Many of us don't understand mortgages and now there's proof
Mark Whelan
Staff Writer

New research has shown that many Irish people don't have a very good understanding of mortgages, leaving them vulnerable to making a bad decision. But don't worry, we here to help you get your head around mortgages once and for all!

Do you know what LTV stands for? What about LTI? Can you tell a good variable rate from a bad one?

If your answers to these questions were three big ‘no’s, you’re not alone!

New research

A new survey from Coyne Research has shown that Irish people have an alarmingly poor understanding of mortgages. And it’s hardly surprising, considering the amount of jargon and ambiguous marketing messages out there these days.

Seven out of ten people are unclear how much they’ll pay over the lifetime of a mortgage, many are unaware that they would pay more for a long loan than for a shorter one and nearly half of people are inaccurate at evaluating cashback incentives, which are now being offered by some banks.

Your biggest monthly expense

Your mortgage is likely to be your biggest monthly expense and, at bonkers.ie, we believe that something so important should be much easier to understand and that nobody should be bamboozled into making a decision that isn’t right for them.

That’s why we teamed up with mortgages expert, Dave Curry, to put together an easy-to-understand seven-part video series to explain everything about getting a mortgage in Ireland.

All seven episodes are available to watch for free below and they explain everything from how to prepare for your first meeting with a bank to how to save money on legal fees when switching mortgages.

If you would like to compare the mortgage rates offered by Irish banks for your, check out our Mortgage Calculator.

Episode 1: Are you eligible for a mortgage?

Episode 2: Preparing for your mortgage application

Episode 3: How much can you borrow?

Episode 4: The mortgage application process

Episode 5: Getting a loan offer

Episode 6: Should you work with a  mortgage broker?

Episode 7: The mortgage switching process