Mortgage broker - ask me anything

Lily78_2

K_S said:

@lily78_2 Apologies there's too much info on there and very specific questions which are best answered by the broker as anything I say could be construed as advice. Perhaps if you post this on the main thread someone less constrained will be able to answer your questions. Good luck!

Of course - my head is spinning so much I got carried away with details and specific questions ... I guess my real question is what is Santander like as a lender vs Nationwide or say TSB? I am considering gong direct to them as one broker is too expensive and I am worried the other one seem 'stuck' with his recommendation... I am feeling nervous about doing so and I know advice is not to do it alone, but I may not have a choice financially... 

Any thoughts welcome. 

ibme5101

Hi - so desperately needing some advice. My situation is after going through a tricky separation and divorce a few years ago. I find myself looking to buy with my new partner. The issues I have got is my credit rating is low and I have a number of factors causing this. Firstly I have a default (an old catalogue bill my ex ran up - (all accounts though were in my name!) the default is dated Jan 2020 - there are also a number of missed payments around this time too. I have also had 4 address changes in the last 2 years. Add on top of this I am self employed (been self employed for 6 years) although obviously hugely impacted by Covid and have received SEISS support in the last 12 months. My partner also lost her job during Covid, and is now re-employed on a full time basis but is only 2 months into the job. I have a deposit of around 20% for the places we are looking to buy, but no mortgage company are even coming near offering us anything - and its becoming hugely frustrating! Any help/guidance as in best place to go or people to speak to would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

K_S

ibme5101 said:

Hi - so desperately needing some advice. My situation is after going through a tricky separation and divorce a few years ago. I find myself looking to buy with my new partner. The issues I have got is my credit rating is low and I have a number of factors causing this. Firstly I have a default (an old catalogue bill my ex ran up - (all accounts though were in my name!) the default is dated Jan 2020 - there are also a number of missed payments around this time too. I have also had 4 address changes in the last 2 years. Add on top of this I am self employed (been self employed for 6 years) although obviously hugely impacted by Covid and have received SEISS support in the last 12 months. My partner also lost her job during Covid, and is now re-employed on a full time basis but is only 2 months into the job. I have a deposit of around 20% for the places we are looking to buy, but no mortgage company are even coming near offering us anything - and its becoming hugely frustrating! Any help/guidance as in best place to go or people to speak to would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

@ibme5101 What have you tried till now and what are the reasons for declines? Is it the self-employed income/SEISS part of the equation, the adverse credit history, both?

ibme5101

K_S said:

ibme5101 said:

Hi - so desperately needing some advice. My situation is after going through a tricky separation and divorce a few years ago. I find myself looking to buy with my new partner. The issues I have got is my credit rating is low and I have a number of factors causing this. Firstly I have a default (an old catalogue bill my ex ran up - (all accounts though were in my name!) the default is dated Jan 2020 - there are also a number of missed payments around this time too. I have also had 4 address changes in the last 2 years. Add on top of this I am self employed (been self employed for 6 years) although obviously hugely impacted by Covid and have received SEISS support in the last 12 months. My partner also lost her job during Covid, and is now re-employed on a full time basis but is only 2 months into the job. I have a deposit of around 20% for the places we are looking to buy, but no mortgage company are even coming near offering us anything - and its becoming hugely frustrating! Any help/guidance as in best place to go or people to speak to would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

@ibme5101 What have you tried till now and what are the reasons for declines? Is it the self-employed income/SEISS part of the equation, the adverse credit history, both?

Hi - I have tried a few high street lenders and been told either 'you do not meet our lending criteria' or after submitting our information that 'they are unable to offer a mortgage at this time'. I suspect it is a bit of self employed issue and adverse credit history. The past 12 months my credit file has been clean and I am carrying zero debt - but my score still fluctuates quite a bit for some reason?  

K_S

ibme5101 said:

K_S said:

ibme5101 said:

Hi - so desperately needing some advice. My situation is after going through a tricky separation and divorce a few years ago. I find myself looking to buy with my new partner. The issues I have got is my credit rating is low and I have a number of factors causing this. Firstly I have a default (an old catalogue bill my ex ran up - (all accounts though were in my name!) the default is dated Jan 2020 - there are also a number of missed payments around this time too. I have also had 4 address changes in the last 2 years. Add on top of this I am self employed (been self employed for 6 years) although obviously hugely impacted by Covid and have received SEISS support in the last 12 months. My partner also lost her job during Covid, and is now re-employed on a full time basis but is only 2 months into the job. I have a deposit of around 20% for the places we are looking to buy, but no mortgage company are even coming near offering us anything - and its becoming hugely frustrating! Any help/guidance as in best place to go or people to speak to would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

@ibme5101 What have you tried till now and what are the reasons for declines? Is it the self-employed income/SEISS part of the equation, the adverse credit history, both?

