Mortgage multiples HELP! need higher amount, any advice?

towners

Hi all

Looking to buy a house and have £10k deposit, and joint income of £36k have been offered £150k (plus the £10k gives us a toal of £160k).

Cant find anything of that value where we live and cant look further afield as jobs are local.

Anyone know of a building society that will give a higher amount? also want a fixed rate (current mortgage offer found is at 4.99 from halifax).

Any advice would be a bonus

thanks

Paul

YorkshireBoy

I suspect you might need to use a mortgage broker to find you the deal you want, with your 5x joint income and fix requirements. There are some brokers who visit the board regularly, but in the meantime, you could check the "how much can I borrow" calculator at...

http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/mortgages/calculators/borrow.asp

...although I've just checked a few at random and many state their income multiples as "based on ability to pay by lender". The highest I found was 4x joint, which you've already been offered.

A word of advice though, if you're planning on contacting several lenders and going through their affordability assessments and getting illustrations, make sure that they don't carry out a 'full credit search' with the credit reference agencies (they'll need a signature to do this).

Ask them to do a 'quotation search' only. This way, your credit file will not be 'damaged' by a large number of searches in a short space of time, which could frighten off any lender who might have otherwise have offered you 5x joint salary.

AndrewSmith

I would also not rely too heavily on the Decision in Principle offered by the Halifax. They are notorious for declining at a later stage a mortgage which has passed an agreement in principle or been given a mortgage promise initially. Despite what you may be told, they only fully underwrite and assess the case once a full application has been submitted.

Seek the advice of a local Independant Mortgage Broker. Word of mouth is usually the best way to find a good one. Ask friends or family who they have used.

I personally think you will struggle to get above 4x salary. It is to be commended that you have a deposit, however £10,000 is approximately 6.25% of the purchase price based on £160,000. A deposit of less than 10% is not usually condusive to stretching income over 3.75-4x .

As I have said, have a chat with a broker, he will be able to look at your financial situation in detail and assess the best way forward for you, once armed with all the facts.

Hope this helps

Andy

herbiesjp

There may be a only a couple of options based on the details posted.

As Andrew says it will be difficult, getting a deal agreed based on the fact that you have a just over a 6% deposit - having a 10% deposit may enable some lenders to look at being more flexible with their lending criteria.

Having said this, you do not state if you have any other financial commitments which would impact on any loan amounts a lender could agree for you.