Buying a house when you FREELANCING

Ginger_Winner

I live in a flat for which I have now paid off the mortgage. I'm looking to buy a 2nd property which I intend to move into. I will then draw a second income by renting out my flat.

I recently gave up my job to go freelance which I have been doing successfully since January and here lies my problem.... I can't find anyone who will give me a mortgage as these are measured against your income and as I've only been freelancing for 9 months I guess I don't look like a good bet on paper. My credit reference is great and my income has been consistent (and higher) since going freelance and my flat is worth a decent amount of money which will also be able to generate some cash through rental.

Does anybody know how I can raise the money to buy a second property....?

mjfusent

I'm an IT freelancer (contractor) and had no problems with my recent new mortgage. As I'm with a difficult lender I used a broker, but have been told many times that the Halifax are the best for freelancers. If you google "contractor mortgage" you'll find many morgage brokers who specialise in this kind of thing.

All the best,

Mike

Ginger_Winner

Thanks for the advice. Will give it a go.

Simon.

Mrs_Arkwright

We had a meeting with a mortgage broker on Wednesday, who works through the estate agent who is selling our house - Mr A is self employed and only has 8 months of accounts behind him, so we were not hopeful of getting a mortgage, as our current lenders told us no way - but the mortgage chap fiddled around on his laptop, and is confident he can get us a self-certified deal - awaiting his confirmation call this afternoon! So it can be done. I hope!

Ginger_Winner

Sounds promising.

If it's good news would you mind letting me know who he comes up with and what the deal is. Many thanks

Mrs_Arkwright

Of course - the deal he was looking at was with The Mortgage Business, they do have a website but it looks like only brokers can use it, and the deal on the mortgage man's laptop is not on their website - it's a 2 year fixed rate at 4.69%. I was quite surprised actually, as all the mortgage guy asked us was what our deposit was going to be, and how much we could afford a month. We didn't have to show any form of accounts or documentation at all, and the company he is looking at apparently don't ask for any proof either.

Murtle

I was with Abbey National, when I remortgaged and had changed to contracting they didn't request any documented detail, just how much do I earn and what did I think my first year figures would be.

loobs40

I got my mortgage through contractor financials who specialise with freelance mortgages http://www.contractormoney.com/ I have nothing but praise for them. Everything was dealt with by email/phone and I got a good High st rate despite being an self employed contractor with no accounts and an apparently low income

mgw99

I used contractor money as well and agree that they got us a great rate and were very helpful.

char9

I'm a freelance journalist and had no problem getting a mortgage - ours is with Northern Rock. They asked me to provide proof of earnings for three years (have only been freelance for 18 months) and once they could see I had a steady income, it was fine.

However we did go through a broker who was aware of the situation before he recommended products to us. OH's salary is partly comission-based so we were worried initially.

theGrinch

a mortgage shouldnt be a problem provided you have a deposit of 15% or more. the only drawback is the rate of interest wont be as good as normal, though it wont be significantly different.