Help to Buy - when to pay reservation fee?

brit1234

kamb1ng wrote: »

Bloor is also requiring us to use an IFA they recommend (http://www.evolvefs.com/ ) and their panel of solicitors. The reason is because they want to make sure everyone involved is familiar with the way Bloor works and can ensure exchange happens in 28 days.

More like they want to push you through for their own benefit. How can the mortgage adviser or solicitor be independent if they force you on to them. They are not allowed to do this.

If you want to go through this scheme (which I wouldn't recommend) get your solicitor and mortgage adviser who has your interests at heart not theirs.

I believe we are creating a miss selling scandal with Help to Buy in the future. Strange how everyone condemns it apart from the builders and the government.

thedalmeny

Does anyone actually read brit1234 posts anymore? I think half the forum just let out a 'sigh' when seeing him pop up and move along.

geoffky

thedalmeny wrote: »

Does anyone actually read brit1234 posts anymore? I think half the forum just let out a 'sigh' when seeing him pop up and move along.

I remember people like you before 2008..They all had to disappear from here..As they got burned big time..

thedalmeny

geoffky wrote: »

I remember people like you before 2008..They all had to disappear from here..As they got burned big time..

"People like me", care to elaborate.

Actually, no, don't.. It appears you hold great and powerful magic which allows you to both know my financial circumstances, stability and ability to repay future debt for which i am responsible for. I'd imagine you look like some form of wizard.

Care to tell me what next weeks lottery numbers oh great one.

brit1234

thedalmeny wrote: »

"People like me", care to elaborate.

Actually, no, don't.. It appears you hold great and powerful magic which allows you to both know my financial circumstances, stability and ability to repay future debt for which i am responsible for. I'd imagine you look like some form of wizard.

Care to tell me what next weeks lottery numbers oh great one.

Yet another sock puppet account of someone who has created many to stifle debate.

So tell me thedalmeny what is wrong of my advice of getting the original poster to go for an independent mortgage adviser and solicitor rather than the builders? After all this is Money Saving expert. Its in the buyers interest to go for independent representatives and builders forcing them to use their is illegal.

thedalmeny

brit1234 wrote: »

Yet another sock puppet account of someone who has created many to stifle debate.

So tell me thedalmeny what is wrong of my advice of getting the original poster to go for an independent mortgage adviser and solicitor rather than the builders? After all this is Money Saving expert. Its in the buyers interest to go for independent representatives and builders forcing them to use their is illegal.

You're not interested in debate.

You're only interested in jumping on any thread related to new build houses or government backed lending schemes to voice your negative views, often your posts are filled with inaccuracies or warped generalizations. It's like watching the village idiot wonder around bashing his head against a can repeating the same words over and over.

Not only this, half the forum seems to have come to the same conclusion i have regarding you. It's not often a day goes by without a reply from some member to a post you've made, normally filled with pity and hope that one day you'll learn to use a knife, fork and any other utensils that would signify you are able to rise above the intelligence level of a carrot.

kamb1ng

CrispyUK wrote: »

I've reserved with Bloor recently under the Help to Buy scheme and was told that if the local Homebuy agent declined the HTB application for any reason then it would be fully refundable.

That's good to know. Through discussions with the broker I also found out that there is an upper limit of 4.5x salary for the mortgage and 45% of debt to income ratio for HTB. Can anyone confirm this?

Getting my own solicitor sounds like a good idea and will start calling tomorrow. It would be a shame if I can't use the £500 from Bloor though.

kingstreet

TBH we do a lot of work for builders and our advice and service is exactly the same as for those who come directly to us. All the builder wants is a broker who will get the job done quickly and efficiently and enable them to get contracts exchanged so they can get on with the actual building and fitting out to buyer's spec.

Same with solicitors. They usually have a panel of three or four they recommend who act for potential purchasers, while they have a single firm which always acts for them.

We are given a copy of the reservation form, so normally, by the time we get involved the deal has already been done between builder and buyer and we have no involvement in the negotiation process.

I understand the reasons why many advocate an arms-length approach, but from our point of view we advocate as much for the buyer with the builder when there are problems, as we do for the builder when it's the other way round.

kingstreet

kamb1ng wrote: »

That's good to know. Through discussions with the broker I also found out that there is an upper limit of 4.5x salary for the mortgage and 45% of debt to income ratio for HTB. Can anyone confirm this?

Yes. There's an HCA affordability calculator which works out what is, or isn't affordable. The only issue we have with it is the use of one set mortgage rate, rather than the variable facility we had with the FirstBuy and shared ownership calculators.

kamb1ng

kingstreet wrote: »

Yes. There's an HCA affordability calculator which works out what is, or isn't affordable. The only issue we have with it is the use of one set mortgage rate, rather than the variable facility we had with the FirstBuy and shared ownership calculators.

Thanks, Kingstreet. One more question for you. With HTB, can I take a mortgage for longer than 25 years? Thanks!