First Time Buyer - AIP

dan_l

Hi,

Me and my girlfriend are looking to buy our first house but not really sure on a couple of things.
I have spoken to my bank (NatWest) who asked me my girlfriends and my salary and how much deposit we had and that came back saying we could borrow in excess of the amount we are looking to spend. They didn't do any credit check and said that is done after we have put an offer in and a solicitor is instructed. This seems like a bit of a strange way round to do things because if we don't pass the credit check we have messed the seller and solicitor about.
The thing that is concerning me is in Jan 2004 I defaulted on an account which I settled but it is still on my record until Januray. Since then my credit history has been fine and NatWest are always upping my overdraft without me asking and offering pre-approved loans etc and I have never had a charge from them in 4.5 years so I do have quite a good relationship with them.
I know it all depends on the person but do you think this default will cause me problems with Nat West?
Would I be better going to a broker? I was wondering how do they get their fee? Is there a charge if I don't go with them for a mortgage and do they do more of a check (eg. credit check) before giving you an AIP?

Thanks,
Danny

robfuzzard

I asked about fee's for mortgage brokers not long ago to a good friend of mine and she said that the person in need of a mortgage tends to not pay a fee to a broker because the broker is paid by lenders upon selling one of their mortgages. I have no idea how right that is.

However, I went to a mortgage broker recently and she claimed that their services are pretty strained at the moment because the deals being offered to them to sell are actually worse than the deals being offered from the lenders firsthand.

I'm all pretty new to this. Sorry I cant help you properly.

Batchy

An IFA, will be able to help you, i was in a similar situation IFA spoke directly with Business development manager of bank and explained circumstances behind default and they accepted it.

You should be fine, shouldnt have to pay a fee either!

regards

And good luck!

happybroker

depending on how big a deposit you are putting down compared to the value of the house the default could cause problems.

the best way to do this would be to get an agreement in principle from a lender that has done a full credit check so that you can be as sure as you can be that the money will be available to you when you see a house you want to buy. This way you will obviously avoid messing people about but perhaps more importantly avoid the disappointment of seeing the house of your dreams and being told you can't buy it.

Some brokers will charge and some won't, they get a commision from the lender on completion which is paid directly to them by the bank so you don't really need to worry about that. If they do charge a fee many would not expect you to pay this untill completion though some will want it before then.

exciting times....all the best with it!

Singlemummy_2

With regards to instructing a solicitor - you do this after an offer has been accepted . Generally they wont actually do anything until they have received a copy of the mortgage offer. You might have to pay £100 or so up front for searches but if you don't proceed you will most likely get it back, and they wont actually do the searches until in receipt of mortgage offer