**Pregnant, in debt & confused**

*Diva*

Hi
Apologies for the long !!! post its just so you get a bit of a better idea of my situation. Not sure if this was better off in the mortgages section or credit cards..


I have recently changed jobs within my company and have had a vast increase to my wage, I am a permanent member of staff so no issues with contracts/ references etc.
I also have recently applied for a mortgage (based on lower wage)and have been given a KFI, we have had the valuation go through and spoken with the mortgage advisor and she has confirmed the valuation came back ok and I have now been issued with a Mortgage offer. I am going tomorrow to see a solicitor and pay to have the legal side of it competed (searches etc).


But whilst that is going on I have a Halifax credit card with a balance of approx £1300 it is the only credit card I pay interest on, I also have a credit card with Capital one although I applied for it after the halifax credit card (dont know why tbh) just use it adhoc for internet shopping and pay off in full every month.


My issue is that I am considering applying for a balance transfer card for my £1300 however I do not want it to affect my mortgage offer. Has anybody been in this situation? I am a bit worried about applying for a card and getting declined and then something goes wrong with my mortgage offer, However correct me if I am wrong but I dont think I will be re-credit scored for my mortgage after the legal side goes through?


I am going on maternity leave soon so its important I get all my finances sorted now, I have done the barclaycard soft search check and it states I have a "good chance" of being accepted but I just dont know how reliable they actually are.


If I do apply I do not know what income to put in as I was earning approx £13k part time and since November I have gone full time and my annual income will be approx £23k. I have used Novembers wage to pay off my next store card and they have just increased my limit by another £500! . My december wage was used on xmas sales and baby products.
Any excess from my next 4months wages will be saved to get me through the latter part of my maternity as I will have no wage.


If I do apply what type of credit cards have people applied for that are not "stringent" I know no one can confirm if I will be accepted but with my due date soon I just dont want to be paying interest for the next 12months.


Lastly would anyone suggest waiting for the mortgage to go through first (approx 4 weeks) and then applying for a card?
Or just applying and hoping for the best?




thanks

Weird_Nev

£1300 on a credit card is not massive debt. If that is your only debt, and it was disclosed when the mortgage agreement in principle was given, then I really don't think you'll have a problem. Ideally, of course, it would be cleared prior to the mortgage, but I'm sure lenders have seen worse and so long as there are no defaults I think youll be fine.

I'd say the bigger issue is probably them impending maternity leave, seeing as that will leave you with £500 a month statutory maternity and nothing more. How do you propose to pay the mortgage through this time? Is there a partner involved, will they be on the mortgage? That is surely a primary ocnsideration for affordability after buying the house.

Those are the questions I would ask, over a small and manageable credit card debt.

Tixy

However correct me if I am wrong but I dont think I will be re-credit scored for my mortgage after the legal side goes through?

Your mortgage lender will likely perform a new credit search just before completion on the property. And any changes to your circumstances could potentially affect your mortgage going through.

Personally I wouldn't make another credit application for a new card now but would wait until your house purchase has completed.

Gettin256

I had a similar problem and my financial advisor told me to go ahead with the balance transfer as long as I paid off the transfer fee so the balance didn't change. Saying that this was before a mortgage offer so it might not have mattered as much. For the sake of 4 weeks, better to be safe and leave it in case they do a secondary check.

on the other questions, I'd suggest you put in your current income and find a card with a balance between low transfer fee and long apply for one with a low transfer fee like the barcalycard 23 months 1.5% fee. That way you can get through your maternity and clear it when you're back on full pay.

I'd also suggest you do out a budget based on your maternity pay, just to make sure you can cover everything.