Should I see a broker?

snowlady07

Hi there,

I'm looking to buy a new house in the coming months. My salary is £33.5k and I get approx £4K - £5k bonus annually. I currently have no debts but a hefty £340 per month lease car payment which I can't get out of (I've tried but would have to pay £6k in penalties to hand it back and then I would need to buy another car). I have £20k deposit and looking at houses around £160k-£170)

My issue is that I've recently had massive credit card debt of around £35k. This has all been paid off last month and all of these accounts were run ok (no missed payments or overlimit).

According to the Nationwide online calculator I should be ok for what I'm looking for but will these past debts cause me a problem? Should I be talking to a broker first?

Thanks in advance.

kingstreet

If you pick the wrong lender, it will treat the card still as still being there and just assume you will redraw it.

A broker would be a very good start.

ACG

I dont think you will have a problem getting a Mortgage and at normal rates, but a Kingstreet says there are 1 or 2 lenders that should be avoided.

snowlady07

I'm going to close all of the accounts, bar 1. Will that help?

kingstreet

No. If the balance is visible in the three month run-up to the mortgage application, it will be taken into account.

Closing accounts can often do more harm than good. Discuss things with your broker before you start taking precipitate action.