Fixed rate or variable for IP?

Mortgage broking is definitely a full time job if a person wants to be successful in it. There is no way I would go to an accountant if I wanted a loan as he couldn't maintain his skills and knowledge in 2 different demanding professions. To do well in property, I agree with Michael Yardney who says that you must have a great team around you. I believe that team should be independent (not know) of one another so that they can give completely unbiased advice.

 

Red flag.... is he working in your best interest for everything?

 

As per my original post, I really doubt how "helpful" he is fixing you into a 5 year loan.
You find me a person that has benefitted from a fix that long?? You will struggle!
Rates Drop (as per the past 5 years) - Massive loser!!
Rates go up - Yay! I beat the banks but hang on now I have 0 flexibility to do anything with my loan! I'd love to sell but on top of sale costs I need to pay 30k in break costs.

And before someone says "certainty helps me sleep better at night" fair enough but it wouldn't help me. Believe me if I fixed 5 years years ago for certainty and watched rates plummet to all time lows, I wouldn't be sleeping any better.

 

There are more and more accountants getting into the industry - its an expansion of their service offering. In reality they'd get lots and lots of customers/self employed looking for a loan, so from their business perspective it may make sense to cater to those needs. I can imagine plenty would want the convenience of it.

As to their competency, there'd be certain upsides to having an accountant manage the loan process (taxation issues), but there may for some individuals be conflict of interest/'too many hats' costs too. Like most equations, the good ones will do well.

 

We were stung by doing this early on. 5 years fixed at 7%. Great when the rates hit 9%, not so great when they dropped back to 5%. I think we ended up in about the same position as if we had stuck with variable but definitely wouldn't do it again unless there was an incredibly compelling reason.