What do I want?

whatamigonnado

Hi all

Finished paying our mortgage off a few years ago, and despite the fact that we said we NEVER wanted a mortgage again, find ourselves considering this.

We had the house on the market for 12 months, with a good few viewings but no offers. House was on the market for £107,500. Made the decision to take it off the market and to stay here for the foreseeable future. We want to make improvements to the house, new roof, new bathroom and possibly look into having the loft turned into a bedroom for our teenage son who currently has a tiny bedroom.

We are hoping to borrow around £25,000 - £30,000 if somebody accepts us. We have a few late payments over the years and 1 default for £49 which will be paid this month, all due to a combination of laziness and stupidity really! All late payments and default are showing up on Credit Reports and Equifax credit rating is "Fair". We have a £3,500 balance on one credit card and £1,500 on another. The monthly payments for these 2 cards amount to around £200 per month and I would be looking to pay these 2 off out of the money.

My husband is medically retired and receives around £10,000 per year in a combination of pension and disability benefit. I work part time and earn around £17,000 per year. We would not want the lending to go over 15 years.

First question, are we likely to even get somebody to loan us the money?

Second question, what are we looking for? Is it a mortgage, a remortgage, equity release, home owner loan? I really don't know.

A couple of months ago, when we first started toying with the idea, I contacted Halifax, who we originally had our mortgage with, and who we had successfully paid off a £7,000 homeowner loan with. We tentatively applied for a mortgage of £25,000 and they rang me following the application and asked if we had any previous credit problems; when I mentioned the late payments and default, they said they couldn't help me. I didn't try again then, as I didn't want any more searches on our credit file.

Any suggestions please? Shall I go through a broker?

Thank you

W.

Thrugelmir

Mortgage lenders won't be interested in advancing money to settle existing debt.

Clearing the debt would aid your cause.

ACG

1) yes
2) remortgage

Get copies of your credit reports (equifax, experien and call credit) down to a broker. At 20-25% LTV there should be no issue getting you a mortgage - some lenders will have an issue but not all.

whatamigonnado

ACG wrote: »

1) yes
2) remortgage

Get copies of your credit reports (equifax, experien and call credit) down to a broker. At 20-25% LTV there should be no issue getting you a mortgage - some lenders will have an issue but not all.

Thank you AAG. I have all 3 credit reports so will print them off tomorrow. How am I best to find a broker, is it just a case of "googling" for somebody local, or can things all be done online, so doesn't matter where they are?

Thank you for your response.

W.

ACG

It can be done online or with a local broker - entirely your decision.
You can use google to find one yes.

Farside

why bother googling?... this site is full of MA's / brokers! just find one who answers your questions and who you get along with, that's what i did :beer: