Bad Credit Mortgage Broker - worth it?

Kell_T

Hi!

New to this so please be kind

To summarize, I have an Experian score of 530 (I had a GREAT time a few years ago, maxed out a few credit cards etc.), I have no 'black marks' against my name and am able to afford a mortgage. My deposit is being gifted to me by my dad who lives abroad and the house i want to buy is shared ownership.

I have a mortgage adviser who has applied to a high street lender for me, but it has been rejected. I'm now wondering if it's worth approaching a 'bad credit broker'? In particular, Plus Financial Solutions.

Has anybody ever used this company before that can share their experience? I know the interest rate is higher but the amount I need to lend if £30k, and I'm not TOO concerned about the rate.

Thanks in advance!

[Deleted User]

If its just a low score with no black marks then there are plenty of lenders that dont use credit scoring to make decisions.
There are so may lenders assessing cases in so many different ways that is impossible to say what your chances are without seeing reports but what iwould say is Ignore the Score. No one cares what Experian think, they dont lend money so their opinion is pointless and worthless.

A 'Bad Credit Broker' is a strange thing as many many mainstream lenders will take defaults, CCJs, Bankruptcies etc etc. Id worry you were going to a sub prime lender before you explored all the prime options.

Ive not heard of the company but they seem to have decent online reviews. What kind of fee are they trying to charge you?

ACG

We do a lot of adverse credit mortgages, it is what we specialise in (although we do not do shared ownership), I have never heard of Plus Financial and I do know a lot of the adverse brokers, but that does not mean anything, they may not have heard of us...

As JMA says, if there are no black markers there is probably a middle ground from normal to adverse. There are building societies for example who take a manual approach (ie no scoring). No guarantee it will be cheaper as some of the adverse lenders are actually very well priced at the minutes (rates from the 2.5% bracket), but without knowing what is causing the poor score and what rates are being offered, it is difficult to say.

From what you have said though, it sounds like you need an experienced broker, not necessarily a bad credit specialist.

Kell_T

Thanks for your comments. I really appreciate the advice!

I will speak to the Mortgage Adviser and hopefully she can do something for me.

FINGERS CROSSED!

redman1989

Are you sure there are no black marks? 530 to me looks like you may have a default potentially lurking or are you maxed out on credit cards etc

from my experience peoples credit scores hover around 530 when you have something adverse sitting on it.

Kell_T

Definitely no defaults, CCJs etc. I've checked my Experian report.

I reckon it's probably high because of my credit cards. I wish I NEVER got one never mind three. I'll have two cards paid off in a couple of weeks and I paid something else off in June...hopefully that bumps up the score a bit...

Kell_T

ACG wrote: »

We do a lot of adverse credit mortgages, it is what we specialise in (although we do not do shared ownership), I have never heard of Plus Financial and I do know a lot of the adverse brokers, but that does not mean anything, they may not have heard of us...

As JMA says, if there are no black markers there is probably a middle ground from normal to adverse. There are building societies for example who take a manual approach (ie no scoring). No guarantee it will be cheaper as some of the adverse lenders are actually very well priced at the minutes (rates from the 2.5% bracket), but without knowing what is causing the poor score and what rates are being offered, it is difficult to say.

From what you have said though, it sounds like you need an experienced broker, not necessarily a bad credit specialist.

If you can suggest any lenders that that would consider a lower credit score and shared ownership, that would be great

[Deleted User]

530 on Experian is very poor, even I'm higher than that and I've got a bankruptcy on my file.

If you say you haven't got defaults etc on there, I'd go through your file very very carefully (including all settled accounts). Check name, DOB & addresses are correct too. Move any credit active at previous/linked addresses to your current address.

Are you on the electoral roll?

High utilisation does seem to massively effect it so it could be that, but still seems very low.

Yes the score means very little etc, but the principles behind it are important IMO.

If you have debt you are clearing, make sure your broker is aware of that and marking it as to be repaid when you apply - so you aren't getting declined for any affordability issues.

E.g. don't tell broker you've got £1k of debt, if your credit file says £5k as you plan to clear £4k next month - tell them £5k with £4k to be repaid.

When you generate your report, make sure you will in as many previous addresses as it will let you. When I miss off an old address my score is 'very good'. In reality, it wouldn't be when lenders check it!

DCFC79

Kell_T wrote: »

Definitely no defaults, CCJs etc. I've checked my Experian report.

I reckon it's probably high because of my credit cards. I wish I NEVER got one never mind three. I'll have two cards paid off in a couple of weeks and I paid something else off in June...hopefully that bumps up the score a bit...

Check your score with the other agencies, get a more complete picture.

Burger2431

Hi,

I’m really hoping someone can help us with some much needed advice, myself and husband have applied for a mortgage. Initially we went through a broker who I didn’t find to be very helpful, he didn’t ask much or take time to go through things, just wanted to get it done as quick as possible.

Due to our situation he found us a mortgage with Precise Mortgages and we have our AIP. We have £35k debt between us, the majority coming from my husbands previous marriage. We have used Checkmyfile and my husbands score is 844 out of 1000 but on Experian it is in the poor score, mines is fair.

I had read about YBS on here and decided to go directly to them as the brokers don’t deal with them. I’ve told them our situation and scoring, they done all the calculations and they gave us the AIP and offered £60k more than what we need to borrow. We have a £30k deposit and the adviser did go and speak to the underwriter about my concerns applying with them but apparently they said that as long as nothing drastic shows up on our report they don’t see there being issues. I guess what I’m asking is that does anyone know if we’d be unlikely to pass their underwriting and should we just go with who the broker suggested as they deal more with our sort of situation? The offer was accepted yesterday so we need to decide who to go with ASAP. Any advice would be much appreciated....please be nice I am so stressed out about our situation.

Thanks
AG

nowhereboy

Haven't the time to read all the replies.

We got refused from the high street and went through a broker called "simplyadverse"

Cost us 2k in fee's but worth every penny. They managed to get us an offer with Halifax despite poor credit and as a result we have secured a very low fixed interest rate which saves us thousands in the long run.

They got us a mortgage offer in just over a week.