Bad Credit - Large Deposit - Advice Needed!

Primrose85

Hello,

I am looking for some advice regarding mortgages for bad credit.
My partner and I both have 'poor' credit scores according to Experian, mine is particularly bad (431!). Recently, I changed jobs and moved from monthly pay to weekly pay and got myself in a bit of a tizz and although I was earning more than I was, I couldnt get organised and got into trouble with late payments. Our debts were never that bad - in total they probably added up to about £2000-£2500 between us, just little things here and there, but they have made a huge black mark on our reports. We are now waiting for Experian to update and show our new scores.

Anyway, we are hoping to get a small mortgage at some point this year. I was fortunate to have a wonderful, wonderful father who has so amazingly left me a large sum of money to be used to buy a home, totalling £150,000. In order to get a suitable home, we are looking at price ranges of around £160,000-£200,000, therefor needing a small mortgage. My partner and I are not on particularly good salaries, but not the worst. Our joint income totals around £30,000.

I am wondering if the large deposit will open more doors for us regarding our poor credit history, and what kind of interest rates we will be looking at?

Any advice is much appreciated!

jameseadon

With that kind of money available I'd probably recommend buying at auction and doing it up, you'll probably see far better value that way ?

Primrose85

Hi there,

We would absolutely love to buy at auction and do somewhere up! However at the moment, this is unrealistic for us and not what we are looking for - we are specifically looking for somewhere we can move straight into. If the right property comes along for £150,000 or less, we will not bother with a mortgage, however we are currently going on what we are seeing advertised at the moment and to get the type of property we would like, we will need a smallish mortgage.

CBR600F_2

Are your debts settled then? How long ago did you run them up? Why not order your statutory credit files from the three credit agencies? From what I understand, credit scores are pretty much meaningless. Ordering your files would give a better impression of what's on there, and how to proceed.

But ultimately - and bear in mind this is just idle speculation by some jackwagon who doesn't have the faintest idea what's he's going on about - with that large a deposit, I'm sure there'd be a lender willing to accomodate you, despite your apparent bad credit rating.

Primrose85

Yes all our debts are settled, but only very very recently - last month in fact! My partner and I are in our early 20's and at 18 years of age, who really cares about credit reports? We both took out credit cards etc without a second thought! It is only now that I have the opportunity to own my own home that I am really coming to terms with the importance of finances and what it all means, credit reports etc. I am worried that it is all too recent and we will still be viewed as high risk.

I kind of knew that we would be able to get a mortgage of some kind, I am just unsure if it will be one with a high interest rate etc. I live in Scotland and have been recommended the Scottish Building Society as they personally go through your reports to decide whether to lend, but who knows.

CBR600F_2

If it's imperative that you buy a place this year, I guess you should buy your credit files and take them to a good broker and see what they can do for you.

But if you want less speculative answers, wait till one of the site's resident brokers comes along.

Primrose85

Yes it is crucial we move this year - for our own sanity more than anything else. My mum has a fantastic mortgage broker who I will contact as soon as my Experian credit report has been updated now that I have paid everything off. I am just impatient and want information now

ACG

Your looking for a mortgage of between £10k and £60k.

The minimum mortgage you can gerenally get is around £20-25k, you shouldnt have too much of a problem. I dont think the general high street will offer you a mortgage but i suspect there will be other lenders who will.

Give it around 3 months from when you cleared them then you should be ok to atleast get a mortgage. Maybe start speaking to a broker in the next month or so and you should be ok.

Primrose85

Thanks for everyones replies so far.

The deposit funds will become available to me in August, so hopefully things will be a bit better then

I didnt realise there was a 'minimum' mortgage amount - I'v just learnt something knew! Getting there!

ACG

If they didnt have a minimum you would get all sorts of numb people trying to borrow £50 over 25 years lol.

Primrose85

Thats a good point......