First Time Buyers - when to see a broker?

thelemonfairy88

My husband and I are frantically saving for a deposit and hope to have around a 10% deposit by the end of this year (£15k based on average prices for the type of properties we'd be looking at in the Liverpool/Merseyside area).

My question is at what point we should consider seeing a Mortgage broker?

We are both first time buyers and I have quite a few defaults on my credit report that drop off this year (the last one in September) so we won't be making any applications until at least October. It all feels a bit chicken and egg - we are completely new to this and need help to know what we might be able to afford, the kind of deposit we need, how it all works etc. but until we actually have a deposit will we even be able to have a serious discussion with a broker?

Any help appreciated for two complete newbies to the mortgage scene!

ACG

How much are your incomes?
What loans/HP repayments have more than 18 months left to run?
What will your credit card balances be?
Do you have any kids?

I can give you a ballpark on here.

But I would wait until closer to the time, a lot can change between now and the end of the year so if you go too early you will end up duplicating a lot of the work. Maybe leave it until September time.

thelemonfairy88

I'm on £24k and he's around £12/13k at the moment (in a temp position but hopefully moving to a permanent one ASAP).
Student loans are the only loans we have (do they count?).
Our credit card balances are a couple of hundred a month on average (mine is £400 at the moment, not sure on his) - he always makes a couple of purchases and pays off in full, i'm trying to get better at that!
No kids yet - just recently married so we're trying to get the house thing sorted first (depending how long it takes!)

Yeah my initial thought was to wait until all defaults were off or nearly off my report, but it's hard to know what deposit to aim for without knowing what we're likely to be able to borrow.

ACG

I reckon you could get a mortgage for £140-160k (ballpark) plus your deposit on top.
The defaults are quite historic, with a 10% deposit there could be options now at normal rates.

As for the deposit, do what you can. If someone says 10% but then you fail the credit check and you get told 15%, it is easier to find the difference if you are already at 13% deposit rather than 10%.

thelemonfairy88

Thanks for taking the time to reply The fact that I still can't get a regular bank account (I only have a basic Halifax account) or credit card due to failing credit checks has me worried that I probably have no chance while any of these defaults are still on there - even though they're all nearing the 6 year mark over the next few months!

ACG

I have placed ex bankrupts, people with 15 defaults, people with more debt than their annual income and god knows what else over the years.

1 or 2 defaults from 5 year ago should not be the end of the world. Worse case scenario you will need a 15% deposit but I doubt that will be necessary. Just try not to apply for too much credit in themean time.