Can we view and offer before we meet with our broker?

rosieflowers

We're booked in to see a highly recommended mortgage broker/ advisor on Tuesday 2nd July. We had to pick this date as my partner/ co-applicant has to book leave a month in advance.

We've spent the past few months getting ourselves ready for a mortgage - clearing all CCs, building savings, conducting our current accounts like saints (:A), and my DP continues to hit his bonuses so it's all looking good.

Online AIPs - e.g. Santander, Natwest and Halifax and calculators all tell us we can get up to £330k including our deposit of up to £35k.

We're in a very desirable area and we can only just afford to get on the ladder here - FTB houses start at £300k and they only come up maybe 1 or 2 a week and if they're nice sell within the week. A perfect one two roads up from us went on at £315k on Wednesday and has just been marked as sold this morning

As the time draws nearer and the odd house pops up on Rightmove, I am getting more and more desperate to go and see one and potentially offer.

My question is, can we go and see properties and potentially offer before going to see our broker? Will he think we've jumped the gun if we did that? And what's the chance of him telling us we can have less than the online AIPs/ calcs suggest?

As above we have no debt, no car finance etc. Apart from rent and bills our only regular outgoings are my partners mobile £30, gym £41.20 x 2, Netflix £8. I don't drive and he has a company car.

bertiewhite

You can go and see whatever properties you want - whether or not the vendors will entertain anybody "who are just at the looking" stage is another matter. I encountered some vendors who only wanted viewers who had offers on their property and then when I made an offer, the EA wanted to see proof of how I was going to finance it - eg - proof of deposit/mortgage decision in principle

rosieflowers

Hi Bertie, we do have proof of deposit and a AIP as you can see above and we are FTBs. My question was more related to the role of the broker.

muhandis

Given that one of the applicants has an ongoing bonus component to his income, different lenders will calculate the income differently. For instance in our case where a monthly bonus/commission was involved, lender A would accept the average of last 3 months while lender B would only take the lowest of the last 3 months. There are other lenders who will only consider 50% of some non-guaranteed income for affordability.

It's great that all your finances are in place and AIPs are all positive, but in your place I would wait to meet the broker so he/she can give me a borrowing number that is achievable for my circumstances before making any offers.

From experience, especially if there is competition for properties coming on to the market, estate agents are likely to see your offer as more serious if you already have a broker on hand whom you can have contact the estate agent saying that you're good to go for a purchase of £xxx.

Good luck!

rosieflowers wrote: »

We're booked in to see a highly recommended mortgage broker/ advisor on Tuesday 2nd July. We had to pick this date as my partner/ co-applicant has to book leave a month in advance.

My question is, can we go and see properties and potentially offer before going to see our broker? Will he think we've jumped the gun if we did that? And what's the chance of him telling us we can have less than the online AIPs/ calcs suggest?

kingstreet

rosieflowers wrote: »

We're booked in to see a highly recommended mortgage broker/ advisor on Tuesday 2nd July. We had to pick this date as my partner/ co-applicant has to book leave a month in advance.

You have to meet face to face? Do you have to travel to see this broker? In office hours only?

bertiewhite

rosieflowers wrote: »

Hi Bertie, we do have proof of deposit and a AIP as you can see above and we are FTBs. My question was more related to the role of the broker.

Yes, you said you had various online AIP's, which make various assumptions based on information you've supplied - I had to provide an accurate one from my chosen mortgage provider (via a broker).

rosieflowers

Muhandis, thanks for your advice, I guess we better hold our horses then it's just slightly gutting to see perfect houses come and go so quickly, I think only two suitable properties have come on in the past fortnight and perhaps one or two maybes. Then there's the odd few that look amazing but have been on the market for six+ months so I'm wondering what the catch is

kingstreet, I think it does need to be face to face and within office hours yes, or at least an alternative hasn't been offered to us.

I have so much nervous energy around this whole process that I suppose it's probably wise to be told to calm down a little bit. After all from all my reading on this site it will all be a waiting game once we get started anyway so may as well start here.

rosieflowers

In other words I need to self-exclude myself from Rightmove for 10 days :rotfl:

kingstreet

rosieflowers wrote: »

kingstreet, I think it does need to be face to face and within office hours yes, or at least an alternative hasn't been offered to us

That is very much contrary to the MO of most brokers today.

If our method basically mimics a mortgage lender requiring clients to present themselves at our offices 9-5, five days a week, we will suffer eventually.

Many brokers now work remotely using telephone, net and email and those who retain a face to face process will usually be more flexible in timing and location of meetings.

For example, we often hold meetings in hotels, Costas etc from 7am before most people start work.

They really had better be very, very superior to the rest of us to justify the delay you are suffering as most of us would have a full mortgage offer on a property before 2 July, never mind a first meeting!