First Time Buyer's Guide To Mortgages

Israfel

Personally I'd be inclined to try to get an agreement in principle from a bank or building society first. That way you know what you can definitely afford and where you stand.

benjamin.a

Cons,

get 15% deposit...

Speak to a broker about the Nationwide 5.88% 2 year fixed deal... you can look at stretching the repayment term over 35 years (depending ion your age)... this would bring down your monthly costs... remember the most important thing is that the mortgage is affordable.

Get an agreement in principle from Nationwide and buy the house...

Simplezzz

annosoct09

Hello,

Its very great. You have done good work which is really appreciable.

Bufger

Hi Cons, If you already have your deposit saved (and have a bit extra for fees) then you are ready to start the journey. Firstly i would start by understanding each step in the process and what you will need to do and when.

Heres the order that i did things:

Spoke to a mortgage advisor to find the sort of rate i would be looking at.
Went direct to the bank with the best rates for a mortgage in principle.
started to view houses
offered
appointed solicitor
arranged mortgage
arranged home insurance

It all seems so simple in a little list!

rosenelson

Hi there,
I'm working full time since 4 years in UK on work visa and I'll get permanent settlement in UK after further 3 years from now. My husband is working in UK currently on secondment since 2 years. We are planning to buy a house now with 50K deposit that we have saved. We are looking at houses in range of 150K. We both earn 62K per annum together. If the immigration rules change and settlement related rules change then my settlement might get delayed or may even be rejected(god forbid). So i have 3 years till then(worst case scenario). Could someone please advise me on what is better? I'm worried with current news about mortgages. Also i've never used credit card but my husband has and has never defaulted any payments. We have zero debts.
thanks,
RNelson

Andaah

Hi Andrew,

My girlfriend and I are currently renting and would ideally like to be buying a house within the next year or two. However, aside from finding lots of guides on terms and definitions, I am struggling to even know where to start.

I am a trainee teacher and will be qualified by this July and will complete my NQT year by 2011. My training wage is 15.5k and will be up around 20k as an NQT (2011). My girlfriend is the floor manager at a high street store and is on around 14k at the moment but is looking at a promotion of at least 15k. We both have no debts other than our student loans (12k or so).

So I don't even know what sort of value I should be thinking about. Any ideas?

Also, what sort of savings should we have before going forward? Current savings are negligable tbh. Who should we be going to for advice. Is it best to go through our banks? Can we avoid estate agents?

Thanks for any advice anyone can offer,
Andy

abtmay

rosenelson wrote: »

Hi there,
I'm working full time since 4 years in UK on work visa and I'll get permanent settlement in UK after further 3 years from now. My husband is working in UK currently on secondment since 2 years. We are planning to buy a house now with 50K deposit that we have saved. We are looking at houses in range of 150K. We both earn 62K per annum together. If the immigration rules change and settlement related rules change then my settlement might get delayed or may even be rejected(god forbid). So i have 3 years till then(worst case scenario). Could someone please advise me on what is better? I'm worried with current news about mortgages. Also i've never used credit card but my husband has and has never defaulted any payments. We have zero debts.
thanks,
RNelson

I'm not sure what's your question. However I'm in similar position, on work permit visa, have another 3 yrs before permanent settlement, zero debts. We managed to apply for our mortgage through our mortgage adviser (with no problem) and are now waiting for completion/ exchange.

Steveo79

I was quite shocked when i went to my bank HSBC to ask about a buy to let morgage and they told be they now only do them for people earning over 100k a year!! So i couldn't have one.

I went over to Natwest and they DO still do them but only with a minimum deposit of 25% of the borrowings!

Just thought i'd share this info with anyone who was thinking of getting a Buy-To-Let morgage, they are no where near as easy to get hold of as the used to be!

LeadHead_2

Hello all,

I'm after a bit of advice please...

My girlfriend and I are looking for a place to buy at the moment, looking at the price range of £70k - £100k. We've sat down with a couple of banks but not sure what is best for us.

Our situation is as follows:
- both living with parents, no credit cards or debts,
- joint income of around £42k,
- Seen a house for £80k, done a first viewing (in the dark!!) got another viewing tomorrow (Weds) afternoon.

What mortgage should we be looking at, I quite like the sound of Natwest with 5 year fixed rate with no product fee but not sure what else is around and available to us.

What is our next step, I've heard we need a letter from a mortgage company proving we are approved for a mortgage up to a certain value.

Do we speak to a broker, who are regarded as good? Anyone / thing to avoid?

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers

orangina

go to a broker who can offer you advice - unlike the banks. The broker can talk you through the options and help build up a "shopping List" of what will suit you best. Does your estate agenbt have a broker in house, I know they are often slated but they are usually very good!