poor credit score and mortgages - it is possible

McBozo

this post aims to do two things:

1: educate and inform
2: pay tribute.

About 5 years ago I had a dispute with a credit card company over a transaction that was fraudulent. After they refused to act I refused to pay. Three defaults appeared on my credit report, the issue was resolved and I paid off all three credit cards. The defaults remained but I didn't really care as I had cash had no intention of needing new credit. We had a mortgage with Chelsea Building Society.

As with life, things changed and we needed to move house, we found a beautiful house that we made a cheeky offer on and to our amazement the offer was accepted. We went into see Chelsea Building Society who in my mind have _seriously_ lost their way since the YBS merge after waiting ten days for a slot (!!!!!! can't we do it online?!) We had all the paperwork and after being sold at for a bunch of policies we had no intention of buying (life insurance etc) for well over an hour the adviser finally does what I wanted her to do and run the credit check. Computer says no. Yes I told you it would - how do we talk to an underwriter. blah blah we need an appeal, i need this i need that. We give all thats needed, assuming that as we had been a customer for 20 years and never missed a payment that common sense would be applied! a week later we get the computer says no again. 3 weeks wasted. At this point my wife hates me and wishes to throw me in a lake wearing concrete galoshes.

So i google a bit and come across this site. I read a lot of posts and come across a few of the smarter mortgage brokers:

ACG, Kingstreet and Dave Ham.

These guys in my view are real experts. I find a case very close to ours that Dave has worked on so I call him at Simply Investments.

From the get go, Dave is positive and is convinced he can help. I send over all the paperwork we have, credit reports, bank statements yadda yadda. Dave comes back with two offers in principal admittedly not at the best high street rate, but well within what we can pay. We progress, Dave and Adam work the process through with the lender, They keep us well informed and uptodate ask a few more questions. For us our life is on hold, Dave and Adam keep us positive as we were both convinced that we would lose our dream house.

Within 10 days we have a full offer. :beer: The wife stops feeding my dinner to the cat.

Last thursday we completed and moved in. I couldn't be happier.

Dave and Adam at Simply Investments have enabled my family to realise a dream and I would dearly like to thank them - you guys should be feeling proud for the work you do, which changes the world for the people you help.

So if you are looking for a good broker I recommend Simply Investments based on real experience. Yes we had a 65% LTV, yes my wife has a good credit history, yes I could show easily that the mortgage was affordable, yes in 20+ years we'd never missed a mortgage payment (and any other payment for that matter apart from above).

For those applying for mortgages good luck... but you make your own luck and having a good broker help a hell of a lot.

zizouzidane11

Hi there
Thanks for sharing your experience, and congratulations on your success.
I, and I'm sure many on here, come to this forum for advice, help and research. Everyone has a different set of circumstances and it's amazing to see the great nature of advice provided, and the honesty and the good spirit in which it's all done, all for free and to absolute strangers.
I have been visiting this site for a while now, but only started researching my mortgage options recently as I'm now in a position where my finances are in order and I started planning for my first house purchase. I have already learnt loads without asking a single question, but simply by reading through some of the threads on here.
The people you have mentioned do seem genuine and knowledgeable indeed, along with a few other gems in here as well. And your case again highlights the importance of having an expert on board while going through such a process. My own situation isn't as complicated as many of the ones I see on here, but I'm now convinced of adding a good mortgage broker to my shopping list.

As for the experts and helpers on this forum, I hope you guys know how much difference you are making to people's lives. And it is refreshing to see such great examples, in a financial world that has been marred by ill repute and embarrassment especially in recent times.
Keep up the good work.