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Halifax mortgage process

Hello

I reserved a shared ownership property today (please no comments on shared ownership scheme).

I am putting in my application for my mortgage will Halifax on Wednesday.

I just wondered what other peoples experiences with Halifax have been and how long before you were given an offer/decline.

I have had the agreement in principle with them and was told that I passed that with an A pass.

Thanks
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Comments

  • opinions4u
    opinions4u Posts: 19,411 Forumite
    I just wondered what other peoples experiences with Halifax have been and how long before you were given an offer/decline.
    They are usually one of the faster lenders. But for a shared ownership application (higher risk) there will be a small delay while the underwriters crawl all over it! Nothing personal, just shared ownership!
    I have had the agreement in principle with them and was told that I passed that with an A pass
    A common error of mortgage advisers is to key the AIP with the full purchase price, not the price of the half (or other share) that you are buying. This has the impact of the system believing that you are borrowing 45% when, in reality, you may well be up at 90%.

    I would flag this on Wednesday and ensure that they have keyed it correctly. If it hasn't been, it could easily move from "A" to "C" when the error is picked up further down the line. This can lead to further delays as they then ask for more information that they could have obtained up front.

    Good luck!
  • koexelek
    koexelek Posts: 7,847 Forumite
    Wwll done on getting an A pass :beer:

    Things should move along quickly for you now, as less supporting items are needed than for B and C passes.

    Shared Ownership cases do take longer though, becuase even if the Halifax love you ( which they clearly do) they might not liked the shared ownership terms :eek:

    Good luck though
    I am a Mortgage adviser
    You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice.
  • opinions4u wrote: »
    They are usually one of the faster lenders. But for a shared ownership application (higher risk) there will be a small delay while the underwriters crawl all over it! Nothing personal, just shared ownership!

    A common error of mortgage advisers is to key the AIP with the full purchase price, not the price of the half (or other share) that you are buying. This has the impact of the system believing that you are borrowing 45% when, in reality, you may well be up at 90%.

    I would flag this on Wednesday and ensure that they have keyed it correctly. If it hasn't been, it could easily move from "A" to "C" when the error is picked up further down the line. This can lead to further delays as they then ask for more information that they could have obtained up front.

    Good luck!

    Hello

    Would it tell me on my mortgage promise how much they put through as the purchase price (sorry I dont have it with me)

    Thanks for the advice
  • opinions4u
    opinions4u Posts: 19,411 Forumite
    edited 21 September 2009 at 9:18PM
    Hello

    Would it tell me on my mortgage promise how much they put through as the purchase price (sorry I dont have it with me)

    Thanks for the advice
    It will show the full purchase price on the quote. There's a secondary field (or at least there used to be) on the processing system that the adviser has to complete. You won't be able to see it.

    Sorry, not trying to stress you out, just trying to make you aware of an issue I used to deal with where pass "C" cases turned in to fail "E" and mean I had to kill my ex-gratia budget by refunding valuation fees and really disappoint customers who thought they were going to own (half) a house at the end of things!

    I made my mortgage advisers have the electronic manual on screen throughout the application interview for shared ownership and, after 2 errors, checked every SO case personally before allowing a valuer to be instructed at the customer's expense.

    You'll probably be okay though. To get an "A" at 45% is still a bloody good credit score result and if it has been keyed correctly it's superb at a higher LTV!
  • Thanks for the advice. I will check this out with the mortgage advisor on Wednesday. Do you also know whether Hlaifax have a facility where I can check the progress on line?

    Thanks
  • I feet like my head is going to explode, how do people cope with the waiting? Not eating, not sleeping,not functioning but obsessing realy well.

    My partner and I have applied to Halifax for a first time mortgage through a broker. We are both in good public sector jobs but could only put down 10% deposit. We also have a resonably high ammount of debt between us (credit cards and loans) but all managed so no late payments or problems. We received our AIP quite quickly and had a survey done, they asked for a further concrete survey that has now been done and has come back fine. It is now our 4th week of waiting for a decision, how likely do you think they are to say no after making us wait so long?
  • badmoon
    badmoon Posts: 86 Forumite
    Hello,

    Just posting about my experience as I completed last Friday on a new build through shared equity.

    Applied for the mortgage through halifax and via a mortgage broker. Passed the AIP as an A pass. Went for the full mortgage and it did take a little longer than anticipated as they requested a mortgage reference from my employer. Took a max of 2 weeks in total. (can't remember the exact amount of time but there were delays with postal strikes in the areas I was based in at the time - sods law)

    They gave me a mortgage offer which actually lasted 9 months as the house was off plan. As I say though, I completed last Friday with no issues whatsoever despite me trying to imagine all and sundry would go wrong. As a matter of interest, I had a credit card debt of just less than £2k and then a barely used overdraft and again no issues or requests that this be paid back prior to the mortgage completing.

    Hope all goes well and you get good news, i know that the wait can be a little traumatic!

    x
  • daisbuys
    daisbuys Posts: 127 Forumite
    Im waiting for my buyer to get his offer of them, as this is the only thing holding up everyone completing this Friday.

    He applied 5 weeks ago, had a valuation done 2 weeks ago and an electrical report done last Monday. They have agreed to lend him the money but are really slow getting the official offer out as they are backlogged with application/offers and his is in a que, so might take another week!

    So a really long haul at the moment with them :(
  • daisbuys
    daisbuys Posts: 127 Forumite
    daisbuys wrote: »
    Im waiting for my buyer to get his offer of them, as this is the only thing holding up everyone completing this Friday.

    He applied 5 weeks ago, had a valuation done 2 weeks ago and an electrical report done last Monday. They have agreed to lend him the money but are really slow getting the official offer out as they are backlogged with application/offers and his is in a que, so might take another week!

    So a really long haul at the moment with them :(

    AND for anyone interested taking out a mortgage with them....I am still waiting, 2 weeks after they said yes to the offer, but no official offer in writing yet!! Everyone concerned is sitting in their present homes all boxed up and nowhere to go!!!!! :mad:
  • NASA_2
    NASA_2 Posts: 5,571 Forumite
    Mr_Puck wrote: »
    I feet like my head is going to explode, how do people cope with the waiting? Not eating, not sleeping,not functioning but obsessing realy well.
    I'm in something of a similar position although I still eat ok.

    I am waiting on Alliance and Leicester to make an offer (I'm assuming the credit score was fine as they did it in June and havent refused me yet) after doing the valuation last week.

    My head is sore and I am more irritable than usual.
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