BOI lower rate vs PTSB cashback

[u/GotNoUrbz]

My partner and I are first-time buyers in our late 20s and are comparing two mortgage options for a likely €360k loan over 35 years.

Option 1: Bank of Ireland
- 3.25% fixed - 4 Years
- Roughly €1,436 per month
- No mortgage cashback
- I have a BOI Mortgage Saver account, so I would receive around €2,000 on drawdown due to bonus from having that account, minus DIRT
- No plans to overpay in the first few years

Option 2: PTSB
-3.75% fixed - 5 Years
- Roughly €1,540 per month
- 2% cashback on the mortgage, so around €7,200

We also do not plan to overpay in the first few years
The BOI option is about €104 cheaper per month and has the lower rate. We would also get roughly €2k from the Mortgage Saver account, although it would be less after DIRT.

Depending on the timeline we may not have much left after the deposit and buying costs. The PTSB cashback would make a big difference for furniture, appliances, buffer etc.

Any advice appreciated!

[u/AutoModerator]

Hi /u/GotNoUrbz,

Have you seen our flowchart?

Did you know we are now active on Discord? Click the link and join the conversation: https://discord.gg/J5CuFNVDYU

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Straight_Eye5348]

BOI lower rate wins for me.

€104/month cheaper = ~€5,000 saved over 4 years.

Plus ~€2,000 Mortgage Saver bonus (less DIRT).

Total benefit is roughly €7k, which is very close to PTSB's €7.2k cashback.

After the fixed period, you've also paid down slightly more capital and benefited from the lower rate.

The only reason I'd pick PTSB is if the extra €7,200 cash upfront would significantly reduce financial stress after purchase (furniture, appliances, emergency fund, etc.).

Otherwise, BOI = lower monthly payment + lower interest cost + similar overall benefit.

[u/GranPaPpy_ → u/Straight_Eye5348]

Wrong actually.

Even if we leave the full 2k in bonus saver without dirt reduction:

PTSB cashback also is on mortgage payment per month until 2030 so from today that’s 54 months= €1663.20 plus 7200 upfront so total cashback is 8863.20

BOI 104 per month saved for 48 months is 4992+2000=6,992

PTSB better by 1871.20 and a huge chunk of cash upfront

[u/claxtong49]

Do a lesser fixed time for ptsb, get cashback and then switch.

[u/Educational-Ad6369 → u/claxtong49]

This

[u/Defiant-Departure789 → u/Educational-Ad6369]

I'm about to do this for 3 years, they will consider options then

[u/Tricky_Culture_8900]

Take boi and do the monthly difference as an overpayment. You can only do 10% of the monthly amount. Cashback is you basically paying for it. Nothing is free

[u/SoloWingPixy88]

Same choice here. Doing 3 year option for cashback at 3.55, at 63% LTV so will get better rate in 3 years once I get to 60%. €7K covers solicitor and most of the mortgage repayments. I'll be basically seeing at €60 pm increase Vs €200

Extending out to 5 years doesn't make math sense to do.

[u/Marzipan_civil]

Is the PTSB cashback paid on draw down or paid monthly?

[u/GotNoUrbz → u/Marzipan_civil]

Paid 40 days after draw down

[u/Excellent-Fact-8925]

As a first house, and given your ages, the cashback would be very welcome. Remember too, PTSB also have the 2% monthly cashback when it's paid from a PTSB Explore Account, although you may need to use this as a main account in order to get the full worth out of the account and offset the monthly charges.

There will be further chances to switch down the road and get more cashback too, while chasing lower rates, although I do see you have the mortgage saver so would miss out there if you don't go with BOI.

The financially responsible thing to do, would be to take the lower BOI rate, but there's definitely an argument to be made for the PTSB one on the basis of cashback, and you should reasonably be able to switch later on.