Mortgage Advice
- Thread starter Lonewolf
- Start date
You should be constantly researching the mortgage market, right up to the point your offer is accepted.
Get an agreement in principal before making an offer. This doesn't mean you should stop looking for a better mortgage deal though.
The second question an EA will ask you is "mortgage all sorted?"
http://themortgagemeter.com/#/latest_changes - you might find this useful.
Assuming FTB, best 5 yr fixed deals are currently, roughly, 10% deposit - 4.2%, 15% deposit 3.8%. Much better if you get 25%... 40% deposit.
Get an agreement in principal before making an offer. This doesn't mean you should stop looking for a better mortgage deal though.
The second question an EA will ask you is "mortgage all sorted?"
http://themortgagemeter.com/#/latest_changes - you might find this useful.
Assuming FTB, best 5 yr fixed deals are currently, roughly, 10% deposit - 4.2%, 15% deposit 3.8%. Much better if you get 25%... 40% deposit.
Go to the bank and talk to them, this never hurts. Take 3 months payslips, ID and proof of address and go for a mortgage promise if you can get it. We did this then once we found the house we wanted and put the offer in looked around further to see if we could get a better mortgage than the one we had already lined up.
If you have the promise estate agents and sellers take you more seriously.
If you have the promise estate agents and sellers take you more seriously.
The majority of people, FTB especially tend to set their budget based on how much they can afford to borrow so mortgage should definitely be the first point of call - otherwise how will you know what properties to look at?
Soldato
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This - cash buyer is king at the moment. Of course don't take out the mortgage but have everything in place so you can get going fast.
Although we have always sold our homes privately (easier the people think) we have had everything in place before we have put in an offer on another house - that way we are in a better position to strike a deal. Our last house we got for 10% off the asking price (homes here are NOT cheap either so that was a real victory!)
Always mortgage first, take a look here: http://www.money.co.uk/mortgages.htm?t=466561&u=cabe163e
It's not very intuitive but covers the entire market.
It's not very intuitive but covers the entire market.
Associate
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As others have said, mortgage first, if anything to give you an idea of what you can afford.
The first thing the estate agent will say when you place an offer is if you have got a mortgage offer in place.
The first thing the estate agent will say when you place an offer is if you have got a mortgage offer in place.
Soldato
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Good luck trying to get one banks are tight as **** at the moment
Soldato
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Yes YOU will have to pay for a survey. I've been hearing that banks are now demanding further survey types depending on age of house (i.e. electrical survey and timber/roof survey).
Go to your bank or IFA and get a full idea of costs, both upfront, legal fees and duties as well as mortgage terms and repayments.
I know it's an obvious thing to say but SO many people I know have done this - when getting a mortgage do not consolidate other loans/ccards with the mortgage and if at all possible ensure you have the cash to cover all upfront and arrangement fees as the bank will be 'generous' in allowing you to borrow extra... which of course ends up 2-300% markup for them due to interest!
Basically, don't make the move until you can cover these costs as it will save yourself in the long run.
Go to your bank or IFA and get a full idea of costs, both upfront, legal fees and duties as well as mortgage terms and repayments.
I know it's an obvious thing to say but SO many people I know have done this - when getting a mortgage do not consolidate other loans/ccards with the mortgage and if at all possible ensure you have the cash to cover all upfront and arrangement fees as the bank will be 'generous' in allowing you to borrow extra... which of course ends up 2-300% markup for them due to interest!
Basically, don't make the move until you can cover these costs as it will save yourself in the long run.
You can't take out a mortgage like that anyway :/
I'm confused. Are you saying this out of experience or just what you expect having read the scaremongering in the media?
It's easy. I've recently (a couple of weeks ago) got a mortgage in principle in a day. Several banks and building societies were willing to give me a mortgage.
Unless you have a terrible credit rating, everything is cool.
Associate
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You will need a survey and have to pay for one, but only after your offer is accepted and you have applied for the mortgage. We went for the basic survey and it was done within the week we applied for the mortgage.
