Nationwide's Save to Buy Account/Mortgage

TastyTeeth

Does anyone have any experience of taking out a Save to Buy mortgage through the Nationwide?

Has anyone been accepted for a Save to Buy mortgage on here, with a 5% deposit, after saving their deposit using a Save to Buy savings account?

Any feedback would be welcome

Shutterbug_2

Im in the same position as you, wondering if it is worth going after the basic 5% or if it will be more successful if you were to give the max 15%.

Lets hear what people have to say.

rodenal

Will potentially be applying based on 10% in the next couple of months from the same account depending on what else is out there, it looks attractive enough at the moment though.

Won't be a quick report back but I will stick something on here.

Quite tempted by the "free" conveyancing too as the 4 year fixed with £500 fee looks the best of their offerings at the moment

BoracicLint

I've just completed my first house purchase this week, funded by Nationwide's Save to Buy mortgage.

I started the savings account a year ago, and began building up my 5% deposit. I made an appointment with the in-branch mortgage advisor and received a decision in principle before I began my search, and once my offer had been accepted I got the ball rolling on the formal application.

The application took about 2 hours, and was very thorough. Things are much simpler if you have a flex current account with them as well and can show some history of good account management.

I opted for their flexclusive 4 year fixed mortgage offer, which not only benefitted from the 5% Save to Buy option, but included free legal fees (excluding solicitor searches) and a free valuation of the property!

I found the whole process excellent, after my application had gone through I had received a txt within 10 minutes telling me that the solicitor had been appointed by Nationwide, and was kept up to date with txt messages as the application progressed.

I can't stress the importance of a clean credit file however, the underwriting process is very strict, so any history of missed payments or defaults is likely to result in a decline. I had several credit cards, some with outstanding balances and had a condition put on the mortgage offer that I paid them off in full before completion.

I completed in a very satisfactory 6 weeks from the mortgage application, but this will obviously vary depending on circumstances...

If you have any questions regarding the Save to Buy I'd be happy to share my experiences

nakiwala123

BoracicLint wrote: »

I've just completed my first house purchase this week, funded by Nationwide's Save to Buy mortgage.

I started the savings account a year ago, and began building up my 5% deposit. I made an appointment with the in-branch mortgage advisor and received a decision in principle before I began my search, and once my offer had been accepted I got the ball rolling on the formal application.

The application took about 2 hours, and was very thorough. Things are much simpler if you have a flex current account with them as well and can show some history of good account management.

I opted for their flexclusive 4 year fixed mortgage offer, which not only benefitted from the 5% Save to Buy option, but included free legal fees (excluding solicitor searches) and a free valuation of the property!

I found the whole process excellent, after my application had gone through I had received a txt within 10 minutes telling me that the solicitor had been appointed by Nationwide, and was kept up to date with txt messages as the application progressed.

I can't stress the importance of a clean credit file however, the underwriting process is very strict, so any history of missed payments or defaults is likely to result in a decline. I had several credit cards, some with outstanding balances and had a condition put on the mortgage offer that I paid them off in full before completion.

I completed in a very satisfactory 6 weeks from the mortgage application, but this will obviously vary depending on circumstances...

If you have any questions regarding the Save to Buy I'd be happy to share my experiences

Hi thanks for sharing, we have had our save to buy for 6 months and are considering applying with a 5-10% deposit next month. what interest rate were you offered?

moreofthegoodstuff

Is the free valuation and legal fees still on offer? We have just finished our 6 months of saving in that account and have the 5% needed but didn't see this offer.

BoracicLint

I was offered 5.74%, although Nationwide have since reduced their rates slightly. I think the same product I was offered is now available at 5.69%.

Obviously not a fantastic rate, but at 95% LTV its affordable for me, and still cheaper than renting, plus I can make £500 per month overpayments without penalty.

The free legal fees and valuation are still available, but only on certain products. If you check the website it details which mortgages are included. I think for the Save-to-Buy mortgages, it is only the 4 year fixed rate that includes free legals and valuation.

TastyTeeth

I was also offered 5.69% fixed for 4 years yesterday after the DiP was approved

Just as you said, with free valuation and free legal (except searches). That makes a nice saving.

Full application now started and the mortgage adviser tells me he can see no reason why we shouldn't be longer than a couple of weeks before we get an offer. What helps here is we bank with Nationwide, I've got a Nationwide credit card, we've got the Save to Buy account and a Nationwide ISA also. I do believe that all these factors help on the scoring.

We will also get £1000 cash back on completion (if all goes well) as we have £10,001+ in our Save to Buy account

BoracicLint

Good luck with your application! You've just reminded me about the cashback which I forgot to mention... Sadly the property I wanted came just at the wrong time so I didn't have enough time or spare cash to top my account up to £10,000+ so I had to settle for £500 cashback instead.

I'm currently waiting for this payment, although I believe it takes up to a month after completion.

rodenal

I completely forgot about the cashback, I think it goes up again depending on what's in the account doesn't it (*edit just checked the site and it doesn't mention this, i'm fairly sure my welcome letter does have a £1500 cashback criteria though)? When can the money in the savings account be accessed again, only on completion? I may look into dropping more into it.

misscoupon

Thank you for sharing your experiences. We're currently saving with the Save to Buy account and are planning to buy a home early next year, so this is encouraging to read.