Almost there! Still need help.

wannabe_super_saver

Hi everyone, first post this is.
I'm 26 and I have about 20K in debt (two loans). I really think I have done quite well over the past year as the owings were all over the place being juggled between 0% credit cards. Anyway, I don't have an overdraft anymore and I am always in the black every month with a nice lump to spare. I am also getting two pay raises a year and a very healthy december bonus of around £1200 every year and steady overtime.
The thing is, i'm really not sure what to do next or if there even is anymore that I can do? I have a loan with my bank and a loan with another bank (this one has funded an education course and the interest rate is terrible! stupid mistake).
Can anybody help me with ideas about how to bring these two owings together if this is even the right thing to do?
Also, my partner and I are desperate to buy our first home. We have an opportunity at buying a very nice house with 10% offered by vendor. Having taken some recent mortgage advice it seems that we have overstepped the criteria for a vertain mortgage by a hairline!
I earn £32,000 pa with overtime and bonuses. I have a very secure job.
My partner earns £16,000 with a fairly secure job. She has a loan also of around 5k.
Anybody got any ideas or advice? It would be very much appreciated.
Thanks.:T

lynzpower

Can you not move your loan to a 0% or is the interest front loaded?

wannabe_super_saver

Not sure what front loaded means, sorry! Interest rate on the silly interest rate loan has a termination fee (depends at what stage in time the loan is at). One single payment would be ideal yes. I'm actually a little afraid to start applying for things again in case I get refused therefore wrecking my credit rating even further.

Tixy

I would suggest you don't consolidate the loans into one loan.
Depending on the agreement, the balance and the interest rate of the second loan it may be worth considering moving to a new loan or to a 0% super balance transfer card.

Whilst I can imagine you are keen to buy a house I'd suggest you concentrate on reducing your debts first and building up a deposit.

To get really good mortgage deals in terms of APR at the moment you need to have a 25% deposit. Whilst there are mortgages available with a 10% deposit remember to factor in how you would manage all your repayments if interest rates were to increase back to 5% (rather than the 0.5% at the moment). These rise will happen and you don't want to be overstretching yourself financially just because of the 0.5% rate (which should be considered more of a blip than a typical rate).

Tixy

Front loaded means all the interest is charged up front, so that even if you move you have to pay a settlement as though you had the loan for the whole duration. On these type of loans you should not switch as you will end up paying interest twice.

Denis_UK

wannabe_super_saver wrote: »

Also, my partner and I are desperate to buy our first home. We have an opportunity at buying a very nice house with 10% offered by vendor. Having taken some recent mortgage advice it seems that we have overstepped the criteria for a vertain mortgage by a hairline!

Thanks.:T

If the vendor is offering 10% ask for 20% they may be desperate it could put you in the ballpark for a mortgage.