Anyone with adverse credit?

pga_2

Hello, I am new to this forum but have read a number of threads while awaiting the decision on our mortgage. To be honest, reading what has been written filled me with despair. I have 4 defaults on my credit report from 32 months ago and thought that this may greatly reduce the chance of obtaining a competitive mortgage. Yet, I have just received an offer from the Halifax.


My partners credit score was good, and mine fairly descent. I had cleared all of the defaults virtually straight after receiving them; one for over £3500. I then took out a credit card and used it just to build my credit score. We saved up £30,000 deposit and then extra for the cost of moving.


We have just had a mortgage with a rate of 2.9% accepted on a £290,000 plus house. We did not use a broker, just applied directly with the Halifax and had all of our information ready. We were truthful from the offset.


I am posting this as it is the complete opposite of everything I have read on this forum. I found that it is not completely about your credit history and that you do not always require a broker. I am in no way saying that everyone with adverse credit is fine; just that it may not be all doom and gloom.

Bonfire_Bride

Congratulations! You are right....a number of factors come into play I believe including income, LTV etc.


I would advise most people to instruct a mortgage broker though if they do have adverse credit as many lenders wont even consider a default and this could result in several searches being conducted on the individuals file which can do serious harm.

pga_2

I think that it is important that you pick the bank specifically for your situation. You can review lending criteria on the internet. I was not within the Halifax's specified criteria, but they seemed to be the flexible option in regards to the high street lenders.

ACG

There were a few things in your favour which made the high street possible.

I am not here to bang the broker drum, but if you do get it wrong you could do more harm than good by having credit searches carried out which can cause a negative affect. But also dont forget, a brokers job is not just to find you a mortgage but also to be a point of contact.

My clients can contact me morning, noon and night. No call centres pressing 1, 3, 5 and then put on hold for 10 minutes before another 5 minutes passing security. We are there to just take it all away and get it done. It can be stressful time for most and so sometimes you just want to give it to someone else to deal with.

But anyway, congratualtions on getting your mortgage and overcoming the obstacles.

csgohan4

ACG wrote: »

There were a few things in your favour which made the high street possible.

I am not here to bang the broker drum, but if you do get it wrong you could do more harm than good by having credit searches carried out which can cause a negative affect. But also dont forget, a brokers job is not just to find you a mortgage but also to be a point of contact.

My clients can contact me morning, noon and night. No call centres pressing 1, 3, 5 and then put on hold for 10 minutes before another 5 minutes passing security. We are there to just take it all away and get it done. It can be stressful time for most and so sometimes you just want to give it to someone else to deal with.

But anyway, congratualtions on getting your mortgage and overcoming the obstacles.

Brokers, especially good ones are worth their weight in gold. My broker was available when I finished work and I could contact until 8-9pm


As ACG mentions, point of contact and troubleshooting and they do a lot of chasing for you so you don't have to.

pga_2

I think that you are right in what you say. It is advisable to seek help from a professional. I am not saying that you should go this alone like we did as there are numerous pitfalls in the process.


However, I am saying that it is never a definite no. Also, preparing and planning in advance is key. We decided two years ago that we wanted a mortgage and we started making financial preparations for this due to my situation.


The whole process from having our offer on the house accepted to receiving the mortgage took 21 days.