Mortgage broker - ask me anything

lonibra

K_S said:

@lonibra Well, the main problem with changing brokers is that your current NatWest application will need to be withdrawn. There is no way to 'transfer' the current application to a different broking firm. And then the new broker will need to do the whole advice bit and recommend a lender, put in an application and take it from there. Being a self employed applicant, there will almost certainly be manual review irrespective of the lender and it can easily take another few weeks at least. Will your seller hang on?

If all that sounds acceptable then you could indeed start off with a new broker. If you can evidence that your business hasn't been materially impacted by covid, there should be options. Do let your new broker know of any DIPs or applications that have gone in recently.

Good luck!

Thanks KS, I’m not going to use NatWest anyway and I’ve given up on the broker. I don’t know how the rules work. Are you allowed to be my broker?

simone82

K_S said:

simone82 said:

Would be grateful if anyone can advise.
I have multiple defaults on my credit file which are all paid off now. The newest one is from 2018 so wont drop off for a while, another 2 will drop off at the end of 2022.
I have a HP on my car with a balance of £16k and my partner has zero debt with a really good credit score etc.  We are hoping to buy later this year (both FTB). Do you think it would help on my side if I clear my HP (I can settle early for £10k) as we have a £40k deposit.  I am wondering if it will give us a better chance of securing a mortgage if my debt is zero along with my remaining defaults?

@simone82

- with a 40k deposit, what house price are you looking at? The lower the LTV, the better your chances of getting a decent rate and increasing your options

- whether or not clearing the debt will make a difference depends on your affordability picture. Very generally speaking, if you are on the edge of affordability or looking to absolutely maximise your borrowing it maye help to reduce/pay-off debt. But if (for example) you're only looking to borrow 3 times your income, it is unlikely to have much impact. I hope that makes sense.

- what impact the defaults will have will depend on the details, what kind of account, amount of default, etc.

We are looking for a HTB Equity Loan type mortgage maximum price between £350-£370.  I would say we are on the edge of affordability, could probably push the deposit to £45k.  Our combined income is £58k so would need to borrow the max?

My defaults are;
Loan defaulted Apr 2018  (£581)
Catalogue defaulted Nov 2015 (£212)
HP defaulted May 2016 (£7k)
EE contract defaulted Dec 2016(£95) 
Thank you

K_S

@lonibra I've replied to your PM.

laurent22

K_S said:

laurent22 said:

Hello,
I'm a FTB and currently have a mortgage offer from the Principality.  I am in the process of buying and waiting for the searches to be completed.  Before offer, only my Experian credit file was checked ( a search only appears on Experian), is it likely that whey will perform another hard search before completion?  I'm concerned as my score on Equifax is much lower and shows a missed payment that does not appear on Experian.  Thanks in advance

@laurent22 Some lenders check one agency at DIP stage and another at full application. Unless there is a very long gap between offer and completion, an additional hard-check pre-completion doesn't happen a lot.

If you've used a broker, I'm assuming he/she knows about the missed payment marker?

Hello,
Thanks for the speedy reply.   I did use a broker but this has only shown on my Equifax credit report after my application was submitted, so neither of us were aware (I'm contesting the missed payment).  I'm just hoping the lender doesn't check again, I'm sure I'm worrying over nothing.

K_S

simone82 said:

K_S said:

simone82 said:

Would be grateful if anyone can advise.
I have multiple defaults on my credit file which are all paid off now. The newest one is from 2018 so wont drop off for a while, another 2 will drop off at the end of 2022.
I have a HP on my car with a balance of £16k and my partner has zero debt with a really good credit score etc.  We are hoping to buy later this year (both FTB). Do you think it would help on my side if I clear my HP (I can settle early for £10k) as we have a £40k deposit.  I am wondering if it will give us a better chance of securing a mortgage if my debt is zero along with my remaining defaults?

@simone82

- with a 40k deposit, what house price are you looking at? The lower the LTV, the better your chances of getting a decent rate and increasing your options

- whether or not clearing the debt will make a difference depends on your affordability picture. Very generally speaking, if you are on the edge of affordability or looking to absolutely maximise your borrowing it maye help to reduce/pay-off debt. But if (for example) you're only looking to borrow 3 times your income, it is unlikely to have much impact. I hope that makes sense.

- what impact the defaults will have will depend on the details, what kind of account, amount of default, etc.

We are looking for a HTB Equity Loan type mortgage maximum price between £350-£370.  I would say we are on the edge of affordability, could probably push the deposit to £45k.  Our combined income is £58k so would need to borrow the max?
My defaults are;
Loan defaulted Apr 2018  (£581)
Catalogue defaulted Nov 2015 (£212)
HP defaulted May 2016 (£7k)
EE contract defaulted Dec 2016(£95) 
Thank you

@simone82 Based on the limited info in your post - assuming you're talking about the new Help-2-buy scheme, with a 20% equity loan and a 40-45k deposit, you *should* potentially be able to borrow the approx 240-250k you need for a 350-370k purchase. Due to the defaults, you are unlikely to get the best rates out there though. When it's time for you to actively view, I would recommend getting in touch with a broker to get a realistic picture of your budget. Good luck!

