Tips for getting a mortgage Post Reply

[yestose22]

Hi 

Both in our mid to late 30s with two children - childcare and rent are our biggest expenses at the moment. 

Hoping to purchase a house in the next 2 years - just wondering if anyone has any tips on saving for a mortgage, and getting mortgage-ready for the banks. 

Only living in UK for two years, so don't really have a good idea of how to go about getting a mortgage, or even what is needed, and how much we can potentially borrow. Also looking for tips on trying to maximise saving for the deposit 

Thanks for any advice   :roll:
 

[boonkoh]

One thing you should check right now, even before you consider purchasing, is to see if your credit file is OK. Sometimes, it might be missing information (e.g. electoral roll registration) or misinformation (e.g. fraud credit) that will harm your chances of getting a mortgage. You want to get it sorted ASAP.

Request your statutory credit file from Experian as a first step (should be free or £2, don't get persuaded to sign up for their monthly/annual plan).

Also sign up for Noddle, a free credit file service. They will send you notifications every time there is a change to your credit file, so you can monitor and make sure nothing mistaken happens to it.

It looks like you don't have British citizenship. If you are here on a visa, that would make it more tricky to get a mortgage. Most lenders will insist on at least 2 years left on your mortgage, at the time of application, and many lenders don't lend to visa holders at all. If you are EU citizen, I'm not sure what the banks are thinking post-Brexit. My advice would be just go talk to your mortgage advisor in your current bank, in person, just to see what their policies are, they will probably also be able to advise what general industry practices are with regards to mortgages to foreign residents.

[tbdit]

Hi, I would recommend speaking to an independent Mortgage Broker. If you go into a bank, they're obviously set to advise on whatever serves the bank best. 

An independent adviser can give you impartial advice, and help you find a mortgage from across the whole market. 

I do have someone I can recommend if you'd be interested, I'm sure he'd be happy to have a chat. PM me for the details if you're interested! 

 

[boonkoh]

Yup, good advice from tbdit. Just don't use Habito (an online mortgage broker) - they almost cost me my house purchase after sinking in lots of costs and took almost 4 months to exchange.

[LifestyleMum]

Yes I agree with tbdit, David Thompson of Thompson Allen Financial, would be able to advise you for free on mortgages, and on all your other financial needs. Call him on 07889 191093. Good luck!

[windmill26]

Actually, it's really difficult to save money for a mortgage. Personally, I was looking for lower prices of houses. Just one day I decided that even a small but comfortable house is a better choice than having a long burden of a mortgage. With Steel Frame Builders Manchester I built a cute house and was absolutely happy with it.

Yes it is difficult to save for a mortgage ,especially if you are paying market rent.Your advice is great but in London you still have to find a plot to put the house on ...and it doesn't come cheap.Furthermore ,even if you find this plot of land ,it is not easy or cheap to get planning permission etc...
I think the best advice for yestose22 is to speak to a mortgage adviser to get an idea what realistically she can afford. I would also advise to don't discount anything (apartments,help to buy,shared ownership),you may be able to afford an apartment instead of a house in your preferred area.I rather compromise and pay my own mortgage instead of paying rent. 

[amumtoo]

I would second getting advice from a mortgage adviser as they will be able to look at your situation, options etc and advice you accordingly. We had one and although you pay them a fee it is worth it as it saves you money on mortgage fees and interest costs. 

If you would like a personal recommendation DM me and I can send you the details of a great mortgage adviser in the area, Jonathan Treliving. 

[SW11er]

Sorry to be a little controversial here and go against the other comments but I have never seen the obsession with Mortgage Brokers. Just someone else to take some money out of the process. If you have at least a 10% deposit just speak to you own Bank and see what they can offer (sometimes if you already have a bank account and can upgrade that at very low cost it will give you access to cheaper mortgages). If you bank with NatWest I have found them good and very competitive. Maybe try to have a chat with them first. At least they already know your finances and have been through a lot of the process of on boarding you and will really want to sell you additional products. Going forward good to have one institution to work with especially if things go wrong. However if your finances really are unusual and you need a non-standard mortgage and they can’t help you, you may need to speak to a broker.

[justsomeguy]

I think that most of what you need to know has already been said, though I would iterate in your case that it would most likely be a waste of time going directly to a specific bank. The reason being, yes, a bank will not charge you a broker fee, but they can only offer their own products on their own criteria. Your circumstances are a little more complex than some other people, so you could absolutely benefit from an experienced broker. If you spend an hour or more sat down with a bank adviser and later find out they can't help you, that would have been a waste of your time.

The main sticking point is going to be your lack of duration in the UK and your citizenship/visa status. If you are not a UK/EU citizen, some lenders will not lend to you at all unless you have a permanent right to reside. Many will lend to you without the permanent right to reside, though this is different from lender to lender, but mostly focuses around the length of time you have spent in the country and the remaining time left on your visa.

There is a squeeze on 10% deposit mortgages at the moment, they are certainly available, but not in great quantity, and the ones that are, at considerably greater cost than if you were to have 15% deposit. One hopes this is a temporary situation! Though once again, a broker can help you negotiate around this.