phone appt with mortgage advisor later, what to expect?

pamelab21

Hi all


We have a decision in principle from our current lender, have a property we would like to go to and have an offer on our house, I have an phone appt with them later to go through the next stage and have been told to set aside 2.5 hours.
I am starting to panic a bit, not because I have anything to hide, I am just not sure what to expect that will take that long.
Are they going to try and trip me up at all, are they there to stop us from moving or is it just advice and as long as the computer says 'yes' will we be ok? Have read some horror stories on what gets asked and just not sure what will happen.
All I have been told to look out at this stage is wage slips and employer names and addresses. Does the bank statements and bills come at a later date? Will we be told after todays phone call if we are ok or is it subject to more checks?
Will the DIP amt then change as I go through what I pay for phone/tv/fuel/food etc or do they not really care about that part as long as they know loans and chilcare costs etc?
Help please!

betmunch

Depends on the lender, I had a client with Santander had a 4 hour interview. She wanted Interest Only so probably added a bit in. She said they read her the health warning about interest only 4 times through the interview!!


In the end they rejected her. As you can imagine, she was fuming!


My understanding is that in general the phone interviews with most banks take 2-3 hours, I don't know how they can drag it out this long, but it would seem they do.

justme1985

The one I had with HSBC lasted about 2 hours (giving details for myself and OH). It felt like an interrogation at the time and also felt like they were trying to trip me up at times, but I don't think they were, I think they just wanted to check I understood what was happening and the implication of my choices.

From what I can remember they asked me about:

- what type of mortgage I wanted (i.e fixed/variable and interest/repayment) and why. How long the term of the mortgage would be and why. What sort of amount you wanted to pay back and why. Also if you would pay an arrangement fee for a lower interest rate.

-the deposit amount, location, where it came from (we are putting down 20% but can put down more if needed so got asked why we were holding some back)

- wages and other income.

-outgoings such as council tax, utilities etc. for where we live now and what we are expecting them to be when you move. Also other expenses such as going out/train fares/food shopping etc. Also got asked what we could reduce if we had to as they produce a figure of 6 months outgoings that they suggest you should try and have in savings. Also check about loans (including student loans)

- the address of the property we are buying and as it's a leasehold how much time is left on the lease. Also asked about the construction of the property and how old it is (roughly).

Think that was about it!

Most of it was ok as I have a spreadsheet with our outgoings on and had written down most of the other information. Estimating how much we spend on entertainment and food shopping was the hardest part.

pamelab21

thanks that helps. We already have our outgoings on a spreadsheet too and I know what will go up in council tax etc when we move. It just seems a long time on the phone! Having to get someone to watch the kids as no way I could do it with them around!
Its Britannia if that helps any/makes a difference?

pamelab21

another question if I can?
I know what we would like to borrow and over what term etc. will they maybe say' well you cant get that but we could give you x amt' or will it just be a case of I ask them for what I am looking for and they will say either yes or no and not even consider maybe a longer term or lower amt?

justme1985

I'm not sure how Britannia would do it but the process I went through was I gave them all the info, then she went away typed it all up and looked through it and a few days later we had another phone call to get the recommendation of what product would suit our needs and why she was recommending it etc. Turned out the product she recommended was the one I was after any way.

I'm not sure what they would do if they thought the affordability wouldn't work out, hopefully they'd say what they would lend you! Like I said, I did mention that I could put down more of a deposit if needed so I guess that would indicate that I could borrow less if needed. We were also asking for a fair bit less than the DIP, though I am not sure how accurate they are I imagine the affordability looks better if your not pushing close to the limit of it.

Sounds like a good idea to get the children watched by someone else! Good luck and I hope it goes well.

amnblog

Expect to be bored for 150 minutes and not much further on at the end of it.


It takes us no longer than 10 minutes to discuss the key points with our borrowers.

Beancounter

Make sure you have all your info to hand when on the phone. I made the mistake of not being at home when I took the call and had to give some info from memory. We were led to believe it was just a chat to go over rates available etc.

Your finances will be gone over with a fine tooth comb so be honesat with everything.

It was like a job interview at times being asked about our current jobs, when we want to reitre, telling themk about our duties at work, if we will be moving on at any time and if I felt I would be up to the current role in my 60's. All that despite the term we wanted was just 8 years and I would be 56 when it was paid off.

Seemed a load of nonsense at times and a lot of repetition and frankly a very frustrating way to spend 2 hours.

amnblog

Beancounter wrote: »

Make sure you have all your info to hand when on the phone. I made the mistake of not being at home when I took the call and had to give some info from memory. We were led to believe it was just a chat to go over rates available etc.

Your finances will be gone over with a fine tooth comb so be honesat with everything.

It was like a job interview at times being asked about our current jobs, when we want to reitre, telling themk about our duties at work, if we will be moving on at any time and if I felt I would be up to the current role in my 60's. All that despite the term we wanted was just 8 years and I would be 56 when it was paid off.

Seemed a load of nonsense at times and a lot of repetition and frankly a very frustrating way to spend 2 hours.

Customer service?

Think on - anyone considering direct.

audigex

To counter that: I went direct and got excellent service from my building society.

Took around an hour with a quick discussion of my finances and income, a run down of my expected outgoings to check the bills seemed sensible (FTB, so I assume they wanted to check I had a grasp of reality) and my lifestyle would support the payments without leaving me flat broke. Then we discussed options, fixed term lengths and ran a couple of sets of numbers to check different terms + LTV ratios.

Overall it took perhaps an hour and a quarter and was a thoroughly straightforward, pleasant experience. I then went elsewhere to check rates and couldn't find anything better overall - two other lenders had slightly better rates but larger fees which meant higher repayments in the long run.

Going direct isn't automatically bad: it's like anything else, some are better than others.