FTB Advice

BellyDuJour

Hi All,

I'm looking to take the plunge and buy my first property and wanted to run this past you guys for any advice just so that I can get my ducks in a row before approaching my building society.

- I have £15k saved in a Nationwide FTB ISA which should allow me to get a 95% mortgage with them. As far as I know, my credit history should be clean.

- I have £7.5k on a credit card which will be reduced to £5.5k when I get paid at the end of the month and down to zero 3 months after that.

- I have a £10k car loan to run for approx. 5 years - I get a car allowance for work that covers this.

- I earn £55k basic plus £5k per year to fund the car. I'm new to the job, but having asked Nationwide, there's no minimum time I would have had to be working there to apply for a mortgage.

I currently live in the sticks and I'm desperate to move closer to civilisation! I want to buy somewhere (in the South East) for £250k max. Having had a look at property websites, there's a few that have caught my eye. Is it too early to start looking? Should I pay off the credit card before I start to look or perhaps get some more savings behind me? I don't want to wait unnecessarily given how long the process can take and let all the good properties pass me by! Currently my outgoings are fairly low so I can save £2k per month once the CC has been cleared.

Thanks!

BDJ

wifey24

If you in a good position to save a bigger deposit then i would always wait a bit longer and save up. A bigger deposit will mean the mortgage is cheaper and you get a much better rate if the LTV is 90% than 95%. If you are not in a rush then wait, clear your debts and get a better rate.

Chocolatefund

As above poster said. In my opinion I would also wait for several reasons:

1) Bigger deposit gives you more options, even 10% will give you much more.
2) If you reckon it'll only take you 3 months to clear that credit card then do that. Again, will give you more options.
3) More months on your new job would look better.

It's worth getting copies of your credit report to make sure there are no surprises on them.

I wish I had your salary

ACG

Put the figures through on some calculators. I think its going to be a little tight at 95% LTV but you will only find out by putting the figures in.

King_Slayer

Try the Nationwide Calculate. Play with the deposit amount and see the difference it makes and then go from there.