Magic Number?

GearsofWarondebt

Hello there
I've just got my credit report from Experian on the 30 day free trial (I'll cancel the subsciption as im not paying £14.99/month as i get most of that info for free on Noodle). Im interested as i want to apply for a new mortgage in the spring of 2014 and want to be as competitive as possible

Everything on my credit report looks great (score 999 with all accounts in order), except 1 negative comment of 'balance of unsecured lending could indicate a higher risk' warning. I'm reducing my balances very heavily (averaging about £1K/month balance reduction). My question is this......what is the magic threshold Experian balance at which this warning disappears off my account? Experian couldnt answer this very very simple question!!!!

Does anyone know what this 'magic number' is? Obviously, I would like to dip below this before i apply for a mortgage in March-April 2014 but knowing what that number is is critical if I'm to avoid paying £14.99/month to Experian to monitor progress real time. Noodle doesnt give this indication so cant use that as an alternative of this particular metric!

Any advice would be very welcome

All the best

DomRavioli

Oh dear...Most lenders have their own credit scoring, which is what their mortgages will go off, not an experian credit rating.

Just keep getting your debt level down, then you won't have to worry.

GearsofWarondebt

Thanks Dom

I'll certainly hammer it down and expect to reduce it by ~£6-£7K before I apply for a new mortgage.

You-Kip

Regulator poster??????

Just a guy with an eye on mortgage application in future. No tricks.

You-kip

GearsofWarondebt wrote: »

Thanks Dom

I'll certainly hammer it down and expect to reduce it by ~£6-£7K before I apply for a new mortgage.

You-Kip

Regulator poster??????

Just a guy with an eye on mortgage application in future. No tricks.

Right its just that when someone comes on the forum talking about worthless scores generated by the likes of Experian a little suspicion crossed me.

Please ignore your 999 score as it doesn't mean anything.

izools

What matters is how much you owe in comparison to your income.

As experian don't know your income they aren't in a position to judge.

If you owe 10% of your annual salary you shouldn't have any worries at all but if your unsecured borrowing is say 60% of your annual income you will encounter issues with a mortgage underwriter.

GearsofWarondebt

Thanks You Kip and iZools

Currently my unsecured debt is 35% of my gross annual salary. By the time I apply for a mortgage, I'm projecting that % to be ~20% personally and ~24% of joint debt to joint gross income.

I'm hoping this shouldn't put lenders off offering us a competitive deal?

Cheers

izools

GearsofWarondebt wrote: »

Thanks You Kip and iZools

Currently my unsecured debt is 35% of my gross annual salary. By the time I apply for a mortgage, I'm projecting that % to be ~20% personally and ~24% of joint debt to joint gross income.

I'm hoping this shouldn't put lenders off offering us a competitive deal?

Cheers

Whilst this won't prevent you from remortgaging this will reduce the lender's maximum lend. Depending on your salaries and required remortgage amount this may prevent you from being able to proceed; but any competent lender will be able to run the figures through their affordability calculator and tell you their estimated max lend without a credit search.

Thrugelmir

GearsofWarondebt wrote: »

Thanks You Kip and iZools

Currently my unsecured debt is 35% of my gross annual salary. By the time I apply for a mortgage, I'm projecting that % to be ~20% personally and ~24% of joint debt to joint gross income.

I'm hoping this shouldn't put lenders off offering us a competitive deal?

Cheers

Debt owed also has to be viewed in context of deposit/equity and the product being applied for.

If you want a competitive deal, repay that debt and boost your savings. There's no magic formula.