Mortgage broker - ask me anything

MrBounce

Hi i have a virgin btl remortgage app going through... They did valuation 31st May, but no decision yet.... Is this something to be concerned about? 

K_S

MrBounce said:

Hi i have a virgin btl remortgage app going through... They did valuation 31st May, but no decision yet.... Is this something to be concerned about? 

@mrbounce Virgin are quite slow at the moment, but if you haven't heard anything since 31st May, you should definitely chase your broker or the lender (if direct). 

[Deleted User]

I am in the process of buying a semi-detached house, application through a broker with Halifax.

The survey company is e.surv Chartered Surveyors, can i request for an actual valuation not a desktop. Purchase price is 490,000.

K_S

Zoe02 said:

I am in the process of buying a semi-detached house, application through a broker with Halifax.

The survey company is e.surv Chartered Surveyors, can i request for an actual valuation not a desktop. Purchase price is 490,000.

@zoe02 As I understand it, the only way to guarantee a physical valuation is to select (and pay for) a Level 2 survey when submitting the full application.

Level 1 surveys (minimum required) are purely for Halifax's purposes and can be AVM, desktop, drive by or physical.

But do check with your broker as well, I've never actually had a Halifax purchase client who wanted the lender to do a physical survey, usually the opposite.

[Deleted User]

K_S said:

Zoe02 said:

I am in the process of buying a semi-detached house, application through a broker with Halifax.

The survey company is e.surv Chartered Surveyors, can i request for an actual valuation not a desktop. Purchase price is 490,000.

@zoe02 As I understand it, the only way to guarantee a physical valuation is to select (and pay for) a Level 2 survey when submitting the full application.

Level 1 surveys (minimum required) are purely for Halifax's purposes and can be AVM, desktop, drive by or physical.

But do check with your broker as well, I've never actually had a Halifax purchase client who wanted the lender to do a physical survey, usually the opposite.

Thanks maybe it's because of the price and wanting to know that the price is fair.

The listing was for offers over £475k.

kc007

K_S said:

kc007 said:

Hello! 

Very nervous first time buyer here.. 

Our mortgage broker tends to ignore all of our questions and we have absolutely no clue where we are up to.

We submitted our application to Saffron 3.5 weeks ago, we've provided all the documents they've asked for, they've instructed a valuation just this week, but we still have no clue if our application has been reviewed at all. 

does a valuation give any indication of it being closer to going through or is there just no way of knowing? 

can we still expect to be asked for more information/documents? 

thank you!! 

@kc007 Saffron instructs the valuation after the initial assessment (basically someone checking that the initial documentation requested has been supplied). It then goes to the underwriting team while the valuation happens in parallel.

Having said that, their service levels are fairly good at the moment, and unless it's a complex application, I'd have expected the underwriting to be completed in 3.5 weeks.

Just to be clear, the observations above are very general comments based on the limited info in your post and my basic knowledge of Saffron (I only need to use Saffron rarely). Your broker would be best placed to give you a clear view of where you are at.

Hope the offer comes through soon, good luck!

Should we be asking our mortgage advisor to chase it up? I don't believe there should be any reason its taken this long to be looked at, we always supplied any documentation requested within the same day. 

IloveElephants

K_S said:

IloveElephants said:

K_S said:

IloveElephants said:

Hi,

I would like to ask for some advice.

I have 2 unsatisfied ccjs that were issued in 2019 and Early 2020. These were from Private car parking companies, the total value is £470. I never had taken out finance, loans etc...

Will I be able to obtain a mortgage with a good rate with my credit file in this condition. If I buy the property with my partner we can obtain a deposit of 20% 

Any questions please ask, I would like to talk to some brokers to get a better understanding. Thank you.

@IloveElephants Depends on what you mean by a "good rate".

With 2 unsatisfied CCJs that are 2+ years old and <500 in total, by itself that should not stop you from getting a mortgage at 80% LTV.

However, the chances of getting a mainstream rate are slim as you may struggle to pass the lender "credit scoring" at DIP (Decision In Principle) stage.

Having said that, the differential between a mainstream rate and light-adverse rate (the likes of Aldermore, Kensington etc.) are currently much smaller than they have been over the past few years so perhaps might not be as bad as you expect.

Hi K_S 

Thank you for taking the time to answer me, 

Quote "However, the chances of getting a mainstream rate are slim as you may struggle to pass the lender "credit scoring" at DIP (Decision In Principle) stage."

Does the credit scoring at DIP stage run a credit check and will the more DIP I do look bad? I have not see a property yet but wanted to see if I could just gauge what the banks would lend me at this stage.

When I say good rate I should have said competitive rate, not being penalised for the CCJs on my credit report. 

Thank you

@iloveelephants DIPs are almost always soft-footprint credit checks only so in theory it should not have an impact on your further mortgage chances.

Thanks for the info KS, 

K_S

kc007 said:

K_S said:

kc007 said:

Hello! 

Very nervous first time buyer here.. 

Our mortgage broker tends to ignore all of our questions and we have absolutely no clue where we are up to.

We submitted our application to Saffron 3.5 weeks ago, we've provided all the documents they've asked for, they've instructed a valuation just this week, but we still have no clue if our application has been reviewed at all. 

does a valuation give any indication of it being closer to going through or is there just no way of knowing? 

can we still expect to be asked for more information/documents? 

thank you!! 

@kc007 Saffron instructs the valuation after the initial assessment (basically someone checking that the initial documentation requested has been supplied). It then goes to the underwriting team while the valuation happens in parallel.

Having said that, their service levels are fairly good at the moment, and unless it's a complex application, I'd have expected the underwriting to be completed in 3.5 weeks.

Just to be clear, the observations above are very general comments based on the limited info in your post and my basic knowledge of Saffron (I only need to use Saffron rarely). Your broker would be best placed to give you a clear view of where you are at.

Hope the offer comes through soon, good luck!

Should we be asking our mortgage advisor to chase it up? I don't believe there should be any reason its taken this long to be looked at, we always supplied any documentation requested within the same day. 

@kc007 I think you should. Ideally, your broker should either be updating you or setting expectations re timelines.

trakky14

Zoe02 said:

I am in the process of buying a semi-detached house, application through a broker with Halifax.

The survey company is e.surv Chartered Surveyors, can i request for an actual valuation not a desktop. Purchase price is 490,000.

We are using Halifax too, valuation was meant to be last week but they decided they wanted to do a physical valuation so that is now booked for this Friday with ESurv too. It's also a semi but has some land and outbuildings so on paper looks a lot for the price...so probably why they are going out to see it. We're getting a survey separately after so we only paid the £100. We submitted paperwork 2 weeks ago its taking ages 🙄

22225

Dear KS
Sorry I thought I wouldn't bother you again but here we go... we applied to Nationwide mid May and are still waiting. They have asked for lots of documentation about my inheritance funds. We went through a broker and told them from the start that we were not selling our current house and buying the new house simultaneously. So for the last 2 weeks we have been living at my in laws which is a different address to the one on our initial application. when I told the brokers that we had finally moved out, I asked them to confirm that it wouldn'be a problem for nationwid. they started getting worried and told me not to change my bank statements address or anything and that it would be best not to tell nationwide in case they made us do a brand new application!!!! So I haven't changed any of my details, I've just got the mail redirected. But my husband had already told his current account bank our in laws address. I told the brokers and they just said just to leave everything as it is. I'm so worried. If we have to reapply we  will have to have a higher interest rate and then we wont be able to afford the house.... what should we do??? the brokers ate v uncommunoactive. Please help.