Agreement in Principle Question

geraint83

Hi,

My girlfriend and I have found a house we'd like to buy but as we're first time buyers we have a question about getting a mortgage agreed in principle.

We haven't made an offer yet because our mortgage broker is away on holidays for the next two weeks. When we last saw him, he told us to go back to him once we had decided on a house we'd like to buy because we didn't have much of an idea what we were after when we first met.

Would we be able to make an offer for this house without an agreement in principle and hope that we're able to get a mortgage (I've tried various online calculators for building societies like Nationwide and there shouldn't be a problem because we don't have bad credit ratings - as far as I know...!). However, I'm keen to make sure that we get the best deal and so want to consult the mortgage broker on this.

Should we just get an agreement in principle with someone like the Nationwide before making an offer for the house, and would it be possible for us to not go through with this afterwards if the mortgage broker can find us a better deal?

Or, can we just make an offer an stall the processes (if the offer is accepted that is) until the broker is back from his holidays.

Also, should we be contacting a solicitor now or wait until we've made an offer?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

harpyboy07

Hi,

I'm in the same position as you but a little bit further down the line. You should have a fair idea of the amount you want to borrow, after that I would suggest getting an agreement in principle before you make any offer on a property. Solicitor wise, you don't really have to approach one until you have found the property you want...but shop around for prices.:T

MortgageMamma

Why dont you just use another broker to save losing the house? If yuo feel bad about it jsut go back and give you old broker the insurance business or something

golfnutt

your broker should have told you what kind of mortgage you could afford.
most brokers would then expect you to then get an offer accepted on a property, then they would search for the type of mortgage you are after.
At that point they would make an enquiry to a lender and get you an agreement in principle.

Hope that helps.

I'm not an adviser but, i have just been through the same process.