Mortgage broker - ask me anything

mowgliisaG

K_S said:

mowgliisaG said:

Hi Brokers, have any of you experience with Platform Mortgages?? They are co-op but via brokers?? My buyer applied on 28th but only had valuation last week...sound right?? What’s their timeline like now?

@mowgliisaG They are a bit slow at present and taking longer than you would expect, even for straightforward cases. Application on 28th Nov or October?

@K_S this was on 28th October..but valuation carried out on Thursday 3rd Dec...sound right? 

K_S

mowgliisaG said:

K_S said:

mowgliisaG said:

Hi Brokers, have any of you experience with Platform Mortgages?? They are co-op but via brokers?? My buyer applied on 28th but only had valuation last week...sound right?? What’s their timeline like now?

@mowgliisaG They are a bit slow at present and taking longer than you would expect, even for straightforward cases. Application on 28th Nov or October?

@K_S this was on 28th October..but valuation carried out on Thursday 3rd Dec...sound right? 

@mowgliisaG If it's a physical valuation that required a visit from a surveyor, 5 weeks is not abnormally long at all in current circumstances depending on the area, and that'd be true for other lenders as well.

mowgliisaG

K_S said:

mowgliisaG said:

K_S said:

mowgliisaG said:

Hi Brokers, have any of you experience with Platform Mortgages?? They are co-op but via brokers?? My buyer applied on 28th but only had valuation last week...sound right?? What’s their timeline like now?

@mowgliisaG They are a bit slow at present and taking longer than you would expect, even for straightforward cases. Application on 28th Nov or October?

@K_S this was on 28th October..but valuation carried out on Thursday 3rd Dec...sound right? 

@mowgliisaG If it's a physical valuation that required a visit from a surveyor, 5 weeks is not abnormally long at all in current circumstances depending on the area, and that'd be true for other lenders as well.

@K_S Was desktop done last Thursday!!!

K_S

Mutton_Geoff said:

A question for the brokers. I'm early 60's and about to downsize and buy my retirement (ie retiring into) home for cash. As a single person with no relatives or dependants, I'd really like some kind of lifetime mortgage where I can pay interest only (a cheaper alternative to rent) and the lender takes the house when I die rather than me leaving it to Battersea Dogs Home. Are this sort of "lifetime interest only mortgage" on the horizon since the current equity release plans are extremely expensive.

@Mutton_Geoff I think what you're looking for is a RIO (retirement interest only) product which you can source either directly from a handful of lenders or a specialist broker. It's similar to an IO mortgage except that the loan will be repaid by the sale of the home when the last borrower moves into long-term care or dies.

The main (but not only) criteria is minimum age (usually 55-60+), against your main residence and you have some form of pension income to cover the payments.

There is a decent range of RIO products out there now across a handful of lenders. Unfortunately (though understandably) the compliance requirements for advising on such products is a bit onerous so a lot of brokers (including myself) don't do it.

If you struggle to find a broker, might be worth talking to Nationwide or L&G directly, both of whom offer RIO products.

I hope that helps.

K_S

IAMIAM said:

Can you secure a deal now for May, but between now and May if something better comes along, change product/apply for something else or indeed not take the product at all and just product switch with current lender?
 Or is this annoying for a broker and too much hassle. 

@IAMIAM Taking your Platform deal as an example (no fee, using lender free legals and free val), you could start the process and pull out anytime before completion losing nothing but time at your end.

Most of the broker's work is in putting together an application and getting you an offer. So if you do pull out or change lenders later on to get a better deal, it may be annoying for the broker as their work until then is nullified, but that's just how things go, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, as a borrower or as a broker.

MiamiHeat90

If my current account statements show a few payments to and from a Monzo Savings account, how likely would a lender be to request the savings statements?

