Appyling for a mortgage for first time

caleyjag

Hi all.

Myself and my wife are currently trying to find a way of buying our first house. We've got a little one and we're fast running out of room!

I've looked into the Lift Scheme up here which allows us to get a mortgage for part of the value of the property. We're lucky in that they've told me there is a place up for sale in an area we want to live in (was already sold as part of the Lift scheme, so I'm guessing the owners have to sell back to someone else entering the scheme?)

Albyn Housing who deal with it up here have told me that I need a couple of quotes and a mortgage promise to go with my application form. I've asked them what they mean by quotes, and do they mean just a print out of the result of the mortgage calculators on bank websites. I was told "yes, that'll be fine". I'm not so sure.

Anyway, a few questions..

What's involved in getting a quote from a bank? Do I need to go into the branch (Set up a meeting etc) or is this simply a case of getting a number off their website?

Are all banks now demanding a deposit for the Lift Scheme? I've read that Halifax are wanting a 5% deposit. Is this normal practice now?

As for the mortgage promise, I have three defaults on my credit profile. It's been almost 6 months since they appeared (previous relationship ended, I was left trying to pay all the bills). One comes off my profile in November, another in December and the final one in May. Would a bank take into consideration the length of time it has been since they've been on my account, or is it a case of "you've got a default, we don't want to know?"

Thanks for any help

kingstreet

caleyjag wrote: »

As for the mortgage promise, I have three defaults on my credit profile. It's been almost 6 months since they appeared (previous relationship ended, I was left trying to pay all the bills). One comes off my profile in November, another in December and the final one in May. Would a bank take into consideration the length of time it has been since they've been on my account, or is it a case of "you've got a default, we don't want to know?"

Do you mean six months, or six years?

I don't know of any lender offering a mortgage on shared equity or shared ownership without a deposit. However. I'm not familiar with the scheme in question, so you're going to have to research the market if you're not going to find yourself a broker.

caleyjag

Sorry yes, 6 years since they appeared.

tickledpink1984

Hi I am in the process of going through the same scheme, just noticed your post so not sure how far you have got with this. I would recommend going to see an independent mortgage adviser, we are using HSPC mortgage adviser who has been fantastic and the service is free. There are only 2 providers that can provide you with a shared equity mortgage in the area these are halifax and nationwide. If your defaults are older than 6 years they should have been removed from your credit report and therefore you should not have a problem obtaining a mortgage. The first thing that I would suggest is ordering a copy of your credit report from Experian and checking what is on there prior to getting mortgage advice as this is what the lenders will be looking at so it is best to know and make sure that everything is up to date and correct. Hope that this helps.

bride2be2012

Hi, we're just about to apply for LIFT, just waiting on the application form to come. The woman on the phone at Albyn said there's a waiting list, does anyone know how long long this is? It's a property in Inverness we want. She also said how quickly you get a house depends on your circumstances, is this similar to how the allocate their rented housing (coz if so, we have no chance lol!)