Belgium mortgage quote: how should I compare 6.76% fixed for five years?

S

selma.crane

First-time buyer
I’ve checked the 6.76% rate against the lender’s stated charges. What remains vague is the position after the five-year fixed period.

The Brussels purchase is around €1,224,000, and the loan-to-value tier makes the offer less simple than the headline rate suggests. I’m comparing total fees, interest paid and the balance remaining after five years using the same assumptions for each quote.

What wording or figures should I request for the post-fix rate? I also plan to ask about arrangement fees, portability and early repayment, because refinancing in year five may be expensive or unavailable.
 
I’d compare the cost over the five-year fixed period first, but only after putting every offer on identical assumptions. Include upfront and recurring fees, then note the remaining balance at the end. APR is useful, though less so if the offers use different durations or assumptions.

What exactly happens after year five under this quote—a rate reset, another fixed option, or something else?
 
Also, is €1,224,000 the purchase price or close to the actual amount borrowed? Without the loan amount and loan-to-value tier, the monthly difference is hard to interpret. A fee that looks minor beside the purchase price can still erase the benefit of a slightly lower rate over only five years.
 
I wouldn’t let portability drive the choice unless moving within five years is a realistic possibility and the conditions are genuinely usable. A portable loan can still be unattractive if the new property or borrowing amount does not fit the lender’s terms.

Early repayment deserves more weight if you expect a sale, lump-sum repayment or refinance. Get the exact conditions in writing rather than relying on the word “portable.”
 
That’s fair, although flexibility has value even when a move is only possible rather than planned. I’d price it rather than treat it as automatically good: compare the extra five-year cost of the flexible offer with the potential cost of being locked into the cheaper one.

We still need the loan amount, term and what fees are payable immediately versus added to the borrowing.
 
A simple comparison sheet should expose most of this. For each lender, use the same loan amount and list: cash required at completion, monthly payment, total payments during the five fixed years, interest paid, lender fees, remaining balance after year five, early-repayment conditions, portability conditions, and the post-fix mechanism.

Keep refinance costs out of the base case, then add them as a separate scenario. Refinancing is an option, not a guaranteed exit.
 
One caution: “total cash cost” over five years can be misleading because part of each payment reduces principal and remains your equity. Two offers might have similar cash outflow but different balances after five years.

For economic cost, compare interest plus unavoidable fees, while showing the ending balance separately. For affordability, compare the actual monthly and upfront cash. Those answer different questions and shouldn’t be collapsed into one figure.
 
The five-year rate-reset risk would be my main stress test. Run the budget using the quoted payment, then repeat it with a meaningfully higher payment after the fixed period. No need to predict the future rate precisely; the point is to see how much room the household budget has if refinancing is unavailable or unattractive at that time.
 
Agreed with Isabella on separating cost from principal, but I wouldn’t demote cash flow too far. A mathematically cheaper offer can still be the wrong choice if its fees consume the reserve needed for repairs or ordinary surprises after purchase.

I’d keep two tables: one for five-year economic cost and ending balance, another for cash required and monthly affordability. Then assess flexibility as a third, non-price comparison.
 
That gives Karim a sensible order of work: first obtain like-for-like illustrations using the same loan amount and term; then verify the loan-to-value tier and every fee; then compare five-year interest plus fees and the remaining balance. After that, test the post-year-five payment and read the early-repayment and portability wording.

If the offers remain close, choosing the clearer and more flexible contract can be rational—but only after confirming what that flexibility actually permits.
 
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