This account has a number of betting transactions on, which are fairly sizeable in nature and likely to alarm a lender. The main account has no transactions of this nature, as it's all been done through the savings account.

mowgliisaG

mowgliisaG said:

K_S said:

mowgliisaG said:

K_S said:

mowgliisaG said:

Hi Brokers, have any of you experience with Platform Mortgages?? They are co-op but via brokers?? My buyer applied on 28th but only had valuation last week...sound right?? What’s their timeline like now?

@mowgliisaG They are a bit slow at present and taking longer than you would expect, even for straightforward cases. Application on 28th Nov or October?

@K_S this was on 28th October..but valuation carried out on Thursday 3rd Dec...sound right? 

@mowgliisaG If it's a physical valuation that required a visit from a surveyor, 5 weeks is not abnormally long at all in current circumstances depending on the area, and that'd be true for other lenders as well.

@K_S Was desktop done last Thursday!!!

@K_S does that sound right??

Mutton_Geoff

K_S said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

A question for the brokers. I'm early 60's and about to downsize and buy my retirement (ie retiring into) home for cash. As a single person with no relatives or dependants, I'd really like some kind of lifetime mortgage where I can pay interest only (a cheaper alternative to rent) and the lender takes the house when I die rather than me leaving it to Battersea Dogs Home. Are this sort of "lifetime interest only mortgage" on the horizon since the current equity release plans are extremely expensive.

@Mutton_Geoff I think what you're looking for is a RIO (retirement interest only) product which you can source either directly from a handful of lenders or a specialist broker. It's similar to an IO mortgage except that the loan will be repaid by the sale of the home when the last borrower moves into long-term care or dies.

The main (but not only) criteria is minimum age (usually 55-60+), against your main residence and you have some form of pension income to cover the payments.

There is a decent range of RIO products out there now across a handful of lenders. Unfortunately (though understandably) the compliance requirements for advising on such products is a bit onerous so a lot of brokers (including myself) don't do it.

If you struggle to find a broker, might be worth talking to Nationwide or L&G directly, both of whom offer RIO products.

I hope that helps.

Thank you K S. I've looked at the Nationwide site. They lend up to £500k but no mention of LTV. My budget for my next house is c £1m and I'd have no problems with proof of pension income etc. I'll give them a call and get some more detail from them.

K_S

MiamiHeat90 said:

If my current account statements show a few payments to and from a Monzo Savings account, how likely would a lender be to request the savings statements?

This account has a number of betting transactions on, which are fairly sizeable in nature and likely to alarm a lender. The main account has no transactions of this nature, as it's all been done through the savings account.

@MiamiHeat90 On average, how much ££ goes between the two accounts in a month?

K_S

Mutton_Geoff said:

K_S said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

A question for the brokers. I'm early 60's and about to downsize and buy my retirement (ie retiring into) home for cash. As a single person with no relatives or dependants, I'd really like some kind of lifetime mortgage where I can pay interest only (a cheaper alternative to rent) and the lender takes the house when I die rather than me leaving it to Battersea Dogs Home. Are this sort of "lifetime interest only mortgage" on the horizon since the current equity release plans are extremely expensive.

@Mutton_Geoff I think what you're looking for is a RIO (retirement interest only) product which you can source either directly from a handful of lenders or a specialist broker. It's similar to an IO mortgage except that the loan will be repaid by the sale of the home when the last borrower moves into long-term care or dies.

The main (but not only) criteria is minimum age (usually 55-60+), against your main residence and you have some form of pension income to cover the payments.

There is a decent range of RIO products out there now across a handful of lenders. Unfortunately (though understandably) the compliance requirements for advising on such products is a bit onerous so a lot of brokers (including myself) don't do it.

If you struggle to find a broker, might be worth talking to Nationwide or L&G directly, both of whom offer RIO products.

I hope that helps.

Thank you K S. I've looked at the Nationwide site. They lend up to £500k but no mention of LTV. My budget for my next house is c £1m and I'd have no problems with proof of pension income etc. I'll give them a call and get some more detail from them.

@Mutton_Geoff I think Leeds has a max LTV of 55% on RIO products, so I'd assume Nationwide would be there or thereabouts.
Good luck.