Am I Making The Right Decision (ftb)

back2square1

I had an offer accepted Fri on house for £206500. I have been in talks with L&C regarding mortgages and today I have received an illustration that they strongly recommend based on the information that I have given to them.

I carried out triple credit agency check recently on my boyfriend because he will be the main applicant in our joint application for a mortgage because he is self-employed (last 3yrs earned £27k nett pay per annum) and I am currently still in receipt of Incapacity Benefit however I am now fit, healthy and ready to start looking for a job. I gave all the information to L&C about what all credit checks had bought up.

TBH I have given them every single piece of information that could be possibly needed towards getting a mortgage in order for L&C to get a proper understanding of our circumstances and what would be best for us. We agreed fixed rate for about 2yrs, repayment, over 25yrs.
We require mortgage for £169500, purchase price is £206500. L&C have recommended Abbey National , £999 arrangement fee (pay upfront or can put on mortgage). Fixed rate 5.34% until 2/7/09 afterwards SVR currently 7.34%. (2yrs time we would be looking to change mortgage to reflect our then circumstances hopefully me in established employment, hence, why 2yr fixed suited us best.)

Monthly repayment until 2009 will be £1033.81. £250 cashback towards moving/legal costs. Free standard mortgage valuation (worth up to £1100).

Do you think this is a good mortgage?
I am at beginning of chain (FTB), the vendor is wishing to move end May into property which a woman is leaving to go into a newbuild (end of chain).

My concern is whether my mortgage application can be processed in time because I have read a thread regarding L&C (and Nationwide) causing serious delays

I am happy with the customer relationship that I have formed with adviser at L&C. BUT after reading the thread regarding delays I am now somewhat concerned!!!

Should I look elsewhere for a mortgage? Should I try and approach Abbey National direct for a mortgage? If I did could it possibly speed up process by losing the broker?

Another concern I have is, that on the illustration I have received about Abbey mortgage is explanation of fees to pay.

£999 Arrangement fee (fair enough I knew about this one)
£30 Telegraphic transfer fee
£225 mortgage admin fee (current fee) for providing, maintaining and closing your mortgage is payable at the end of your mortgage.
Is Admin Fee payable in 2yrs time if I change mortgage? Or is it added to mortgage?
£134.75 non-refundable legal fee must be paid to your conveyancer before mortgage starts. This amount is an estimate only and covers work carried out by the conveyancer for Abbey.

Do all the above fees seem fair and not too expensive?

I am not a mortgage expert whatsoever and as much as I have tried to do alot of research I am unsure about this £134.75 fee because what is it for? I thought because I am going to instruct a solicitor (I get family discount at my mum's work) that I had covered conveyancing myself?? Sorry if I am being thick but I need some advice on whether this is all normal.

For your information Abbey will pay L&C £595 if I take out this mortgage.

homer_j_3

with regards to whether i think its a good mortgage, i cannot answer as Im not fully aware of your individual circumstances and /or what you were looking for out of your mortgage.

If processing speed isyour priority and this is what you need then you need to tell your adviser this and see if they feel that it will be an issue. If it is then ask them to redo their research for you.

I believe that L&C will not always use the same processing centres as us so there may be differences.

Admin fee is payable in 2 years time.

legal fees is just an estimate that the lender states your sols will charge you for the work that they will do for them. This should be accounted for in your conveyancing quote and not extra

back2square1

Thanks Homerj for your reply, with regards to our personal circumstances, the repayment of £1033 pcm on mortgage it is well within our budget. I have done an extensive budget planner with lowest income against worst case scenario outgoings and it left us £551 in credit a month. I felt this was good being as it matches our current outgoings whilst renting therefore we should not see much change in our monthly expenditure.

Thanks for your comments regarding the speed of processing our mortgage, I shall contact my adviser tomorrow, in fact probably email him today with my concerns.

Thanks for clearing up about admin fee now I know what that means and when it will have to be paid.

Sol fees accounted for in conveyancing quote, is that quote I get from solicitor? I am not too worried about sol fees as I mentioned earlier I get family discount plus I get quick turnaround on all actions carried out by them.

MortgageMamma

Abbey are generally one of the better lenders for speed of processing, the deal seems good enough, so i think you should just ask for some reassurance from your adviser at L&C that they will get your documents over to abbey quickly

back2square1

Thanks MortgageMamma your comments have reassured me no end.

I have just sent an email to my mortgage adviser at L&C regarding my concerns regarding turnaround time on mortgage application.

:T

herbiesjp

HAve to agree .

The cases I place with Abbey are turned around very quickly.

As long as you send in all the relevant paperwork, and L&C forward that on to Abbey in a timely manner you should be fine. The case gets agreed first, and then the valuation/survey is then instructed. Usually I get offer letters issued on the same day of the survey, as the surveyors send them across electronically to Abbey

HTH

back2square1

Thanks ever so much herbiesjp, I feel a lot happier about it all now.

Mortgage is a big decision and I like to know I am making the right decision and feel confident now that I am.

Many thanks Mortgage Mamma and Herbiesjp

herbiesjp

back2square1 wrote: »

Thanks ever so much herbiesjp, I feel a lot happier about it all now.

Mortgage is a big decision and I like to know I am making the right decision and feel confident now that I am.

Many thanks Mortgage Mamma and Herbiesjp

You're very welcome - keep us updated as to how it goes

back2square1

My Mortgage Adviser at L&C contacted me straightaway this morning regarding my concerns and has reassured me everything should be ok.

I have submitted all information for application with Abbey, just waiting on my boyfriend getting proof of income via Inland Revenue SA302's. He requested them today and apparently it can take up to 10days. He is self-employed but he doesn't actually own the company therefore cannot submit accounts as proof of income. He has worked for his fathers company for the last 17yrs and has always been paid by them.

I asked adviser at L&C how long does he think it will all take to have mortgage agreed by Abbey and he thinks it will be 4wks. As you know valuation is carried out after mortgage is processed.

Do you think I will be moving end May??? Or is this a very ambitious estimated moving date??

herbiesjp

Abbey will not be able to agree the mortgage until your BF proof of income is received.

Once this has been recived they should agree the mortgage and then instruct the survey. Once the survey has been done and received back by Abbey (and all is ok with the survey) that is when the formal mortgage offer letter agreeing the mortgage will be issued.

Getting the mortgage offer letter can be very quick, what can slow down the process, will be the legal work, and any questions that may need answering by the vendor. You could indeed still get in for the end of May, but the sooner you can get your BFs paperwrok in, the sooner Abbey can get their wheels in motion.

HTH

back2square1

Fingers crossed Inland Revenue get these SA302's sent out asap!!!
Once the survey has been done and received back by Abbey (and all is ok with the survey) that is when the formal mortgage offer letter agreeing the mortgage will be issued.

Getting the mortgage offer letter can be very quick, what can slow down the process, will be the legal work, and any questions that may need answering by the vendor. You could indeed still get in for the end of May, but the sooner you can get your BFs paperwrok in, the sooner Abbey can get their wheels in motion.

Legal work will be done very quickly by my solicitor, I know her personally due to my mum working there over 30yrs and I do get treated as priority (apologies to anyone reading this who are encountering delays with their solicitor)