FTB - Any issues here?

J_Devon

Evening folks,

I wonder if I could have your view on whether I will have any issues with the following scenario:

> 90% LTV (£15k deposit and looking at houses around £150k with a view to making an offer).
> Salary is £31,350
> 1 Credit Card - £0 balance
> No other loans etc
> I have a copy of my credit report from Experian. It shows that I have 3 late payments on a credit card. These were 44, 59 and 72 months ago (stupidly didn't set up a DD).

I am looking to apply through HSBC.

I'd be most grateful for any thoughts on the above, especially the missed payments. Are they going to cause me any issues?

Many thanks in advance for your comments.

James

:beer:

ACG

Have you checked it fits affordability with them?
Aside from that 4 late payments may be an issue with them... it may not be but they can be fussy at times. I suspect if it never went higher than a "1" you should be ok assuming it fits affordability.

As they do not deal with brokers its difficult to say as they do not publish lending criteria.

J_Devon

They have given me a Mortgage Certificate to say that based on the info I've provided they'd be willing to lend up to £135k. She did say that when I have the appointment with the full mortgage advisor, he'd run through affordability and outgoings etc...Would you think the £135k is purely based on my salary and deposit info with no account of affordability?

I had originally gone to talk to Natwest, but they told me that they generally don't give out AIP's due to there being the potential for 3 credit checks involved (AIP, Full app, underwriter). So, I went to see HSBC and they were extremely helpful.

kingstreet

What does the Equifax version of your credit file show?

IIRC that's HSBC's CRA of choice.

J_Devon

Thank you for the reply kingstreet.

The statutory Equifax report also picked up the 3 missed payments. Extremely frustrating looking back on it now given it was purely due to direct debit confusions...but they're there, so just have to deal with it. They were in March 2010, March 2007 and April 2006.

I presume that obtaining a credit score from Equifax is a waste of money?

All of the items in the top left of the report are green, with the exception of "Credit Agreements" (obviously due to the above). Will this cause me a problem?

kingstreet

CRA produced credit scores are of no use.

To echo ACG, we have no way of knowing how HSBC might act, as we have no experience on which to base an opinion.

J_Devon

I'm beginning to wonder if I should be getting some advice from a broker to see if they can better the Natwest/HSBC deals, and/or increase my chances of being accepted with the late payments...

kingstreet

The usual MO seems to be to apply direct, then get advice when you're declined.

Not the way I'd do it, but in these "money saving" times, it's the way people are conditioned.

ACG

Whole of market brokers will not include HSBC in their results.

You would need an Independent Broker but even then the underwriting criteria is not published so they are relying on info from a HSBC employee in a call centre... Im not slating HSBC here at all, but we all know call centres can be hit and miss.

J_Devon

I think if I didn't have the missed payments, I'd have probably applied direct to the lender...but they're making me paranoid and like everyone else, I want to avoid a rejection...

I assume a fully independant broker would have to charge a fee? Otherwise, what happens if the best deal they find doesn't happen to pay them a commission? (apologies for what is probably a daft question) and thank you both for your answers so far, I appreciate it.

kingstreet

I don't see any point in you hiring a broker on an independent basis here. You could pay hundreds, to be told to toddle off to HSBC, what you already knew.

The broker can't arrange the mortgage, or get any better chance of acceptance than you can yourself.

By being declined by HSBC, there is no record kept. A credit search will be recorded and that's it. That's all the next lender will see. I don't think one search is going to make much difference in the grand scheme of things.