Changing mortgage lender for new purchase

student100

Long story short: we were due to buy a house in May/June which fell through. For that we had an AIP from Nationwide and the purchase got as far as converting that to a mortgage offer (direct through nationwide online).

Our sale fell through when the buyer pulled out, then we lost the house we were buying. We now have a replacement buyer and have found an alternative house to buy.

Meanwhile after the interest rate cut and because the new house is in a different LTV bracket it seems that we could now get a much better deal with First Direct.

Can we provide the estate agent with the Nationwide AIP to prove we are good for the offer but then apply for a mortgage with First Direct instead? Assuming they accept us do we need to contact Nationwide to cancel the mortgage offer or do we just let that expire (in November I think)?

It looks like First Direct will accept any solicitor which meets their criteria, I believe ours do, so should be no issue regarding the solicitor I guess.

Thrugelmir

If you aren't purchasing the original property. The original mortgage offer has little value. More so as the months are passing.

student100

Thrugelmir wrote: »

If you aren't purchasing the original property. The original mortgage offer has little value. More so as the months are passing.

Sure.

The AIP however is not tied to a particular property. The estate agents seem to just want to see an AIP when accepting the offer to show that you are likely to get a mortgage. So I was just going to show the agent our original AIP (dated April) and then complete a new application with First Direct once the offer is accepted.

amnblog

Don't tie yourself up with estate agents requests for decisions in principle.

Give them what you have, I suspect that will satisfy them as they are just going through a process with no real knowledge of anything.

student100

Thanks amnblog!

This particular agent is being particularly arsey and trying to insist I must have an appointment with their mortgage broker (bring payslips!) to 'validate my offer'. I know this is balls, they are trying to hide behind the TPO code of practice but I've read that and clearly says they can't discriminate against a buyer that doesnt use their services. I think they want their broker to convince me that I can afford to offer more than I want to for the house.

I don't see how they can win this game... I know they have passed our offer on to the vendor. Our first offer was declined so I increased to what is genuinely our best offer and told them as much. They said they couldn't negotiate till we saw the mortgage advisor but again they have passed the offer on, as they are obliged to do. If they refuse to say whether the offer is accepted until I see their broker then I will just walk... If the offer was accepted by the vendor I expect they will change their tune to avoid losing the sale (house has been on the market for ages), if it was rejected then I've lost nothing.