First Direct mortgage - seems good to me, want to check I haven't missed something

fannyanna

We saw a financial advisor tonight who recommended the following mortgage:

Nationwide 2 year fixed repayment mortgage at 4.59% followed by a SVR of 3.99%. The application fee was £999 and a homebuyers survey would cost £470. There's the ability to overpay the mortgage by £500 each month.

We bank with First Direct so I've been checking out their mortgage offers and I think they offer a better deal.

4.39% fixed for 2 years and then a SVR of 3.69%. There's no application fee and a homebuyers survey would be discounted to £210.

Now to me it seems a no brainer that the First Direct mortgage is better than the one recommended by the financial advisor. Obviously if we pick the First Direct mortgage we'll be applying ourselves rather than going via a financial advisor so I guess my reason for posting is to sanity check my own thoughts.

The_J

It's as you say. First Direct are picky (have a look over threads here) but if it's a straightforward case go for it.

They aren't particularly flexible if you want to rent the property out at some point in the future.

fannyanna

I'm a bit of a worrier and one thing that does concern me is affordability.

We will be paying a 15% deposit (mostly gift from parents and then topped up with own savings) and borrowing £170k on a joint annual income of £63k. The monthly mortgage payment will equate to approximately 20% of our monthly income.

I have one credit card which I use and then pay the balance in full immediately after.

The one thing that does worry me is that we do on occassion utilise our agreed overdraft (maximum limit £250) rather than move money around to stay in the black. This is done out of convenience rather than neccessity.

Are First Direct likely to deem our circumstances negatively?

The_J

Nah, if they say no to that I'd be surprised. Nationwide will definitely do it at least.

fannyanna

Thank you. That's reassuring to hear.

DannyboyMidlands

Go for it. FD are vey easy to deal with.

Other than easing your worries I don't see the point of a 2 year fixed though. If rates go up you'll just get slapped with it in 2 years time.

They did have some very nice lifetime trackers.

Gentoo365

First Direct will take into consideration your account conduct as you have an account with them. The agreed overdraft is fine, as long as the situation is not deteriorating, which at £250 is not likely.

They are picky on 'conduct' though (maybe due to being direct) so you need a clean credit record. No missed payments etc.

Babiesmummy_2

I am due to complete a First Direct remortgage on Friday.

I moved my bank account to them in March. House value £250,000 Mortgage of £160,000 joint earnings of £52,500 with approx £25,000 debt on CC/loans. LTV was 64% so very close to the mark. I went for a rate which included no fees & free valuation. I was on a temp contract and they offered us an AIP subject to me getting a permanent contract (which I did, but I only earn £2500).

First Direct, their valuer & acting solicitors have been excellent, and would definately recommend them.

Yorkshire B/S would only lend us £86,000 based on our affordability.......

fannyanna

Just got approved in principle