Mortgage advice & Recommendation please (1st time buyers)

bluemonkeymagic

Hello,

Me and my girlfriend are on the verge of applying for our first mortgage and we thought we'd post on here for some advice and perhaps a recommendation for who we should go with.

We are looking to take advantage of the 5% buy to help scheme. We are looking for a property in the range of £140,000 to £150,000 and already have the 5% deposit saved.

Our current tenancy expires in May 2014.

Here are our details;

We both turn 31 next year

I bank with the Halifax, my partner is with Natwest.

My annual salary - £38,500
My partners annual salary - £34,000
So our joint earnings = £72,500

We only have two 'debts' between us, I have a fixed repayment loan of £13,336.01 (£320 a month) and she has a credit card balance of £4000 and she pays over the minimum payment each month, about a £100 a month.

Despite having things like credit cards and other loans in the past, both our credit history's are immaculate, in the sense that we have never missed repayments and have always paid over the minimum. We did credit scoring recently with Equifax and both had a score over 780+

We have other outgoings like Mobile phones, Virgin media etc and have worked out that either one of us could cover these outgoings if we had to rely on either of our salaries only.

We haven't started looking at properties yet, our plan is to go and get a mortgage guarantee at the end of January and start looking from then.

So our questions...

1. Based on the information above, can you foresee any problems with us obtaining a mortgage in the first instance?
2. Are we doing things in the right order, i.e. getting a guarentee at the end of January and then looking for properties?
3. We were thinking of going to either of Halifax or Natwest, are there any other organisations you would recommend us look at?
4. Do you have any other advice for us?

Thank you all in advance for your assistance, your help is much appreciated.

Thanks
David :money:

ethank

You've not said which help to buy scheme. Will you look at new build or resale homes?

Have you had recent credit reports from Callcredit, Equifax and Experian as yet?

bluemonkeymagic

Hi, it will be for resold property, we are not fans of new builds but interestingly, we didn't realise there were different types of schemes.

Yes, we had recent credit scores done, both scored around the 780 mark

dazanteney4

Me and my partner tried the help to buy mortgage scheme when it was launched and we didn't get it.

I know our circumstances are different but it's generally been very hard to get them.

I am 24 on 23k my partner 23 on 20k, with only £1000 on debt against her. Not sure of our scores together but mine is over 840.

I get the impression from the news etc that these are very very hard to get hold of... Good luck tho my friend!

ethank

The 'credit score' you've been given counts for nothing. Every lender will score you differently, and some do not use scoring at all.

You should apply to all of the credit reference agencies for your credit reports. Different lenders use different credit reference agencies.

Equifax
https://www.econsumer.equifax.co.uk/...?prod_cd=UKSCR

Experian
http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/s...ml#orderReport


CallCredit
https://www.callcredit.co.uk/stat-re...t=1&mode=clear

Keekles

bluemonkeymagic wrote: »

My annual salary - £38,500
My partners annual salary - £34,000
So our joint earnings = £72,500

We only have two 'debts' between us, I have a fixed repayment loan of £13,336.01 (£320 a month) and she has a credit card balance of £4000 and she pays over the minimum payment each month, about a £100 a month.


1. Based on the information above, can you foresee any problems with us obtaining a mortgage in the first instance?
2. Are we doing things in the right order, i.e. getting a guarentee at the end of January and then looking for properties?
3. We were thinking of going to either of Halifax or Natwest, are there any other organisations you would recommend us look at?
4. Do you have any other advice for us?

Thank you all in advance for your assistance, your help is much appreciated.

Thanks
David :money:

Consider my answers to be on the face of what you've mentioned in your post, therefore not necessarily 100% accurate given you haven't got full credit reports as yet.

1. Given your combined salaries against the property price, you shouldn't have a real problem in terms of affordability against your debts. Theoretically you should have a fairly wide range of lender options available to you.

2. Most definitely! The market is overloaded with buyers at the moment and the more organised / prepared you are with regards to a mortgage offer, the better your position to buy. You'll also find that most EAs are expecting a high influx of properties in January.

3. I'm sure I've read that lenders aren't to be recommended directly on this forum, however, given you're first time buyers - it may be more beneficial to you to approach a broker. As soon as you register with EAs you'll likely hear from several of them - go with whoever you feel comfortable with.

4. If you do use a broker, be honest with them. If using an in-house, you don't need to tell the EA everything, but you will do the Mortgage Consultant. If using an independent, be transparent; they have a liability to act in your best interests.
When it comes to solicitors, many first time buyers are tripped up by 'hidden fees', so make sure you're aware of all costs involved before signing up anywhere.

Best of luck

ethank

I would never use a mortgage broker in an Estate Agency. NEVER!

Find a decent mortgage broker who does only that.