Hi - I have tried a few high street lenders and been told either 'you do not meet our lending criteria' or after submitting our information that 'they are unable to offer a mortgage at this time'. I suspect it is a bit of self employed issue and adverse credit history. The past 12 months my credit file has been clean and I am carrying zero debt - but my score still fluctuates quite a bit for some reason?  

@ibme5101 The default and multiple missed payments may be too recent to pass most high-street lender credit-scoring requirements. You can safely ignore the Experian/Clearscore/CreditKarma credit scores, lenders only care about what is in your reports, not the number.

I would recommend getting in touch with an experienced broker who can look at your whole scenario, credit files and then give you a realistic idea of your options. Good luck!

Scorpiogal13

I'll be 55 years old this year, so i know my mortgage terms will be much different to someone who's younger.

This is quite worrying, as not only am i self employed (with no clear pension plans) - but i was told my mortgage term would only be 15 years (if i'm lucky)!

I live in London and 2 Bed Houses in my area are roughly £340/350k, so i'll be looking at a £2,000 a month mortgage.

I pay £1,250 Rent at the moment, so it's quite a big jump.

Right now, i could comfortably afford the 2k mortgage, but if interest rates rise in a few years time....it may not be as easy.

What i wanted to ask is, what other options do i have?

I can't move to a "cheaper" area, as all my family are here in London.

K_S

@scorpiogal13 The lender will stress-test the mortgage to a certain interest level to make sure it's affordable but of course there is always the risk that rates rise beyond that or your income falls (for whatever reason). If you are worried about interest rate rises, then perhaps consider fixing for 5/7/10 years with an appropriate lender. Once you go above 5 years, the choice thins and the rate premium you will have to pay goes up.

Depending on the kind of work that you do, you could potentially go up to 75 on term with certain lenders, subject to plausibility.

At the end of the fix, depending on how much equity you have and income levels at the time, you could consider some of the different retirement mortgage options in the market.

Scorpiogal13

K_S said:

@scorpiogal13 The lender will stress-test the mortgage to a certain interest level to make sure it's affordable but of course there is always the risk that rates rise beyond that or your income falls (for whatever reason). If you are worried about interest rate rises, then perhaps consider fixing for 5/7/10 years with an appropriate lender. Once you go above 5 years, the choice thins and the rate premium you will have to pay goes up.

Depending on the kind of work that you do, you could potentially go up to 75 on term with certain lenders, subject to plausibility.

At the end of the fix, depending on how much equity you have and income levels at the time, you could consider some of the different retirement mortgage options in the market.

Thank you, ......yes this makes sense.

philng

My daughter and partner have had a mortgage agreed with skipton. As they are buying a new build timescales for exchange are tight. At the last minute skipton have asked for them to check whether the solicitor is on their panel otherwise it says they may need to pay 2 sets of legal fees.
Why are they asking this as surely they know whether or not they are on their panel?
Surely you are free to use who you want and why haven’t they been asked to check this earlier?

felinefancy

Hello,

My husband and I are in 57 and 55 respectively and we're looking for a mortgage as FTBs.  Currently we're in London paying £1200 per month rent and, with a transfer to Sheffield on 3rd October, we're looking to purchase a house in the very near future.   We'll most likely have to go up north and rent first (for 6 months, or until we find a house).   We've got £100k deposit and husband only wants a 5-8 year mortgage.  We've got AIPs from L&C and Mojo online mortgages, based on scenarios of either one salary or two (depending if I'm working or not), so either AIPs of £25k min up to £90k.  We would be looking to purchase in either case, max £140k so we're not overstretching ourselves.

Firstly,
i)  would it be advisable to check out other mortgage brokers, instead of free online brokers
ii)  What sort of mortgage would suit us - fixed term ones?
iii)  Could we start enquiring with other mortgage brokers now (we haven't even started looking at houses yet..) and getting quotes for conveyancers (I understand these are cheaper than solicitors?)
iii)  Anything else you would advise in our situation?

Many thanks in advance.. much appreciated.