My success story

DW74

I feel after reading so many threads from stressed out people that I felt I had to share my story and hopefully put some peoples minds at ease...here goes.

We viewed a house on the 6th Feb 2018 fell in love with it so decided to put in an offer which was accepted...that was they easy bit now we had to find a mortgage. Myself and my partner both have unpaid historical defaults but had a 15% deposit saved up I thought with the defaults it would be pointless trying any high street bank so we contacted the mortgage genie hoping for a miracle but it was a total waste of time they were slow, ignorant and unhelpful. James (MA) filled us with dread with his negativity he made us feel like we were expecting too much from him but really just being kept up to date would have been fine. Anyway three weeks on my stress levels were sky high I couldn't sleep so I decided to forget the mortgage genie so I emailed them advising I wished the application to be stopped, I didn't even get an acknowledgment. The next day I decided to try Halifax just out of interest and was delighted to get an AIP so I contacted them and went through the full application. The MB was super helpful and kept us up to date, I was delighted when two weeks later they came back with a mortgage offer...i was convinced it was a mistake and they were going to withdraw because of the defaults but my mortgage advisor gave me peace of mind and told me the offer has taken that into account and that they are more interested in your affordability and how you handle your finances now than in your past. They don't do a final credit check it is the solicitor who does the final check before the funds are released which is for bankruptcy. We were lucky we didn't have to pay any broker fees, we live in Scotland so they accepted the home report so no valuation fees and we got £500 cashback which pretty much covered our solicitors costs plus there was no stamp duty because the house was under £150,000. 8 weeks after the offer was accepted we have our keys, the Halifax made it so simple I wish I had never contacted the Mortgage Genie they just caused me needless stress and anxiety.

ACG

Congratulations.

kingstreet

It's helpful an applicant can use the Halifax like a dustbin and hope it will accept any and all adverse. Brokers are warned we can't do that as Halifax doesn't specifically state it will accept adverse credit cases, so under MMR we shouldn't attempt to place a case with a lender we don't know 100% will accept an application.

It's mental, but them's the rules...

DW74

My post is not a dig at mortgage brokers well unless you work for mortgage genie so please don't take offence. I have used mortgage brokers in the past and it has been worth while just on this occasion it didn't work out that way.

My post is aimed at people who are in a position I was where they wanted a bigger home but thought their financial history would hold them back. There are so many worried people writing posts about getting a mortgage at one point that was me but I wanted them to know that defaults don't always mean you won't be accepted and that there is a chance a lender without high rates will accept them.

kingstreet

None taken.

Mine was purely a comparison between those who can go direct to Halifax and "give it a try" and those who can't due to regulation.

crystalpinks

Totally agree with this, we had a similar time but got an offer from Halifax within a fortnight despite a few late payments and 1 default back in 15/16, and my husband being an apprentice. We dealt which them direct and the MA was fantastic- so helpful and reliable

Mnd

Well done, enjoy your new home