MFW: Chapter One

cplusb

Hi all,

Another MFW here! Have been reading some inspiring diaries over the last couple of weeks, I wish I had found this place sooner!

Here are the rather boring details;

My wife & I purchased our first property together in 2008, a 2 bedroom new-build apartment, when prices were pretty high. Within months the market crashed & identical properties were being sold for much, much less. This obviously meant we were in negative equity.

Since then, we have got married & have a very funny 19 month old son. We are in the process of saving a 5% deposit to buy a house & hope to start looking in the new year. Fortunately, it seems we may now make a small profit when we sell our apartment.

I have a couple of questions if anyone is happy to help, as I'm quite the rookie when it comes to mortgages?

• we currently have a good deal with ... (I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be mentioning names?), with quite a low BMR. Is there any way of keeping this when we move?

• for the last 2 years we have a been making a small overpayment of £50 per month. How will this be used when we sell?

Thanks in advance for any help & I look forward to finding out useful tips, etc.

(I have been writing this whilst keeping an eye on my lo, so apologies if it doesn't make much sense!)

ch3101

What do you plan to do with the current flat?

You could ask for consent to let and let it out for a while at least just to build a little equity in it if you have another deposit saved.

You'll find that the interest rates on 95%LTV aren't great so I'd suggest tat you won't be able to keep a good rate but a broker will be along soon to advise on that.

The overpayments you'd hope would be part of your equity and hence you'll get them back along with whatever else you have.

cplusb

At the moment the plan is to sell our current property, mainly because we have been the told that the Building Society we are with do not allow Buy To Let. I understand that the bigger the deposit we have the better the interest rates, but with our little one we're quite desperate to move out, especially if house prices are increasing.

cplusb

Just an update...

Hoping to get our property valued by a few estate agents next month, to get the ball rolling. If we can sell ours for the same as identical properties close by, then it's possible that we could get enough for a 10% deposit, together with what we are saving.

Really need to book an appointment with our current mortgage provider to enquire about 'porting' our current deal when we move as I really don't want to lose the 2.5% rate. Does anyone know if there are standard conditions, such as needing a certain LTV ratio?

We're hoping the new year is a good time to sell with the government's help-to-buy scheme expanding & a friend also pointed out no-one really wants to buy a property without a garden in the summer!

Money-saving for the day:
- Changed car insurance provider. Quoted renewal of about £550, so browsed comparison sites & eventually got it for £390.
- Planned meals for the week.

cb4fwh

Hiya,

Check the documentation for your existing mortgage - it should say whether your mortgage is portable or not (assuming that you are still within a 'fixed' period. If you are now out of your 'fixed' period i.e. if you took out a 2 year mortgage which then tracked base rate after 2 years, I fear that this will not be portable...

sleepygirl126

I can't answer your question but good luck!:beer:

cplusb

Been a while since I posted on here but ball is finally rolling!

Had an appointment with mortgage provider that went very well, agreed to let us port our mortgage so a large part will stay at 2.5%.

Had 3 estate agents round. One was straight out of the running as they quoted £2,500 sellers fee! On our property that equated to about 2%! Other 2 quoted £1,500 if they sell for asking price or 1% if under plus VAT. Out of those 2 we decided to go for the 'non-corporate' as they seemed more friendly & not just hungry for our money.
Paperwork has been signed & they are coming round tomorrow to take photos. How crazy should we go with cleaning, bearing in mind we have a 22 month old?!