Rosemary1982

K_S said:

Rosemary1982 said:

K_S said:

Rosemary1982 said:

Hello!  To cut a long story short we have been declined a mortgage in joint names from santander (offer receiving a formal offer (see other thread)).  We believe this has something to do with my husbands Limited business (although we were only using his second income on PAYE for mortgage).  I am now trying t port my exisiting mortgage with natwest to new property which is in just my name but now I am worried that natwest will decline the port due to being financially linked with my husband (only just as the recent santander application was the only time we have applied for credit together).  I am a PAYE employee in a good job, could natwest decline my sole mortgage due to my husband's limited business (further info, he has taken out a bounce back loan to get the business through the pandemic.) Thanks in advance....

@rosemary1982 Sorry to hear about the post-offer decline from Santander. My thoughts -

- there's nothing in your post to suggest that Natwest would look unfavourably upon your porting application. But of course, that view is based on the limited info I have.

- are you intending to add any cash at all while porting? If yes, will any of it come from your husband or his business?

- I would recommend getting in touch with a broker even if the plan is to port the mortgage. They can look at the whole picture to see if there is anything that might cause an issue with Natwest and then handle the porting process for you.

@K_S, thank you so much for your reply.  I have gone through a broker to port my existing mortgage to Natwest, yes I am borrowing more (£45K additional).  I have savings to put towards new purchase (in my account which were generated from a previous house sale, although since the previous house sale, funds have been moved between my husband and my bank accounts but can't see this being a problem as we're married).  I heard back from my broker yesterday who thinks it's all approved with Natwest subject to valuation.  I checked their mortgage tracker and everything is ticked off apart from the valuation part, would you read that as a good sign if they have ticked off everything other than the valuation?  I am just so scared of having a post offer decline again and if I do get an offer with Natwest, I think it will be wise to insist on an exchange and completion on the same day as I don't want to risk exchanging and potentially losing my mortgage deposit if I get another decline.

@rosemary1982 Based on what I can see, it looks positive. If you can do so, same day exchange and completion would definitely help reduce your stress levels. However, in practice if there's any kind of chain involved, it's usually quite difficult to get the others in the chain to agree.

@K_S Thanks - we're actually v lucky, cash buyer buying ours so will complete with him on my sale regardless of what happens and we are buying an empty property so can't see why they won't agree to exchange and complete on same day.  Thanks for your help.

Hb92

Hi,
Me and my partner are hoping to look for a house in 18 months. I earn £18,000 and he earns £20,000. We are looking to have between £15-20k for a deposit in 18 months time. I also have a help to buy ISA which is were the money will go into. Roughly what would we be able to borrow? Would we be able to get a house that is valued at £180,000? Just wanting to know for a rough starting point. Thanks.

perdusys

Is there any way of having a mortgage for a property that is let, without it being a "buy to let" mortgage?  My son currently has a mortgage with Landmark ( formerly a Northern Rock Together mortgage) that he is paying £375 annually for a consent to let. The mortgage was taken out in 2007 and when his marriage broke up, he moved away and has let the flat ever since.  The flat is in negative equity, and worth less than the £50,000 mortgage prisoner threshold if you don't include the loan part of the mortgage. This is his only property, and he is unable to sell without losing a fair amount of money.  The rental does not cover his expenses.  His current rate is 5%.
Any ideas would be welcome, the current mortgage rate is crippling. I'm not even sure you can get a buy to let as every calculator we've filled in has said nothing available.

K_S

Hb92 said:

Hi,
Me and my partner are hoping to look for a house in 18 months. I earn £18,000 and he earns £20,000. We are looking to have between £15-20k for a deposit in 18 months time. I also have a help to buy ISA which is were the money will go into. Roughly what would we be able to borrow? Would we be able to get a house that is valued at £180,000? Just wanting to know for a rough starting point. Thanks.

@hb92 Very generally speaking, based on the limited info in your post, you should be able to expect to borrow in the region of 4.5-4.75 times income maximum, so around 170-180k. If you have a lot of debt (credit card, personal loan, etc) or expensive committed outgoings (car loan, etc) that figure will go down. For a standard purchase (not help to buy or shared ownership properties), in today's market you'll need a minimum 10% deposit but 15% to really widen your options and bring down costs.

So a house at 180k with a 10%+ deposit should be achievable barring any other issues in the background.

K_S

perdusys said:

Is there any way of having a mortgage for a property that is let, without it being a "buy to let" mortgage?  My son currently has a mortgage with Landmark ( formerly a Northern Rock Together mortgage) that he is paying £375 annually for a consent to let. The mortgage was taken out in 2007 and when his marriage broke up, he moved away and has let the flat ever since.  The flat is in negative equity, and worth less than the £50,000 mortgage prisoner threshold if you don't include the loan part of the mortgage. This is his only property, and he is unable to sell without losing a fair amount of money.  The rental does not cover his expenses.  His current rate is 5%.
Any ideas would be welcome, the current mortgage rate is crippling. I'm not even sure you can get a buy to let as every calculator we've filled in has said nothing available.

@perdusys Unless he evicts the tenant and intends to move back in, I don't know of any way that he could do a residential remortgage with the property being tenanted. For a buy-to-let mortgage, he would need a minimum of 20%+ equity in the property and the rental figures to stack up.