Are we first time buyers?

Baileys_Babe

Are we first time buyers? It sounds like a dumb question, but I really do not know if we are classed as first time buyers.

A little about our situation:

We have previously had a mortgage, repaid a few years ago. We own 2 adjoining cottages which we intend to knock through, to do this we will need approx £65K in the form of a mortgage. Will lenders class as first time buyers or something else? please can somebody clarafiy, thanks.

VIGILANT22

As you curently have property unencumbered I would imagine they would consider you as "next time buyer"

Baileys_Babe

VIGILANT22 wrote: »

As you curently have property unencumbered I would imagine they would consider you as "next time buyer"

Thank you for such a prompt reply, this site is wonderful :T

opinions4u

If you have owned property before then you cannot first time buyers.

You are seeking a capital raising mortgage. Given the complexity of raising funds against the two properties I would strongly suggest that you see an experienced mortgage broker to try and progress this.

It may be harder than you expect to raise the funds.

Baileys_Babe

opinions4u wrote: »

If you have owned property before then you cannot first time buyers.

You are seeking a capital raising mortgage. Given the complexity of raising funds against the two properties I would strongly suggest that you see an experienced mortgage broker to try and progress this.

It may be harder than you expect to raise the funds.

Thank you

We are planning to raise the funds against only one of the properties if this is possible.

Property 1 is valued at about £180K, plan to mortgage this property
Property 2 is valued at about £60K

Would this simplify or complicate things?

PasturesNew

You aren't FTBs because you have property already.

Technically, some lenders will class you as an FTB (if you wish) if you've had property in the past and sold it more than X months ago (not sure how many as it varies, maybe 9-18).

The term FTB tends to not really offer you better mortgage deals, but just wraps up some goodies suitable for a real FTB into their marketing offer, rather than actually being better deals as such. Give a mortgage product a name, wrap it up with some goodies, then you can target your marketing towards specific groups of people more easily.

VIGILANT22

You will have to meet all the criteria as will the property will have to....I would suggest you ask family/friends/colleagues to recommend you an experienced whole of market mortgage advisor for this project...as possibly a couple of ways you can consider raising the finance..depending on the project......

PasturesNew

Knocking two properties into one is most likely going to reduce the overall value. e.g. Two worth £100k might be worth £175k when knocked through - and there's been the additional cost of doing it. Because of this you will encounter a different set of problems in trying to raise the mortgage to do the work as you're seeing their current value, whereas a lender will be looking at the risk while the work is being undertaken and the end value potential.

If for any reason during the work you stopped work and had to sell it quickly it'd be worth a LOT less than their current values or anything you'd spent to that point. The value of property is in what it is now ... at some future point its value would be what it is then. Between the start and end it might only be worth half your starting point.

Baileys_Babe

PasturesNew wrote: »

You aren't FTBs because you have property already.

Technically, some lenders will class you as an FTB (if you wish) if you've had property in the past and sold it more than X months ago (not sure how many as it varies, maybe 9-18).

The term FTB tends to not really offer you better mortgage deals, but just wraps up some goodies suitable for a real FTB into their marketing offer, rather than actually being better deals as such. Give a mortgage product a name, wrap it up with some goodies, then you can target your marketing towards specific groups of people more easily.

Thank you, I was wondering what the advantages/disadvantages to being classed a FTB were.

VIGILANT22

As you are already home owners with a property unencumbeed....be prepared for conveyancing fees etc similar to that of a purchase

opinions4u

Baileys_Babe wrote: »

Thank you

We are planning to raise the funds against only one of the properties if this is possible.

Property 1 is valued at about £180K, plan to mortgage this property
Property 2 is valued at about £60K

Would this simplify or complicate things?

It's complicated, because as soon as you start knocking walls down, the lender's security is impacted.

As soon as you start merging title documents the lender's security is impacted.

You will find that a number of big names won't touch this with a bargepole.