Nationwide Mortgages - How long??

Pipelinedream

I have been following these threads throughout our buying process but didn't want to post in case I jinxed us! However, I did want to share our FTB experience so far because often forums show the worst case scenarios or the best and I think we are in the middle.

Straightforward joint mortgage for loan amount of £248k with a 20% deposit. Both of us are permanently employed.

Info requested:
Most recent payslip
P60
Proof of address
Proof of identity
Proof of deposit (plus gift letter from parent)
Employer reference

Key dates:
Offer accepted - 2nd March
AIP received - 4th March
Full application submitted - 11th March (wish we had done this quicker but our mortgage adviser was just too busy)
Text saying valuation booked - 14th March
Valuation carried out - 20th March (we went for Homebuyer's survey as well which is why it took longer to arrange)
Satisfactory valuation - 21st March (we received Homebuyer's report on the 21st as well - very quick!)
Mortgage offer text - 29th March (nice to see them working on a bank holiday to keep things moving)

We would probably have received our offer on Tuesday 26th but we needed to provide one more piece of information (which was our fault, not NWs). Our Mortgage adviser has sent us a faxed copy of the formal offer and we are now awaiting the offer through the post. At the beginning of this process we wanted to complete within 6 weeks (no chain for either party) but the property is share of freehold and we are still awaiting on some details from the management company and the vendor has been a little slower than we would have liked.

The stress has been awful, with lots of to-ing and fro-ing for requested information from Nationwide which was frustrating but it is just their job to check. If I could change anything it would be that I would have provided all the above information to my mortgage adviser before we applied rather than waiting for extra requests as this delays the process by 3/4 days every time they want more info. Also we did have an issue with our MA admin people incorrectly spelling names and addresses at the beginning (so make sure you are constantly checking).

I will re-post when we get offer through the post. Anyone know how long it usually takes?

shonzyd

it took nearly two weeks from the offer text to it arriving in the post. Nationwides post system is dire - not just for their mortgages but for bank accounts too.

highguyuk

Pipelinedream wrote: »

I have been following these threads throughout our buying process but didn't want to post in case I jinxed us! However, I did want to share our FTB experience so far because often forums show the worst case scenarios or the best and I think we are in the middle.

Straightforward joint mortgage for loan amount of £248k with a 20% deposit. Both of us are permanently employed.

Info requested:
Most recent payslip
P60
Proof of address
Proof of identity
Proof of deposit (plus gift letter from parent)
Employer reference

Key dates:
Offer accepted - 2nd March
AIP received - 4th March
Full application submitted - 11th March (wish we had done this quicker but our mortgage adviser was just too busy)
Text saying valuation booked - 14th March
Valuation carried out - 20th March (we went for Homebuyer's survey as well which is why it took longer to arrange)
Satisfactory valuation - 21st March (we received Homebuyer's report on the 21st as well - very quick!)
Mortgage offer text - 29th March (nice to see them working on a bank holiday to keep things moving)

We would probably have received our offer on Tuesday 26th but we needed to provide one more piece of information (which was our fault, not NWs). Our Mortgage adviser has sent us a faxed copy of the formal offer and we are now awaiting the offer through the post. At the beginning of this process we wanted to complete within 6 weeks (no chain for either party) but the property is share of freehold and we are still awaiting on some details from the management company and the vendor has been a little slower than we would have liked.

The stress has been awful, with lots of to-ing and fro-ing for requested information from Nationwide which was frustrating but it is just their job to check. If I could change anything it would be that I would have provided all the above information to my mortgage adviser before we applied rather than waiting for extra requests as this delays the process by 3/4 days every time they want more info. Also we did have an issue with our MA admin people incorrectly spelling names and addresses at the beginning (so make sure you are constantly checking).

I will re-post when we get offer through the post. Anyone know how long it usually takes?

Could you tell me how much you had to pay to "upgrade" to the homebuyers report? Were you happy with the report?

diska

highguyuk wrote: »

Could you tell me how much you had to pay to "upgrade" to the homebuyers report? Were you happy with the report?

I similarly upgraded our Nationwide valuation to the homebuyers report, which was an extra £235 which I asked for when I applied. The report seemed fine to me and sent by email two days after(never got a post copy though?). The house I'm buying is under 30 years old so nothing major flagged.

highguyuk

diska wrote: »

I similarly upgraded our Nationwide valuation to the homebuyers report, which was an extra £235 which I asked for when I applied. The report seemed fine to me and sent by email two days after(never got a post copy though?). The house I'm buying is under 30 years old so nothing major flagged.

Thanks for the information! I'm not at the stage to request the upgrade, but some people have suggested a £190 upgrade fee so it's interesting to see there is a difference.

For £235, you could probably get an independant cheaper...hmmm...

Pipelinedream

highguyuk wrote: »

Could you tell me how much you had to pay to "upgrade" to the homebuyers report? Were you happy with the report?

The value of the flat we are buying is £310k so the valuation and homebuyers cost us £645 through Nationwide. We could have got the homebuyers separately for around £300 (incl VAT) but plus the valuation cost it ended up being a similar price and we just wanted to do it in one go.

The valuation company NW chose was done by Connells. They provided the information clearly and quickly via email. Like any surveyors they don't write anything that will "pin" them down but they made us aware of potential issues, such as tape on the guttering and potential need to have the boiler serviced.

I would definitely recommend having more than the basic valuation taken out as the valuation will not even cover the major basics that could be wrong. It may seem like a lot of money but it will be pennies in the long run if you have major issues.

Hope this helps!

Pipelinedream

highguyuk wrote: »

Thanks for the information! I'm not at the stage to request the upgrade, but some people have suggested a £190 upgrade fee so it's interesting to see there is a difference.

For £235, you could probably get an independant cheaper...hmmm...

The price depends on where the property is and also the value of the property. We are buying in SW London as well as a flat over the 3% stamp duty threshold so bound to be more expensive.

I did actually research other surveyors but their prices were similar.

highguyuk

Pipelinedream wrote: »

I would definitely recommend having more than the basic valuation taken out as the valuation will not even cover the major basics that could be wrong. It may seem like a lot of money but it will be pennies in the long run if you have major issues.

Hope this helps!

Without doubt I'll be organising a HB report. As a FTB and NW FlexAccount holder, I'm just trying to weigh up the additional benefits of a NW mortgage over the others and what they additional benefits would cost me.

diska

diska wrote: »

Bit frustrated as we've had no update from Nationwide since getting a valuation satisfactory text from them on the 25th Feb. I've not even had anything in the post from them to send P60/wage slips (ended up faxing via Nationwide branch)

I did ring up last week to see if anything is holding up the application, turns out they had our faxed copies (great!) but not marked as received on their system.

Hopefully things should start to proceed now, but was hoping before Easter to have a formal offer from them by now.

Finally got my formal offer today! Apart from the delay above with documentation not being received, it has been remarkably straight forward with very little documentation needed, guessing we were quite a straight forward case?

18th February 2013: Obtained AIP
18th February 2013: Offer accepted on house
18th February 2013: Mortgage application
25th February 2013: Valuation
25th February 2013: Valuation satisfactory
20th March 2013: Documentation now marked as received
2nd April 2013: Offer issued

japmis

I was very much feeling my way around in the dark with my first purchase and didn't realise that NW wouldn't accept my homebuyers report for their survey; so I ended up paying £225 for NW's basic survey plus I paid £270 for an independent homebuyers survey.

At the time I was really cross with myself for such a rookie error, but looking back I'm pleased that I had an independent home buyers survey; I got to meet the surveyor and ask tonnes of questions AND I managed to negotiate £1k off the asking price with the information I got from him.