Recommend a mortgage (or broker) for two friends buying?

wigwam_salesman

A friend and myself want to buy our first property together.

We have a budget of between 150k and 200k.

What we need to do is either get a joint mortgage or two separate mortgages on the one property. Can anyone advise on the best way please.

Also we want to hopefully apply online to save a couple of hours in the brokers/insurance agents office as we are both very pushed for time.

Thanks.

wigwam_salesman

Anyone? Sorry to bump but we are in a bit of a hurry.

PosterBoy77

If you are pushed for time you should take a bit of time to be sure if buying somewhere with your freind is what you REALLY want to do. I can lead to all sorts of problems in future. What if one of you looses a job, wants to move or wants the other to buy them out? How would you agree what to do?

This will take you onto the next issue - how long do you want to commit to a mortgage? Some mortgages have very high redemption penalties within the first few years, so it could cost you dearly if you need to sell up before the penalty period ends.

Any advisor you see will need to be made aware of all this to be able to give you the best advice.

If you are sure of all these points and know that buying is the way you want to go then you can consult mortgage brokers via https://www.moneynet.co.uk or other similar sites.

Whilst I have used some brokers in the past, I cannot recommend any, as I have managed to secure better deals by doing homework and researching the market myself.

wigwam_salesman

Sorry, we are pushed for time in the sense that we are both coming to the end of our rental contracts and don't really want to enter into new ones.

We have been discussing this for about a year though and are happy with our decision.

toonfish

mikael wrote:

Whilst I have used some brokers in the past, I cannot recommend any, as I have managed to secure better deals by doing homework and researching the market myself.

every time?

you must have gone to some bad brokers!

wigwam_salesman

Er thanks toonfish

What we need is to borrow £140,000 (and we want a mortgage that includes all the set up fees) and we both earn around £25,000 a year.

My credit is a little shaky (one default, couple of late payments but other than that everything is on time) and my mates is exemplary.

So what should we be doing? I appreciate we need to see an independent adviser but how to know which one is talking rubbish and which one is not.

I have been told that the Royal Bank of Scotland will accept pretty much anyone?

We are hoping to see a broker (fee free) on Saturday morning and we would like to do some viewings so it would be nice to have some idea of what we should be looking for...? In other words...HELP! (panics).

toonfish

if you are looking for 100% borrowing then there are a few options - Northern Rock, Coventry, Portman, RBS, Accord - it's impossible to make a recommendation. Ask the broker to source on the true cost of the deal over say 3 or 5 years, not on the actual cheapest payrate.

make sure that you have some details of any credit outstanding, and previous problems.

You won't be able to get 2 seperate mortages and what is best for you will depend on much more information than has been given.

wigwam_salesman

We were hoping for 105% borrowing to cover the stamp duty and everything else as well but that is not imperitive. We have a bit of savings but would rather use it for furnishings etc.

toonfish

OK - you will have a choice of NR, Accord Coventry or Mortgage Express - personally I like the coventry as their fees tend to be a lot lower.

wigwam_salesman

How strict are their credit checks though?

As our choice is so limited would you advise us not using a broker and going directly to Coventry?

toonfish

I'd always recommend a broker - it won't cost you any extra. DEpends how bad the credit is, but a broker has more chance of squeezing a case through than you do on your own. They all require a pretty good credit score at 100% obviously. I think Northern Rock & Birmingham Midshires are possibly the most lenient, others may disagree.