First time buyer - advise needed please.

sheeks

Hi there,

I am considering buying my Fife council house which I have lived in for approx 8 years. I have not had the house valued as yet but think it will be worth around £65,000. I am entitled to a 50-58% discount.
I am currently in full employment which I have been in for around 4 years & earn a salary of £16,000 per annum (approx £21,000 with overtime etc but I believe this is not taken into consideration...correct me if I am wrong!) I have debts in excess of £8000 which are under tight controll & have not missed any payments.
My partner also lives with me & although she is on a good salary (£25,000) & has no debt she is in a trust deed which is not due to end until April 2009 & therefor not in a position to apply for a joint mortgage with me.
So my questions are, what do you think my chances are of getting a mortgage? And also, do you think I may be able to take out a little extra to pay off my debts?
I know I can afford repayments with my partner.

I would really appreciate any advise you can give me.

Thank you.

sheeks

anyone help please

morg_monster

You haven't said whether you have any savings - this'll be crucial.
If your house is worth 65k as you think, and you get a 50% discount, then you are only looking at a 2x salary multiple, 2.5x if they subtract your debts (which they probably will), so in theory there should be no problem with that, it is a relatively low multiple.

However you will need to have at least a 10% deposit (so around £3000-4000) to get a mortgage at the moment. I presume you don't have much savings as you are paying off that debt. Can your partner help with the deposit if you have no savings at the moment? That is a way for her to contribute without needing to go on the mortgage. HOWEVER, I'm sure there are risks with her contributing to the purchase financially but not going on the mortgage. Hmm. Definitely need someone more knowledgeable here.

As for repayments - these should be acheivable within your salary, especially since you have overtime too, but you should look at a mortgage repayment calculator, and consider your other outgoings, to truly assess this.
Certainly on the face of it - ***and from someone with no expert knowledge*** - it seems to be mainly the deposit that is an issue.

Sorry just realised you didn't say whether you had any old CCJs or anything - everything I've said above is assuming you don't.

I assume your partner lives with you - although I don't fully know what a trust deed is - if its to do with debts etc - it could be possible that her poor credit rating might affect yours.

I'm sorry I can't be of more help amnd sorry no-one more knowledgeable has answered yet!

(Oh feel I must add blah blah blah house prices are falling blah blah blah. Not really such a problem with a 50% discount but you could pay less for it in 6 months.)

grogdog

sorry but i disagree with the previous poster, you will need no deposit as it is a right to buy so your discount is your deposit, the only thing is that there is a limit in the discount you can get, of hand i think it is 24k so if 50% is more than this you lose the extra , this is the case in n ireland so i presume scotland is the same, so if they value at 65 you will need a mortgage of 41k which on your income should be fine.

Dan_1976

If you have no credit issues and the right to buy papers are in your name you will be fine, deposit or not. Go see Nationwide!

dimbo61

Contact the council or housing assocation you are renting from and start the ball rolling so to speak.
Find out what discount you can get and how much mortgage you will need

dimbo61

With this information you can then look at the mortgage deals on offer and how much they will cost you each month compared to the rent you are currently paying.
If money is tight consider long term fix GOOD LUCK

morg_monster

sorry didn't realise the discount could count as a deposit. nice!
glad some more knowledgeable people have arrived to help you sheeks.

sheeks

hey thx for the help i really appreciate it.
I have took into account all of the posts above and will now be moving on with the process.
Again thank you very much for the the help.