Bluestone Mortgages

MovingForwards

c249401 said:

MovingForwards said:

@c249401 and @Fesully84

I'm in Scotland, but things may have changed a bit since I concluded missives about 6 weeks after lockdown originally started.

How did you find the whole process? 

I got my offer in about a month, that included Xmas and NY holidays, couldn't fault my broker or Bluestone. I had one clause in my offer which I couldn't get pushed through sooner at my job.

* Obviously Covid hit, conveyancing technically took a while as Registers of Scotland wasn't set up for online transactions unlike Land Registry in England, they had to set up the system, test it, tweak, test and then roll out, by that time I was able to meet the clause in my offer.

My offer was about to expire so I had to wait in the queue for that to get extended. Think it was just payslips, updated bank statements for the extension and another credit check.

* While that was going on I had to send a detailed email to my solicitor about why I should be able to conclude missives and get to date of entry (exchange and complete), which was approved.

I got the extension, solicitor asked me if 2 weeks to finish the purchase was ok, he did whatever he had to, requested funds from me and Bluestone. When they arrived he concluded missives before logging off for the evening and the purchase was completed when he logged on the following morning, picked up my keys a few hours later (was a bit excitable at this point)

Things are running normally with conveyancing up here now, so a lot of what I went through you won't (bits marked * are not a thing now).

When I look to remortgage I'll be using my broker again (and solicitor if I get to pick my own).

I fixed for 5 years, been in my home for nearly a year and from the start made overpayments and began saving to pay the ERCs in case I remortgage early.

Kb21

@hopeful89 absolutely. We can advise but no one knows what’s going on behind the scenes 

bexielou1978

can I just everyone’s timeline? Our application went in 19/02/21 and we have been asked for extra information twice, 16/03/21 second soft search and 27/03/21 hard search was undertaken. Chased MA Friday and he advised against having full builders survey in case it showed something up

Cam2021

Fesully84 said:

Hi, also joining the thread! I'm in Scotland and we got a DIP from Bluestone on 13th Feb, full application went in on 26th Feb, still waiting and as of last week it was still at underwriting with them saying they had a backlog. We have a deadline with our new house for 3 weeks (the sellers are buying a new build and deadline was fri but got it extended) what are the chances of us getting the mortgage by then? This is week 5 now. So frustrating. 

The average time seems to be 8 weeks, a few have gone through in 4 and others more than 12. It's best to be open minded with timescales, even high street lenders are really slow at the moment so everyone else in the chain should appreciate this, we are still in a pandemic and there are backlogs in every sector of the property industry. 

Cam2021

sam118 said:

Hi can any tell me how long after bluestone dose valuation we got the offer please?

2 days for us.

c249401

MovingForwards said:

c249401 said:

MovingForwards said:

@c249401 and @Fesully84

I'm in Scotland, but things may have changed a bit since I concluded missives about 6 weeks after lockdown originally started.

How did you find the whole process? 

I got my offer in about a month, that included Xmas and NY holidays, couldn't fault my broker or Bluestone. I had one clause in my offer which I couldn't get pushed through sooner at my job.

* Obviously Covid hit, conveyancing technically took a while as Registers of Scotland wasn't set up for online transactions unlike Land Registry in England, they had to set up the system, test it, tweak, test and then roll out, by that time I was able to meet the clause in my offer.

My offer was about to expire so I had to wait in the queue for that to get extended. Think it was just payslips, updated bank statements for the extension and another credit check.

* While that was going on I had to send a detailed email to my solicitor about why I should be able to conclude missives and get to date of entry (exchange and complete), which was approved.

I got the extension, solicitor asked me if 2 weeks to finish the purchase was ok, he did whatever he had to, requested funds from me and Bluestone. When they arrived he concluded missives before logging off for the evening and the purchase was completed when he logged on the following morning, picked up my keys a few hours later (was a bit excitable at this point)

Things are running normally with conveyancing up here now, so a lot of what I went through you won't (bits marked * are not a thing now).

When I look to remortgage I'll be using my broker again (and solicitor if I get to pick my own).

I fixed for 5 years, been in my home for nearly a year and from the start made overpayments and began saving to pay the ERCs in case I remortgage early.

Thank you for this, very helpful! Fingers crossed things go smoothly. 

In terms of the valuation stage, was it different as you’re in Scotland?

MovingForwards

@c249401 if your sellers home report company is on Bluestone's panel of agreed firms they accept the valuation in the report, if they aren't then you pay Bluestone for a valuation survey, full survey. My solicitor said if the firm wasn't on the panel and I had to get a new one that the sellers should pay but that didn't sit comfortably with me so I paid for a valuation report.

As with all lenders they will only go off the valuation report value, so if you've bid over that then you need to pay the difference and deposit. There is no deposit payable on missives (exchange of contract) it's payable in time for date of entry (completion day).

Another thing is Bluestone don't advertise who their panel solicitors are, nor will they say if asked. I had to provide a list of firm names and got told which of them is on the panel. A panel firm is one agreed by Bluestone they can act on their behalf as the solicitor acts in your interest and Bluestone's too.

Kb21

Did anyone get asked for more docs while in the underwriters stage? 

Fesully84

MovingForwards said:

@c249401 if your sellers home report company is on Bluestone's panel of agreed firms they accept the valuation in the report, if they aren't then you pay Bluestone for a valuation survey, full survey. My solicitor said if the firm wasn't on the panel and I had to get a new one that the sellers should pay but that didn't sit comfortably with me so I paid for a valuation report.

As with all lenders they will only go off the valuation report value, so if you've bid over that then you need to pay the difference and deposit. There is no deposit payable on missives (exchange of contract) it's payable in time for date of entry (completion day).

Another thing is Bluestone don't advertise who their panel solicitors are, nor will they say if asked. I had to provide a list of firm names and got told which of them is on the panel. A panel firm is one agreed by Bluestone they can act on their behalf as the solicitor acts in your interest and Bluestone's too.

I'm £8,500 over the house home report because I had to go up to that to secure the house (there were other bidders close by the price we put) so I'd have to pay the difference and the deposit which is gonna be £55k anyway, aghhh that eats up most of my equity that I had left over...

Hopeful89

Update: we’ve been asked to confirm some transactions and also explain the source of funds in our Lifetime ISAs. I’ve just downloaded transactions since 2018 into the account as I can’t think of how else to provide this! Gutter we might go back in the queue with bank holiday as well