First Time Buyer - Mortgage Advice Required

drummerian

Good afternoon all,

Finally (after 12months of searching) I had an offer accepted on a property, yesterday. I am a first time buyer and it's been a long time since my parents went through the process of selecting a 'ideal' mortgage so I am hoping for some advice regarding best practice, it seems there are 1000's of options out there.

I have read the first time mortgage guide (which has helped a lot), although I am not sure about going with a mortgage advisor as I feel this will cost me more in the long term? Either way, even if I do get an advisor I feel it is best to go in 'armed' with what I feel is a good deal and see if they can arrange something better.

I already have an agreement in principle with Halifax, however, this was some time ago (when I first started looking) and them market seems to have changed somewhat.

The purchase price will be £220k and I will be looking at around a 60% LTV ratio. Ideally I will be looking to be able to overpay as I hope to be able to rent out a spare room to a tenant and use this extra income to pay the mortgage back slightly faster. I like the idea of fixing for 4 years purely so I don't have to deal with re mortgaging in 2 years and I like the added sense of security should the base rate rise (I don't know if this is sensible logic or not at this point...)

Currently I bank with Nationwide, and have been looking at their 4 yr Fixed 'Flexclusive' product.
Initial Rate: 2.29% fixed for 4 years
SMR: 3.99%
Fees: £499
With free legal and survey. Up to 10% overpayments.

A cruise around the internet shows this to be a good looking deal, but I am wondering if I am missing a potential gem by not searching harder.

Any advice would be massively appreciated,
Thanks,
Ian

kiddakidda

drummerian wrote: »

Good afternoon all,

Finally (after 12months of searching) I had an offer accepted on a property, yesterday. I am a first time buyer and it's been a long time since my parents went through the process of selecting a 'ideal' mortgage so I am hoping for some advice regarding best practice, it seems there are 1000's of options out there.

I have read the first time mortgage guide (which has helped a lot), although I am not sure about going with a mortgage advisor as I feel this will cost me more in the long term? Either way, even if I do get an advisor I feel it is best to go in 'armed' with what I feel is a good deal and see if they can arrange something better.

I already have an agreement in principle with Halifax, however, this was some time ago (when I first started looking) and them market seems to have changed somewhat.

The purchase price will be £220k and I will be looking at around a 60% LTV ratio. Ideally I will be looking to be able to overpay as I hope to be able to rent out a spare room to a tenant and use this extra income to pay the mortgage back slightly faster. I like the idea of fixing for 4 years purely so I don't have to deal with re mortgaging in 2 years and I like the added sense of security should the base rate rise (I don't know if this is sensible logic or not at this point...)

Currently I bank with Nationwide, and have been looking at their 4 yr Fixed 'Flexclusive' product.
Initial Rate: 2.29% fixed for 4 years
SMR: 3.99%
Fees: £499
With free legal and survey. Up to 10% overpayments.

A cruise around the internet shows this to be a good looking deal, but I am wondering if I am missing a potential gem by not searching harder.

Any advice would be massively appreciated,
Thanks,
Ian

Speak with a broker and discuss your requirements. Most brokers will be paid by the lender so no direct cost to yourself. It's easy for us to search the interwebs for headline interest rates but it's no guarantee that the criteria will be met to provide the loan.

drummerian

kiddakidda wrote: »

Speak with a broker and discuss your requirements. Most brokers will be paid by the lender so no direct cost to yourself. It's easy for us to search the interwebs for headline interest rates but it's no guarantee that the criteria will be met to provide the loan.

Thanks for the advice. I will speak with one tomorrow (I wasn't sure how they get paid and if it would affect my product at all). Hopefully I can go in with some good knowledge of the market/what I could get on my own.

kiddakidda

drummerian wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I will speak with one tomorrow (I wasn't sure how they get paid and if it would affect my product at all). Hopefully I can go in with some good knowledge of the market/what I could get on my own.

A good broker can save you a lot of searching. Plus any product you do see, he can check and ensure that you will meet the criteria.

Good luck with it, keep us posted.