but Brexit, Donald Trump’s shenanigans, and the potential break-up of the euro could all throw a spanner in the works.

A severe downturn could hit house prices by making them unaffordable for too many people, regardless of the demand.

But, on balance, it seems like as good a time to buy as any.

House prices outside the main cities are still generally lower than the cost of building a home.

And even in urban areas, prices are still not much above the cost of a site plus construction costs.

Q I applied for a student loan with BoI and it says they may need me to have my salary paid into my BoI account. Can they do this? My main account is with another bank. A

Banks require salaries to be paid into current accounts for lots of products, such as savings and mortgages. You don’t have to do it, of course – you could always go to another bank, such as the one you already have your account with.

Q I have to act as executor for a relative’s will. How long do I have to carry out probate? A

Probate should be done as soon as possible. If it’s not done within a year, any beneficiaries can bring the executor to court to force them to do it.