Advice on getting the best mortgage offer needed

ksty

I'm hoping someone can offer me some advice. Back in Feb we sold our house and had an offer accepted on one we hoped to buy. We used a family friend who is a mortgage broker to get us a DIP, which she did but it was for completely the wrong amount (she'd muddled the figures and it was for 20k more than they would actually lend). Anyway we got that sorted managed to just about scrap together a high enough mortgage offer and deposit for the house we'd had the offer accepted on, and our sale fell through! We then lost the house we'd made the offer on and as yet (despite changing EA) still not had any interest in our property since the sale fell through in April.

Our original offer was with the Halifax and it was before they'd changed the way they work out the affordability. Our MA keeps changing her mind whether that offer will still stand when we eventually find a new property, it runs out end of Sept anyway. She seems reluctant to find out officially for us and how much we might be able to borrow with the new lending rules in place. We have no have no debts or childcare expenses so I don't know how/if the changes will affect us.

I've lost all confidence in the MA as after the DIP error there were other small issues were she had miscalculated our income figures, which on top of the DIP mistake meant we were struggling to get a mortgage for a decent amount. I've been in touch recently as we are looking at changing current accounts and asked if any lender had preferential mortgage rates for there current account holders and she has advised us not to change until this offer runs out, not really sure why? I also wanted to know how to ensure lenders would lend the most, ie what items should I get rid of from my bank statements eg sky, magazine subscriptions, general spending? Would it look better if the bank statements submitted with the application only contained essential direct debits eg gas, council tax, and no spending?

We want to move out of the area before our son starts school next Sept and we have to get his name down mid Jan to ensure he gets a suitable place. If it is no longer possible to move we need to know sooner rather than later.

Once this offer runs out I think will find another MA although I do not wan to cause offense as they are a family friend. But I would be very grateful if anyone could put me on the right track so we are in the best possible position when we are ready to make an offer again.

Thanks for reading whats turned into a long post!

ACG

Its usually best to speak to a broker unless you are prepared to put the leg work in yourself.

Dont worry about that offer expiring, you can either stick with it until it expires or you can go with a different lender should you wish.

kingstreet

1. Halifax affordability does not take into account expenses like Sky TV.

Have a look at the calculator here;-

http://www.halifax-intermediaries.co.uk/tools_and_calculators/mortgage_affordability_calculator/default.aspx

Put in income and the expenditure requested, such as credit, childcare, maintenance etc.

2. If you get close to the drawdown deadline of a Halifax offer, the product can be changed to a more up to date one, you do not need to re-apply.

3. If you change properties, Halifax will refund the cost of the first valuation on completion of the mortgage on the second/later property under the valuation promise;-

http://www.halifax-intermediaries.co.uk/pdf/valuation-fee-promise-factsheet.pdf

Ensure your broker knows about these things as she sounds like a pert-timer where (Halifax) mortgages are concerned.

ksty

Thanks very much Kingstreet. I've had a look at the calculator but its still not clear (to me at least) what it is they're count as commitments . We have no credit cards, loans, overdrafts etc, no childcare costs just the usual utilities and mobile phone bills. Are all the utilities counted in the affordability?

kingstreet

No. No general living expenses are included. Halifax uses ONS figures.

It's only credit commitments, maintenance, childcare, student loans, school fees and ground rent and service charges you enter.