Didn’t have anything at OP previously. Now the plan is to transfer things there, even though it was never strictly required at any point. Indeed, 3-month Euribor.
Bringing in a bit of a benchmark here regarding my own loans.
I currently have about €240k in debt, accumulated across six buy-to-let mortgages. Based on acquisition prices, the properties are worth €498k, bringing the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio below 50%. I took out the first loan in 2018 at the age of 20, and the latest one now in '26. The properties consist of downtown apartments in Savonlinna, one summer cottage used as a rental, and a three-room apartment next to the university in Lappeenranta.
The loans were taken from OP, and when taking them out, I didn’t push for the absolute cheapest rate; it was enough to consistently get fixed-installment loans tied to the 3-month Euribor without any hassle. The margins ranged between 0.6% and 1.1%.
Now in September, just for fun, I applied for a mortgage for an owner-occupied home and inquired about a margin review at the same time. The margin dropped to 0.5% on all of them, and I received a €150k mortgage pre-approval for the owner-occupied home with a 0.44% margin and a 10% down payment requirement. Considering that investment loan interest is tax-deductible, once you deduct 30% and the OP-bonuses from that 0.5%, the margin really isn’t much of an expense anymore.
The temptation to leverage the collateral on discounted, efficient one-bedroom apartments (tehokaksio) in growth centers is high—might have to have another chat with the bank to see what they think ![]()
You’re talking about acquisition prices. What might the market value of the apartments be at the moment? I don’t know the Savonlinna market, but there are markets in Eastern Finland where you could have taken a massive beating if you bought something, say, 10 years ago.
Savonlinna is a unique situation of its own, as the university left in 2018, after which prices dipped and there were good opportunities on the buy side. Furthermore, no new apartments were built for the market when the bull market was heating up, so now during the downturn, rental demand for downtown studios with a sauna is extremely strong = great value retention. In addition, the absolute amounts are moderate, with apartments priced at €50k–60k.
However, indeed, when applying for the last loan, it went through the bank’s collateral valuation, and it passed with flying colors on the valuations: rental yield of 7–11% on the apartments, renovations in order, and based on a comparison of closed transactions, the price level is also right where it should be. On top of that, there is demand for using the apartments for Airbnb, which helps support prices.
I had the same experience, and the pathetic “offer” came over the phone after waiting on hold listening to hold music for an hour. Because of the bank’s phone dithering, I also missed the window during which I could have changed the reference rate for a more reasonable modification fee (normally €600). There was zero flexibility offered for anything, which made the requirement to handle it over the phone feel like deliberate harassment, given that I can certainly read those terms and fees from the price list myself.
I think I’ll move my business away from Nordea through competitive bidding, as the loan terms are pathetic and the service is terrible if you’re forced to deal with them over the phone. Uudenmaan Osuuspankki, S-Pankki, and maybe Aktia are on my shortlist for tenders.
Over the weekend, I submitted a new mortgage application to Nordea as requested. The only things I’ll miss from Nordea are the credit card cashback and a functional mobile banking app.
At the same time, S-Pankki also sent an offer for a 35-year loan with a paid guarantee of around €600 at the same 0.35% margin.
I had the same situation with OP; modifying an existing loan cost twice as much as setting up a new loan at S-Pankki. And this was for a reasonably small loan, too. Indeed, bonuses are what OP uses to try to close the deal. I don’t know if it makes a difference which regional OP branch it is
I asked about this in connection with changing the loan term/installment, and OP is offering to lower the margin “slightly” (I still need to ask exactly how much..), and the fee for this would be €200 + changing the loan term from 25y → 35y, which costs €150, so €350 in total for the changes.
I guess that’s a pretty standard price level for these kinds of changes.
EDIT: Margin 0.43 → 0.35%.
They are around that range ![]()
In July, I made changes at OP to get my full money’s worth (extending the loan term, lowering the margin, removing guarantors), fees were €400.
Yeah, it definitely pays to make a lot of changes at once, you easily get them for the same price.![]()
Reason: The bank wants to charge for the time spent on the work; when the changes are done at the same time, they largely take the same amount of effort.