Mortgage advice?

unknownsock

unknownsock

unknownsock

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Joined
25 Mar 2009
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Location
Leeds, UK
So, I've got 2 appointments tomorow to see a mortgage advisor, one with my bank and one with an estate agent.

I'm not sure what to expect or what questions i should ask!
I'm completely new to this, only been looking the last few days, is there anything i should be asking? Other than finding out how much we can loan and deposits and such.

Any help is appreciated!
 
Need to ask the estate agent one if he can search the whole of the market or just a few mortgage providers. The bank mortgage advisor will obviously only advise you on the bank's products. Remember that both these advisors will have different motivations when recommending you a product that won't necessarily be in your interests.

I would know what sort of mortgage I wanted before going in - fixed, tracker, flexible etc. They won't have much more of an idea how interest rates will change than you.

Other than that all the facts surrounding a particular product should be explained to you in a way regulated by the financial services industry i.e. it will be easy to compare the bank's product with an alternative one from the estate agent.
 
As above, you really want a whole of market service, rather than them trying to sell you one of theirs which may not be the best deal around. Also, you'll need to know what type of mortgage you're looking for. I prefer 3yr fixed, because I know for the next 3 years how much a month its going to cost me in mortgage payments. If the interest rates falls, I may be paying over the odds - on the flip side, if it goes up I'll be paying the same for 3 years - so for me that was important and I felt more confortable with it.

As mentioned, there are fixed, tracker, savings, interest only etc. Do your research beforehand so you know what to expect. Don't sign anything in the office, take it away and think hard about it - they may pressure you with limited time deals but trust me, there are plenty of deals around if you search hard enough.

Know the mortgage types, know you incomings and outgoings and how much you can set aside for mortgage payments. Don't forget you'll probably need life insurance or mortgage protection so factor that into the cost of the mortgage as well.
 
I did mine myself via various comparison sites. I looked at the rate, length of the mortgage and if it was possible to overpay. It really isn't difficult, you just need a good grasp of what outgoings you have and how much you need to borrow.

I never found a mortgage adviser who could give me any "non-public" mortgage deals so thought it was worthwhile to manage the process myself. Wasn't at all difficult and avoids the pressure of them trying to feed their kids.
 
Delboy said:
As above, you really want a whole of market service, rather than them trying to sell you one of theirs which may not be the best deal around. Also, you'll need to know what type of mortgage you're looking for. I prefer 3yr fixed, because I know for the next 3 years how much a month its going to cost me in mortgage payments. If the interest rates falls, I may be paying over the odds - on the flip side, if it goes up I'll be paying the same for 3 years - so for me that was important and I felt more confortable with it.
Click to expand...

Very good advice on both points.

Also try and put down as much of a deposit as you can, 25% will get you a very good rate.
 
Adam said:
I did mine myself via various comparison sites. I looked at the rate, length of the mortgage and if it was possible to overpay. It really isn't difficult, you just need a good grasp of what outgoings you have and how much you need to borrow.

I never found a mortgage adviser who could give me any "non-public" mortgage deals so thought it was worthwhile to manage the process myself. Wasn't at all difficult and avoids the pressure of them trying to feed their kids.
Click to expand...


Whats is the point? they get paid by the bank and deals they offer as the same as you would find your self.


vonhelmet LOL!
 
Bank ones are pretty useless from what I say earlier this year. Essentially know the same as average punters and use their banks own websites (as if we can't do that at home). Honest don't know why they bother with these appointments anymore as the adviser just ends up on the phone to their call centre.

Go independent, not bank or estate agent.
 
Thanks for the advice so far.

Dr House said:
Also try and put down as much of a deposit as you can, 25% will get you a very good rate.
Click to expand...

That just won't happen, only stated to think about buying since last weekend or so.
We were hoping to get a 100% mortgage if possible.
And as much as i don't want to, maybe a shared ownership, as this is our first place.

Our tennacy agreement runs out in december and the other month our landlord seemed abit hesitant to keep us in much longer, so i can't really hold it off for much longer.

I'm not gonna be signing anything tomorow, just so i can grab as much info as possible, still not sure how much we'll be able to lend either.
 
I've not looked all that extensively but you'll struggle to get anything near 100% in the market at the moment, I think 90% is a bit of a stretch, and typically they're deals you really don't want. I personally wouldn't look at a mortgage without at least a 20% deposit.
 
To be honest its going to be very very hard to get 100% mortgage now and even if you do get it the bank will rape you!

5 Year Fixed Rate First Time Buyer Exclusive from RBS with only a 10% deposit its going to cost you 6.89%. Its a little hight because its 5 years fixed and not 2/3 but be prepared
 
Having gone through this last year, dont ask them how much they can give you. It'll almost certainly be more than you can afford. Work out how much you can afford to pay on a mortgage every month and work it out from there.

Be aware of early payment fees if you pay back too much too early, admin fee's for processing the deal etc. Also make sure you know what the deal is with home insurance. Some demand you take it with them, others will let you go elsewhere but charge you a fee, others dont care as long as you have some.

We got 185k from RBS, and got it at 5.89% fixed for 5 years. At the time (around October last year) it was the best deal going because nobody wanted to lend. Fortunately we bought our house at the bottom of the current market lull (could well be another) for 218k and spent about 20k doing it up.

House prices in the area have already gone up over 15% since our offer was accepted and they are still low. By the end of this 5 year fixed term we should have a much smaller loan to value ration than we did when we bought it, allowing us to get a better interest rate.
 
Take about three months pay slips wth you if you are looking for an 'agreement in principle'
You cannot self certify for mortgage amount anymore, so they will want proof of income.

When we were looking for mortgages this time last year, you needed an ltv of about 85% to get anywhere near decent rates (ie 15% deposit)

Expect to be offered about 3x salary (4x if you're lucky!)
 
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