Applying for Halifax mortgage in-branch

kingstreet

Oh dear. :eek:

Mortgage_Mark_2

kingstreet wrote: »

Oh dear. :eek:

Yep, luckily he's the 'standard' BDM, and most of our Halifax cases are Premier. Sadly their BDM's are just as bad but they're office based so we don't have the same sort of interaction with them.

georginag123

Hi everyone,

So we had our in-branch mortgage appointment at Halifax yesterday.

The mortgage advisor was excellent. Straight-talking, efficient and put us at ease straight away. Oh how we wish we had just gone direct in the first place rather than messed around with that utterly useless mortgage broker for two months.... but hey ho. Turns out he is big friends with the estate agent, no wonder he was recommended to us...

Luckily, the MA at Halifax was able to find our DIP and all was fine there. We went through the whole application but there are a few hurdles... I will explain...

- We have a joint income of £65k per year, plus my partner earns a bonus each year based on his business' profits (this year he netted £17k in addition to his salary and dividend income, although I don't think Halifax will accept this as a source of income as it isn't guaranteed as is obviously subject to the success of the business and whether the directors decide to take a cut or reinvest...)

- Halifax did a credit search on us during the appointment and we have a joint rating of 'A4' - the MA explained that the credit scoring runs from A1 to I (I think?)

- Our previous mortgage broker advised us that we could take advantage of the HTB scheme, so we planned to put down £10k on a property worth £199k

- Once the Halifax MA had completed the application, he told us that Halifax would in fact lend us up to £257k based on income and credit rating, however, they will only offer us 85% LTV

- So, before when we were told we could put down a deposit of £10k and easily take advantage of the HTB scheme, it turns out that we can't. We now need to put down another £19,850 for the deposit...

So where are we at now? Our MA at Halifax has been emailing me this morning and everything is now with the underwriters. All of our documents were sent in internal mail last night and he has made a referral to argue our case for 90% LTV. We accept that we won't be able to take advantage of the 95% LTV on HTB, however, he and his supervisor do not understand why they are only offering us 85% and not 90% all things considered. He believes that the underwriters need to have a good look at my partner's company accounts (last three years).

So, we are keeping our fingers crossed that they will review our case and allow us to purchase at 90% LTV. If not... Hmmm...

Any advice as to other lenders we could go to? We bank with HSBC... Not sure how flexible they would be?

Any advice is greatly appreciated as always :-)

G

Mortgage_Mark_2

georginag123 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

So we had our in-branch mortgage appointment at Halifax yesterday.

The mortgage advisor was excellent. Straight-talking, efficient and put us at ease straight away. Oh how we wish we had just gone direct in the first place rather than messed around with that utterly useless mortgage broker for two months.... but hey ho. Turns out he is big friends with the estate agent, no wonder he was recommended to us...

Luckily, the MA at Halifax was able to find our DIP and all was fine there. We went through the whole application but there are a few hurdles... I will explain...

- We have a joint income of £65k per year, plus my partner earns a bonus each year based on his business' profits (this year he netted £17k in addition to his salary and dividend income, although I don't think Halifax will accept this as a source of income as it isn't guaranteed as is obviously subject to the success of the business and whether the directors decide to take a cut or reinvest...)

- Halifax did a credit search on us during the appointment and we have a joint rating of 'A4' - the MA explained that the credit scoring runs from A1 to I (I think?)

- Our previous mortgage broker advised us that we could take advantage of the HTB scheme, so we planned to put down £10k on a property worth £199k

- Once the Halifax MA had completed the application, he told us that Halifax would in fact lend us up to £257k based on income and credit rating, however, they will only offer us 85% LTV

- So, before when we were told we could put down a deposit of £10k and easily take advantage of the HTB scheme, it turns out that we can't. We now need to put down another £19,850 for the deposit...

So where are we at now? Our MA at Halifax has been emailing me this morning and everything is now with the underwriters. All of our documents were sent in internal mail last night and he has made a referral to argue our case for 90% LTV. We accept that we won't be able to take advantage of the 95% LTV on HTB, however, he and his supervisor do not understand why they are only offering us 85% and not 90% all things considered. He believes that the underwriters need to have a good look at my partner's company accounts (last three years).

So, we are keeping our fingers crossed that they will review our case and allow us to purchase at 90% LTV. If not... Hmmm...

Any advice as to other lenders we could go to? We bank with HSBC... Not sure how flexible they would be?

Any advice is greatly appreciated as always :-)

G

Do you have a copy of your credit report from Experian, Equifax and Noddle? There will be a reason why it's 85%, and 90%+ LTV is considered high risk with Halifax's system and requires an A1 rating.

georginag123

Mortgage_Mark wrote: »

Do you have a copy of your credit report from Experian, Equifax and Noddle? There will be a reason why it's 85%, and 90%+ LTV is considered high risk with Halifax's system and requires an A1 rating.

Yes we do. My credit rating is fair and my partner's is excellent. I am not surprised that we were A4 and not A1 as I was silly with credit cards whilst at University.

If they can only offer us 85% LTV we will just have to find the money somehow. All conveyancing on the property is done, searches are back and we have paid for a level 3 builders survey. At this stage we are just desperate to get in the house!

Mortgage_Mark_2

georginag123 wrote: »

Yes we do. My credit rating is fair and my partner's is excellent. I am not surprised that we were A4 and not A1 as I was silly with credit cards whilst at University.

If they can only offer us 85% LTV we will just have to find the money somehow. All conveyancing on the property is done, searches are back and we have paid for a level 3 builders survey. At this stage we are just desperate to get in the house!

Ah ok. Good luck with it then!

georginag123

Mortgage_Mark wrote: »

Ah ok. Good luck with it then!

Thank you. I will be SO glad when this process is over...

georginag123

PS. If Halifax have said that they are happy to lend us up to £257k at 85% LTV, we have done the full mortgage application and credit checks have been carried out... Is there any reason at this stage that they would turn around and refuse to offer us a mortgage full stop?

We have a joint A4 credit rating and are looking to borrow £179k at 90% LTV ideally, otherwise we will be looking to borrow £169k at 85% LTV...

Thanks.

amnblog

You've lost me here Georgina.

The Halifax MA was excellent and you wish that you had gone direct in the first place, but they are not offering the mortgage you need?

georginag123

amnblog wrote: »

You've lost me here Georgina.

The Halifax MA was excellent and you wish that you had gone direct in the first place, but they are not offering the mortgage you need?

Sorry, I can see why this sounds confusing.

Well, we don't need the 95% LTV on HTB, we can afford to put down a 10% deposit, but we would have just preferred it.

With regards to the Halifax MA, I have found him to be extremely helpful, numerous emails have been exchanged already today and the case is being looked at by the underwriters as I type. After putting up with such poor service for two months (wondering why we did now), I am so pleased with the service I have received dealing with Halifax directly. Should hear back by Monday if they are willing to offer us 90% LTV as opposed to 85%. Fingers crossed...

If they can only offer us 85%, we have options and will go ahead. At least our repayments will be much lower.