If you go and speak to a bank / mortgage advisor before you have found a house, they will go through your details and give you a certificate from a mortgage provider that shows the maximum you can borrow or the amount you want to borrow. This certificate basically says "Mr xxxxx can afford a mortgage of £xxx,xxx and we Nationwide will offer it with an interest rate of x%".
I believe this is valid for 90 days (may be wrong) but when you find your house, you show this to the estate agents after an offer has been accepted just to prove that you can get a mortgage and aren't going to waste their time. They might not accept an offer without this certificate.
After the offer has been accepted, go and see the bank / mortgage advisor where you got your "certificate" and give them the details of the house and they will apply for your mortgage - this should be the point that you pay any fees when applying for your mortgage!
My advice would be speak to banks / building societies and do it yourself, we went down the mortgage advisor route and shelled out £500 for the pleasure. Looking back it would have been just as easy to do it ourselves and deal with the building society directly!
If you aren't confident in doing it yourself, mortgage advisor is the way to go as they will do and check everything for you pretty much and takes one headache away from the buying process
Hope that helps mate, can remember how daunting the whole thing was when I went through it. If you already know all the above just ignore it, might help some people watching this thread in a similar position though.
To hijack this thread.
How accurate is money supermarket or other comparison websites. Especially when you have loan/credit card payments?
What are all the fees/procedures you need to do?
Would you ever consider buying a flat. I really need to get on the property ladder, but don't want to spend a lot, several 1bed ground flats with garden for around the 70-75k mark.
Can anyone get auction houses? Or do you need considerable money? Or how do mortgages work with this? As there's actually several run down houses for under 80k which need total replastering, which I would want to do anyway, so why pay for a finished project when I would want to chase cables into the walls and replace radiators with either skirting board or underfloor.
Thinking of jusT going to my ban and seeing what they will offer me, to have an idea if they'll do it.
Money supermarket says plenty should offer me mortgages. As pretty good wage, and looking at bottom end stuff.
Do any take overtime/higher grade into account? As we get 10% for nights £20 for at least 1/3rd of shifts etc. and last three 5 years I've taken home £10k more than base pay? Other than one year were I was injured and didnt really work for 6months, even then took home 5k more than base.
At the moment I pay £400 in rent. A 70k fixed rate mortgage seems to be around £360 so I could be paying it off, rather than ****ing money down the drain. Even if i only stay there two or three years.
How accurate is money supermarket or other comparison websites. Especially when you have loan/credit card payments?
What are all the fees/procedures you need to do?
Would you ever consider buying a flat. I really need to get on the property ladder, but don't want to spend a lot, several 1bed ground flats with garden for around the 70-75k mark.
Can anyone get auction houses? Or do you need considerable money? Or how do mortgages work with this? As there's actually several run down houses for under 80k which need total replastering, which I would want to do anyway, so why pay for a finished project when I would want to chase cables into the walls and replace radiators with either skirting board or underfloor.
Thinking of jusT going to my ban and seeing what they will offer me, to have an idea if they'll do it.
Money supermarket says plenty should offer me mortgages. As pretty good wage, and looking at bottom end stuff.
Do any take overtime/higher grade into account? As we get 10% for nights £20 for at least 1/3rd of shifts etc. and last three 5 years I've taken home £10k more than base pay? Other than one year were I was injured and didnt really work for 6months, even then took home 5k more than base.
At the moment I pay £400 in rent. A 70k fixed rate mortgage seems to be around £360 so I could be paying it off, rather than ****ing money down the drain. Even if i only stay there two or three years.
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Associate
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I wouldn't say there's much media scaremongering at all, in fact totally the opposite, and there's not enough emphasis on the potential pitfalls imo. The housing market in its current state is totally reliant on artificially low rates, if they happen to increase by the tiniest amount then a lot of people are going to be in severe difficulty with repayments. Heck, a lot are struggling even as things are.
If o.p. takes out a mortgage now then all they can look forward to really is the mortgage rate going up - there's not much room for manoeuvre downwards.
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