Do I need to first get a house on offer to apply for a mortgage?

DarthAmz

Hi,

I'm planning on applying for a first time buyer mortgage with Barclays and I wanted to enquire whether I need to first have a house in place in order to apply for a mortgage with them.

I have been told by a few of my colleagues that they have had their mortgages offer in place prior to their property search. As I'm a Barclays customer and want to go through with them would this be possible? I will be looking to get a mortgage broker but I wanted to get a heads up as to prepare for the mortgage application process.

jackomdj

To get a mortgage offer you need a house for them to mortgage. But you can get a mortgage in principle before, which basically says 'based on your income etc, if the right house were available at the right price we would be willing to mortgage to this value' it is useful in telling you what sort of value to look at, and some estate agents want you to prove you can get a mortgage before putting offers forward.

If you are positive you want to use Barclays you don't really need a broker, but if I were you I would use a broker, you then have the whole market open to you and you may get a far better deal.

phillw

You should get an Agreement In Principle from a lender to find out how much you could borrow.

Mortgage brokers are sometimes useful and sometimes a waste of money, it depends on your circumstances.

I didn't get my mortgage from the same bank that I had my current account with, I try to avoid having debts with the same institution that I have any credit balances.