Mortgage for our position?

woodsey2002

We have 50k saved after returning from living in the USA, moved in June 2004 and returned February 2009, still own the property in the states which is rented out long term and covers the mortgage.
We have very little equity in this property thanks to the crash, hence the reason to hang on to it and rent out.
During our discussions with a couple of banks and a broker this certainly isn't our issue as we have not even been asked whether or not we owned a property whilst living abroad and of course our credit score in the US cant be checked either although it was excellent.
We moved due to a company relocation both times and my husband has been with the same employer for 14 years, we have been with our UK bank for over 10 years always maintaining a balance whilst we were abroad.
Prior to moving abroad we had a mortgage for 14 years, first with Abbey then Nationwide
We have no debt whatsoever, we have an American express card which we've had for over 15 years and recently obtained another credit card, both are used each month and the balance paid in full each month.
Since returning we've had appalling luck with the properties we chose to rent, our first landlord was moving to France and we discovered after a couple of months he didn't move his financial arrangements with him, after several months of bailiffs and the police turning up, we had no choice but to leave (its about time the law was changed so that tenants are able to 'credit check' their landlords, because of our lack of credit history on our return from the US we were forced to pay 9 months rent up front yet he got away with !!!!ing off to France leaving us to deal with his mess)
Our second landlord decided to sell the property so we're now in our third rental property in less than 2 years. We have however been on the electoral roll at all three properties.
We really want to buy, the whole experience of renting has been awful and of course unsettling for all of us especially our 8 year old, we were given an AIP by the Halifax last November for a loan up to 500k with a 10% deposit but after finding a house for 380k, they changed their mind and asked for a 15% deposit and whilst trying to find the extra 19k we lost the house. Turns out we hadn't yet been put on the electoral roll at the house we're now in when the application was submitted although they never actually gave us a reason for their change of mind, there was nothing else on our credit that had changed so we're assuming this was the reason.
Another house has now come on the market for slightly more so we're still looking for a 90% deal if theres any out there that really exist.
Are we wasting our time even thinking that someone else might consider us for a 90% deal considering we've only been back for 2 years and have a limited credit history, we have no adverse credit, theres just lot a lot on there, we're still saving but it will be another 18 months before we have enough saved for a 15% deposit on a house of a similar value.
We have other money tied up in shares and options but we really want to leave those for a few more years, we could in theory cash them in, in 5 years time and have enough to pay a large chunk of the mortgage off but cashing the available ones in now would only give us just over what we'd need for a 15% deposit including what we have saved. We also would not be wise putting all our eggs in one basket, we made that mistake in the US.
Affordability isn't an issue for us as a mortgage of around the 340k mark comes in at under 3 times my husbands salary, we have 1 child and no debt, just the usual outgoings such as council tax etc..
Any advice welcome.

FinAdv

Hi,

I understand that you are in a very good financial position and have no issues with the credit history.

Since you have money tied up at the moment and wouldn't like to free them up. Isn't there an option to look for a bit cheaper property so that you can pay a 15% deposit which would give you better chances and rates for mortgage?

beecher2

Keep saving until you have a 15% deposit, or as FinAdv says, look for a cheaper option.

herbiesjp

As stated, you can look for a cheaper property.

However, based on what you have posted, you should be able to find a lender happy to agree this for you.

Have you been going direct or via a broker?

woodsey2002

herbiesjp wrote: »

As stated, you can look for a cheaper property.

However, based on what you have posted, you should be able to find a lender happy to agree this for you.

Have you been going direct or via a broker?

We have thought about the cheaper option but we're able to rent a three bedroomed terrace house for less per month than the mortgage payments would be on the same kind of house and quite frankly having come from a 5 bedroom 3 bathroom 3000 square foot house with a pool in Los Angeles, buying a three bedroom terrace house just doesn't have the space we need, most of our belongings are in storage and it would be really nice to see them again sometime soon.
If we did go down this route, we'd only want to move again in a couple of years so we'd have the hassle of selling it, being in a chain and if house prices haven't yet hit the bottom we run the risk of losing money as houses in this price bracket in the area we're looking are plentiful and are taking forever to sell whereas decent 4 bed places are selling well and holding their value as there aren't many available.
We're not expecting some kind of mansion, we're just looking for a reasonably sized, maybe 1600 square foot 4 bedroomed house with a garden, my husband works from home and our eldest child is still in the US (she's at college and we have funds in the US for her so again that money is untouchable) but makes regular visits home so it would be nice if she could come back to her own room rather than sleeping on the couch!!
Thats why we're looking at this kind of price range because thats all you get for the money round here.
Having moved 4 times in 2 years I also never want to look at another packing box again!!

