post office mortgage

nazjon

Hi, Has anyone got a mortgage with the postoffice?

I am in process of doing the application for the 2 years tracker 2.89% with fees of £995 but there seem to be all other fees popping up in the illustration as below:

Arrangement fee.
£995.00
If you wish you can add the fee(s) shown above to the mortgage. This would increase the amount you
borrow to £169,745.00 and would increase the payments shown in Section 6. If you want to do this, you
should ask for another illustration that shows the effect of this on your monthly payments.
A non-refundable valuation fee. This must be paid at application. Part of the fee is to cover our administration
costs. Please read our leaflet ‘Your Guide to Mortgage Charges’ for details.
£310.00
A mortgage release fee - payable on full repayment and non-refundable. This fee is based on current rates
and may be subject to change in the future.
£0.00
A lending fee. We charge this fee for making the loan under a new mortgage. The fee becomes due on
completion but you can defer payment until the date on which the mortgage is fully repaid. We will assume
that you want to defer payment unless you tell us otherwise. We will not charge interest on the fee in the
meantime. The fee is not refundable.
£195.00

Other Fees Fee Amount

A non-refundable legal fee to the solicitor before the loan starts. The figure quoted here is an estimate and
only covers the legal work undertaken on our behalf – the total fee for conveyancing may be higher.
£258.00

YOU MAY HAVE TO PAY OTHER TAXES OR COSTS IN ADDITION TO ANY FEES SHOWN HERE

Page 3

Is this normal as I have mortgages agreed in principle with First Direct, Santander and a Broker and they don't seem list these fees but will I get stung with them later?

Thanks for your help

ACG

Most have valuation fees not all though. Paid upfront.
Most will also have a mortgage release fee and its usually more than £0. Paid at the end of the mortgage.
Again, Most will have solicitors fees usually paid upfront.

kingstreet

The solicitor's costs section refers to work done by YOUR solicitor for the lender. The cost of this is included in what your solicitor has already quoted you, so it's not an additional charge. It has to be shown on a KFI because it forms part of the APR calculation.

Valuation/admin fee, arrangement fee and discharge fee are all standard.

If you're not happy with them, find an offer without these fees, but then you'll probably find the rate is higher. This may be of benefit on a smaller mortgage.

Normally big mortgage = low rate/higher fees best, smaller mortgage = higher rate/no or low fees best.

Dave_Ham

I assume you mean you have Key Facts Illustrations (KFI's) from all of those lenders, as getting multiple agreement in principles is not a good call..

As the chaps say, there is nothing in there to be particularly scared of and given the rates do remember that the Post Office/Bank Of Ireland, HSBC and Santander are 3 of the more selective lenders.

Good luck

kingstreet

Hm. Worth noting. If you go to HSBC and use a solicitor not on its panel, you will have to pay the HSBC solicitor's costs of £160 + VAT on top of your own solicitor's fees.

nazjon

Cheers thanks for your help, that has cleared up a few things in my mind!!

Why is not a good call to get agreement in principles with several providers? Only reason this has happened is because when I call up to shop around, they seem to do it then and there over the phone...and all of a sudden you have a mortgage in principle agreed and emailed to you. Think I am going to go with Post office as its best rate by far and fees pretty much same as others.

kingstreet

Every credit search leaves a "footprint" on your credit file other lenders can see. You may make it more difficult to get a mortgage in a few weeks time if you find a better deal because lenders have been trampling all over your file doing unnecessary AIPs.

I would not do more than one for my clients, leaving a second to the full application for the best product/lender we can find for them.

Dave_Ham

kingstreet wrote: »

Every credit search leaves a "footprint" on your credit file other lenders can see. You may make it more difficult to get a mortgage in a few weeks time if you find a better deal because lenders have been trampling all over your file doing unnecessary AIPs.

I would not do more than one for my clients, leaving a second to the full application for the best product/lender we can find for them.

Could not have said better myself, shame on lenders as the only reason they do it is to not waste time on you or your needs if you cannot pass their credit score - that is not what it is a about as Kings. says correctly.

If your circumstances are straightforward then PO is a good call, if they are not then not as the underwriters there do sometimes ask for some weird and wonderful bits...

All the best

nazjon

Oh c**p! So if I have done 3 (I dont think the broker did actually do one) already will that dramatically harm my chances of getting mortgage agreed on full application? I have no other issues, debts, outgoings etc!

So is this simply becasue they dont like you looking for a better deal so its way to make you more loyal to them? Its a bit harsh if it goes on your credit file to your own detriment!

kingstreet

If you apply to one of the three lenders within the allowed time, no further checks will be required. If you end up applying to a fourth lender, they may find the other three searches suspicious.

It is possible you could be getting turned down and changing what you say each time to try to get accepted. That is the major concern - attempted fraud.

nazjon

kingstreet wrote: »

If you apply to one of the three lenders within the allowed time, no further checks will be required. If you end up applying to a fourth lender, they may find the other three searches suspicious.

It is possible you could be getting turned down and changing what you say each time to try to get accepted. That is the major concern - attempted fraud.

Ok thats understandable I suppose. Basically I have not spoken to underwriters for either as of yet. Santander are meant to be calling me today to do this part. First Direct I think did it whilst I was on phone to them. I dont believe the Broker did anything as such just went by what I said. What is the allowed time?

I am about to fully complete PO application, do you think this is adviseable regarding the above, they may have even done a check already? Is it literally a few minutes to check for them or is it a more drawn out process?