How realistic am I as a FTB?

dodgy_damo

I earn around £30k, have a deposit of approx £40 – 50k (depending if I hold back 10k for home improvements, fees etc). I am in FT steady employment
I would ideally want to be looking at properties between £160 and £185k. Can I afford this price bracket?
Mortgage would be Fixed rate for piece of mind, I’m not much of a gambler.
I thought I’d ask you MSE’rs rather than get laughed out of a mortgage advisors office!:o
If anyone can help, I’ll gladly add more details.
Thanks:beer:
Damo

herbiesjp

So you would be looking at a mortgage of around say£170k-£40k = £130k

On a decent fixed rate you could be paying around £730 pm

How does that fit in with your budget? Is that affordable to you?

alanobrien

dodgy_damo wrote:

I earn around £30k, have a deposit of approx £40 – 50k (depending if I hold back 10k for home improvements, fees etc). I am in FT steady employment
I would ideally want to be looking at properties between £160 and £185k. Can I afford this price bracket?
Mortgage would be Fixed rate for piece of mind, I’m not much of a gambler.
I thought I’d ask you MSE’rs rather than get laughed out of a mortgage advisors office!:o
If anyone can help, I’ll gladly add more details.
Thanks:beer:
Damo

Work on a typical max mortgage of 3.5 times your salary although its possible to get higher than this if necessary you still have the repayments to consider.

Will.Power_2

Most lenders will offer around 4 times your annual salary, which with your deposit looks good.
If you have other outgoings on loans or credit card balances, these may reduce the amount a lender might offer, but you have a good deposit for a FTB which helps.
Assuming you have no skeletons in your credit record, have a look at some of the best-buy guides and go direct to the lender for a quote/Approval in Principle.
Don't rely just on the lender telling you how much you can borrow; make sure the mortgage payments and all the related costs of having a mortgage and a property fit within your budget and your lifestyle.
Good Luck.

dodgy_damo

Thanks for the swift replies Chaps:T

herbiesjp: £730 pm is def affordable to me. My girlfriend will be moving in, she is temping and will help contribute.

alanobrien: as long as my repayments aren't over £800 pm, then I feel comfortable. Anything over this will force me to tighten the pursestrings and be doing lots of OT (not ideal)

Will.Power: 4 x is prob what I need. My other outgoings are minimal, I have approx £1000 over a couple of 0% credit cards, that I plan to clear in the next 2 months. Other than that Just mobile phone, gym (No rent at mo coz I'm in with the parents) and beer money. My credit record is good, as I've never applied for loans and generally pay bills credit cards off each month. You mention going directly to the lenders, does this mean I should forsake a whole of market advisor and just contact those lenders on the best buy guides?

homer_j_3

dodgy_damo wrote:

You mention going directly to the lenders, does this mean I should forsake a whole of market advisor and just contact those lenders on the best buy guides?

I would advise not. Not all lenders will give you the income multiples and there is much more to sourcing a mortgage than checking the best buy table.

If you can get a fee free whole of market broker then you may as well take full advantage of their experience, knowledge and letting them do all of the legwork for you

herbiesjp

homer_j wrote:

I would advise not. Not all lenders will give you the income multiples and there is much more to sourcing a mortgage than checking the best buy table.

If you can get a fee free whole of market broker then you may as well take full advantage of their experience, knowledge and letting them do all of the legwork for you

I would agree with homer_j here.

It is not so much the rate, but the lender's criteria that you have to meet. There would be no point applying to the lenders if they are only going to decline on the basis that you do not fit their criteria.

If you do not want to pay for the advise then as homer_j says find a fee free adviser who can help you.

dodgy_damo

Thanks again for your comments.
I will start having a look for a London based fees free advisor asap:D

homer_j_3

I think Stanmoresaver is London based.. Maybe he will be along shortly as I am sure he may be able to help or point you in the right direction, depending where you are in London..

miaxmia

dodgy_damo wrote:

Thanks for the swift replies Chaps:T

herbiesjp: £730 pm is def affordable to me. My girlfriend will be moving in, she is temping and will help contribute.

alanobrien: as long as my repayments aren't over £800 pm, then I feel comfortable. Anything over this will force me to tighten the pursestrings and be doing lots of OT (not ideal)

Will.Power: 4 x is prob what I need. My other outgoings are minimal, I have approx £1000 over a couple of 0% credit cards, that I plan to clear in the next 2 months.

I presume you have considered all the other outgoings that are connected with buying your own home - council tax, gas, electric, TV licence, mortgage protection insurance, buildings and contents insurance.

dodgy_damo

I've considered all the other expenses. Very daunting, but I feel I'm now in a good position.
I'm based in West London and would appreciate being pointed in the right direction of a fees free mortageg advisor.
Thanks again