We've spoken to Nationwide albeit last summer and they almost kicked us out of the door for even suggesting we might get a mortgage, so much for customer loyalty and the broker we used to get the Halifax AIP gave us the impression it was the Halifax or nothing. Even though he knew we were days away from losing the house we offered on, he made no attempt to look elsewhere for us, his suggestion was to borrow the extra money we needed from a relative.
A couple of other brokers have suggested that we wont' get a mortgage at all regardless of how big a deposit we have until we've been back for at least three years hence the confusion and desperation!! I struggle to believe that in this day and age our situation is so unique!!

With hindsight I would have never got on that plane from LA but you live and learn.

We do however have an appointment with HSBC on Friday but I think they're only interested in trying to get us to switch our bank acount to their premium bank account, he seemed to suggest that it would help our case if we want a mortgage (Halifax got us to open a savings account with them and move our savings saying we would get the decision overturned back to a 90% deal but of course it didn't, I'm completely embarassed that I fell for it!!)) but I won't hold my breath as from what I've heard they're notoriously hard to get a mortgage with.
We were also told to try Santander but as we're FTB's again, they'll only lend a maximum of 250k.

Burridge60

Might be worth having each of your credit files sent to you by Experian or Equifax. I prefer the former but thats just personal choice. Just the cheaper consumer credit act one is enough.

This will show you what (little) information there is about you and hopefully nothing associated with you due to the nasty landlord moments. Halifax Credit Check would have revealed this if it were a problem.

This is a good idea to take with you to see lenders and will help to prevent then checking you again and again.

I haven't any recent experience of dealing with them and they dont even deal with brokers but the Yorkshire Building Society might be worth a call. They used to have some very quirky (in a nice way) criteria but it isn't published on their website to be sure that you fit their requirements.

herbiesjp

A couple of other brokers have suggested that we wont' get a mortgage at all regardless of how big a deposit we have until we've been back for at least three years hence the confusion and desperation!! I struggle to believe that in this day and age our situation is so unique!!

Not really true - it may be harder, but there are a few lenders that will be ok with you as long as there is some activity on your credit file (which you state there is).

We do however have an appointment with HSBC on Friday but I think they're only interested in trying to get us to switch our bank acount to their premium bank account,

Make sure you do not get credit checked by all the lenders you approach as this could harm your already low credit score. Halifax leave a soft foot print, but others do not.

woodsey2002

Burridge60 wrote: »

Might be worth having each of your credit files sent to you by Experian or Equifax. I prefer the former but thats just personal choice. Just the cheaper consumer credit act one is enough.

This will show you what (little) information there is about you and hopefully nothing associated with you due to the nasty landlord moments. Halifax Credit Check would have revealed this if it were a problem.

This is a good idea to take with you to see lenders and will help to prevent then checking you again and again.

I haven't any recent experience of dealing with them and they dont even deal with brokers but the Yorkshire Building Society might be worth a call. They used to have some very quirky (in a nice way) criteria but it isn't published on their website to be sure that you fit their requirements.

According to Experian our is credit is very good, one thing we learned in the US where your credit score is God is to manage it well and registering with Experian was one of the first things we did when we got home especially as we had the nightmare of dealing with someone elses bad credit i.e the Landlords but thankfully nothing untoward has appeared on there relating to that address.

We did originally pass as an A credit score with the Halifax but something happened to make us become a B yet no explanation was ever offered. Nothing changed on our credit file other than another change of address.

I shall call YBS tomorrow, we have a branch just down the road so might be worth a visit, thanks for the tip!!