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Newbie to this game - bit of advice plz

Hello all, might have to forgive my ignorance as just posting here is my first inital steps into the whole mortgage game.

My partner, and i, have been looking at a few houses ... we have a healthy deposit, in excess of £100k, and with an income of around £50k (Self employed).

What type of figure are we talking about how much i can borrow, ball park figure.

Is it merely a matter of 4-5 times the salary? Or does deposit come into it, because i can increase my deposit substantially. Everything else, including credit score are okay.

Would my next step simply to go into banks looking for offers? Or contact a mortgage broker?

What type of information do i need for an application ... i'm assuming my accounts from my business would be one. Anything else? How long can the process take to having an offer?

Sorry for sounding very niave.

Comments

  • The amount you can borrow is based on affordability not x income anymore........
    You need to provide details of all monthly expenditure (from council tax to credit cards) and income, at least 3 months of bank statements, 3 months wage slips, most recent p60 (although I note you are self-employed)
  • The amount you can borrow is based on affordability not x income anymore........
    You need to provide details of all monthly expenditure (from council tax to credit cards) and income, at least 3 months of bank statements, 3 months wage slips, most recent p60 (although I note you are self-employed)

    Most lenders do still do it on x income and only on affordability if you need to borrow more or they decide to do it for your specific application.
    We recently had a mortgage offer from Nationwide and they gave 4x income, which seemed to be the maximum lenders were offering. We only had to supply last 3 months payslips and the last P60 and nothing else.

    You'd probably be best to talk to a whole of market broker who can go through the options with you.
  • herbiesjp
    herbiesjp Posts: 8,499 Forumite
    Different lenders have different criteria when looking at self employed people.

    For example, some will want 3 years accounts history whilst other less. Some will average the income from the years requires, others will just take the last years figures. All important factors, especially if you have reducing income due to the recession.

    You are best talking to a broker, than going direct, to make sure you find a lender first time rather than applying to numerous lenders and finding you do not meet criteria.

    In terms of length of time to offer can be as quick as a week to anything over that really - as it will depend on the lender chosen and their current workload, any extra requirements requested by the lender, any issues with valuations.

    If you mean getting an agreement in principle i.e. seeing if a lender will agree the required amount, these can be pretty quick, and simply the time it take to input the information i.e.10 minutes or so. (however if going direct, these do not check you meet lending criteria, and do not guarantee offering a mortgage down the line)

    Maximum multiples can be around 5 times income with a good score with the chosen lender.
    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.
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