Buying a House, but..........

sportyspice

Hi,

I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but i was after some information.

My boyfriend and myself have spoken about moving in together, we both have good jobs with decent salary each, so we would prefer to buy somewhere and get onto that property ladder rather than renting.

Only trouble is, my boyfriend has some debits that were around before we got together, he is paying them off each month from his wages, but i'm worried this will affect our chance of buying or at least getting a decent mortgage.

Has anyone else experienced this or could anyone help me. I want to find some information to try and help him clear his debits or to find out if we have any chance of a mortgage.

It does worry me, coz i love him so much and want to live with him but scared it wont be possible.

Many thanks!

rchddap1

having a history of using credit before (eg, loan, credit card etc...) does help enormously when getting a mortgage. It means that the mortage company will be able to see that in the past any debt that you have had in the past you have paid back. However, defaulting on those debts, or getting a CCJ could hamper things. The problem could actually be if you haven't had a credit card or loan (ie, applied & used credit) in the the past. No credit history = mortgage company doesn't know whether they can trust you or not. Personally I hate credit / debt and only got a credit card to generate a good credit history for getting a mortgage.

My advise would be to pop into an estate agent (or Financial Advisor). Generally they should be able to offer you free consultation on getting a mortgage. Or the one I looked at a few years ago did anyway (Allen & Harris). With me they did encourage us to apply, but they should give you a good indication of where you stand.

bridiej

I've moved this into Mortgages

sportyspice

Thanks rchddap1 for that information, going on that, i must be worst off coz i've never had a credit card. Ok have had store cards but always paid them off as soon as i got the bill.

Might see if we can go and see an adviser and find out what position we are in.

Have looked on the net for information, but that's been as clear as mud.

Just hope there is someone out there willing to give us a chance, i know he's not the first to have debts and wanting to buy a house but just makes things hard.

rchddap1

Things are a lot sweeter on the other side. You are going through all this pain now, but once you have a house of your own it all seems worth it. Instead of paying for someone else's holidays (which is what I was doing...Kenya by the way) you are paying for your house.

However, you can sit down and do the maths yourself. Get a pad of paper, a pencil and your boyfriend and write down all your expenses that you'd have to pay if you were in a house of your own. Council tax, electricity, water, gas and your existing commitments. It might give you an idea of what you can actually afford, rather than simply relying on the maximum that you can get...and ending up in a mess.

sportyspice

Thankyou!

And i know some day we will look back and be glad we went through all this, only makes us stronger in the long run.

dougk_2

I would suggest yoy also get your credit reports for both you and your boyfriend form experian and equifax. Each one will only cost you £2 and you will see a clearer picture.
(alos you will be surprised what is on there and who has searched against you!)

The store cards will help your credit rating as they are "credit" and have been paid

If you have bought anything on 0% intrest free this will show too and again is "credit".

If you have been with a bank for a number of years this is also positive!

I guess a lot depends on the level of debt your b/f has and if he has always paid on time (no defaults etc). Again if hes paid ontime and satisfied the lenders then tahts positive. If the debts are still high (in the thousands) then it may affect how much a mortgage lender would offer you.

sportyspice

Thanks dougk

I know B/f has sent off for his credit report so he can see what's going on. To be honest i know i have a good credit rating, so i'm not too worried about myself, more for my b/f.

I have been with my same building society all my life and have a good amount of savings with them.

Think there was one time he was late paying, but made up for it, but i know he has a DD set up, so comes straight out of his back once his wages have gone in.

They are fairly high his debts, but of course i wont go into how much or the reason why they occured, just know he is very embrassed about them, and doesn't want this to affect my credit rating or anything.

dougk_2

Remember when/if you purchase anything on credit jointly your two credit files will be "linked".

My partner has some debts (nothing to worry about in my view as less than £12k, just the fallout of 10 years as a student!). I have remortgaged my house as BTL with some surplus to then pay these debts off so we can buy a bigger house together without these coming into play with the new mortgage...which is going through as we speak!
I'm happy to do this because it saves us both grief and without the debts (other than the houses) we will be better off each month.