Is it best to organise mortgage before property search?

wee_v

Hi there,

My partner and I are looking to buy our first place together ( both of us are first-time buyers). Is it better to have a mortgage all organised and set up before even finding somewhere we would like to make an offer on, or is it ok to do it after we have had an initial offer accepted?

Thanks in advance:j

Leon_W

Get an agreement in principle with a lender first.

You don't have to use that lender, as when you find a property they may not be offering a decent deal, but at least you know someone is willing to lend.

It can save a lot of wasted time as I often get calls from people who have had offers accepted on houses but do not stand a cat in hells chance of actually getting a mortgage large enough.

herbiesjp

Maybe not a mortgage, but it would be best to know what mortgage amounts you could get based on your circumstances.

Knowing the mortgage amlunt, you would then ba able to see what that would mean in terms of monthly mortgage payments, and how that would impact on your monthly affordability

If going direct to lenders, as opposed to going via broker, please specify to them that you do not want any credit searches carried out against your names. Too many uneccessary searches can harm a credit file. You would only do this really once you have found a property that you like

HTH

Leon_W

I kind of disagree with herbie on this.

Lenders would have expected you to look at a range of mortgages and I cannot see the problem with having a search registered. Basically, it is best to find out if there is going to be a problem now, rather than later.

What I quite often do these days is get an agreement in principle with a lender that uses "soft" searches which don't show up unless a full application is submitted. I have no intention of using the lender in most cases but if I get the dreaded decline I can ask for copies of credit files and find out where it's all going wrong.

I agree with herbie in respect of multiple credit searches. Always bad news !

Best of Luck

herbiesjp

My only concern here is you may get a mortgage agreed today with say Halifax - 2 months down the line when the OP has found a property, Halifax may not have the best rates, so you would apply to a different lender anyway.

Horses for courses and whatever you are happy with