Mortgage broker - ask me anything

GAMBITv5

Ballymoney said:

Does Lloyds do a final credit check in the days leading up to completion before release of funds for a remortgage? I’m aware that some lenders do but wasn’t sure if Lloyds are one of them.

Usually only if something has flagged on credit systems. 

aoleks

K_S said:

aoleks said:

Discounted variable - What type of a mortgage is this?

Are you "fixed" for a certain period to get the discount? Does it normally have ERCs? Do you apply in the same way and are affordability checks similar to a conventional (fixed) mortgage? Do most lenders offer such a product?

@aoleks It's a product that offers you an x% discount off of the specific lender's SVR (which can be varied at will and does not track the BOE rate) for a fixed period of time - mostly 2 years but there are also term-products available.

The product is variable from day 1. The vast majority of discount products I've come across have an ERC, though it's usually kinder than a fixed product.

It's usually offered by smaller lenders (I can't think of any mainstream lenders that offer discount products) as they can adjust their SVR to account for any significant changes in their funding to maintain margins and don't have the capacity to absorb large volatility. The building societies have a mandate to have x% of their lending on variable products so this helps with meeting that requirement as well.

Affordability differs based on the specific lender. Very very generally speaking, it is usually tighter with the smaller lenders that offer these products.

thank you, that's clear. can the interest paid change at any point (say half way through the month) or do you get at least 1 month's notice before the rate goes up?

MigsyBigsy

I am sure this has been posted before - apologies in advance if it has.

My Barclays mortgage term of 2.15% is due to end on 31 Oct 2023. Should I be looking at remortgage deals now and the possibility of securing a new one?

K_S

aoleks said:

K_S said:

aoleks said:

Discounted variable - What type of a mortgage is this?

Are you "fixed" for a certain period to get the discount? Does it normally have ERCs? Do you apply in the same way and are affordability checks similar to a conventional (fixed) mortgage? Do most lenders offer such a product?

@aoleks It's a product that offers you an x% discount off of the specific lender's SVR (which can be varied at will and does not track the BOE rate) for a fixed period of time - mostly 2 years but there are also term-products available.

The product is variable from day 1. The vast majority of discount products I've come across have an ERC, though it's usually kinder than a fixed product.

It's usually offered by smaller lenders (I can't think of any mainstream lenders that offer discount products) as they can adjust their SVR to account for any significant changes in their funding to maintain margins and don't have the capacity to absorb large volatility. The building societies have a mandate to have x% of their lending on variable products so this helps with meeting that requirement as well.

Affordability differs based on the specific lender. Very very generally speaking, it is usually tighter with the smaller lenders that offer these products.

thank you, that's clear. can the interest paid change at any point (say half way through the month) or do you get at least 1 month's notice before the rate goes up?

@aoleks There's no 'minimum' notice that they are required to give as far as I can tell.

Looking at my emails in the past few months of smaller-lenders notifying brokers of upcoming SVR changes I can see some that have sent out an email mid-month notifying of an increase applicable from the 1st, another on the 7th notifying an increase from the 12th, so there isn't any standard as far as I can tell.

I'll admit that I don't know if there is a further lag between the change in SVR and change in the client's rate (I would have to check with a specific lender) but I suspect it's in sync.

aoleks

great stuff, thanks a lot again!

hildosaver

leew said:

Hi all,

Anybody offer any advice my head hurts thinking about it 

Our mortgage with Halifax ends 28 Feb 2023 and fixed rate currently is 2.13%.

I've tried to see what they would offer online but all I get is the following.

You can't continue online

One of our advisers will explain your best next steps.

Please call us or book an appointment to speak with a Mortgage Adviser.

  

This is because you can only switch to a new deal with Halifax within 3 months of your current fixed deal ending. So essentially you should wait till 28th November.

Mildreds_Earrings

Hello there, I applied for a Barclays residential mortgage for a property I would like to purchase and for a Barclays BTL mortgage for my current home that I will rent out. 

The application was sent to the underwriters over two weeks ago via a mortgage broker. 

Do you know how long I have to wait? The Seller of the residential mortgage has itchy feet because I haven't been able to provide my mortgage offer yet.

Thank you. 

kingstreet

Mildreds_Earrings said:

Hello there, I applied for a Barclays residential mortgage for a property I would like to purchase and for a Barclays BTL mortgage for my current home that I will rent out. 

The application was sent to the underwriters over two weeks ago via a mortgage broker. 

Do you know how long I have to wait? The Seller of the residential mortgage has itchy feet because I haven't been able to provide my mortgage offer yet.

Thank you. 

When are/were the valuations?

Camboudica

Hi there, 

Can you please explain the Natwest broker service levels - 

Current Processing Times (working days)

Pre-Underwriting

Day 2

Key application, collect fees, and instruct valuations

Underwriting

Day 15

New business and Product Transfers with ADBO

Assess Further Information

Day 8

Documents submitted date

The Nationwide one you posted was much easier to understand than this. We applied on the 5th September, have been asked twice for further information, valuation has been done and came back fine, and now we're just stuck in limbo waiting for more news. Their guidelines don't mention valuations and the further information bit appears to be after the underwriting stage, but we've already been asked for this, so I'm a bit confused. 

Thanks. 

K_S

@camboudica Sure, I'll do my best

Day 0/1 - is when the broker clicks submit on the full application or the first working day after that (say if the broker submits an application on a Saturday)

Pre-underwriting (currently day 2 but this will change, it was 7 days a few weeks ag) is when someone at NatWest picks up the application, checks that the basic requirements are met, instructs a valuation and then puts it into the queue for underwriting. This is currently happening 2 workings day after day 0/1

Underwriting (currently working day 15 after pre-underwriting, so another 3 weeks or so) is when an underwriter at NatWest picks up and reviews the application, raises queries, etc.

Assess further information will not be needed for every application. What the '8 working days' timeline means is that IF the underwriter raises a query (looks like they've raised 2 in your case) and the broker answers it, it will then take NatWest 8 more working days to pick up the response and review it. The same for any further queries. Again, this won't be needed for every application, only if there are follow up queries. 

Camboudica said:

Hi there, 

Can you please explain the Natwest broker service levels - 

Current Processing Times (working days)

Pre-Underwriting

Day 2

Key application, collect fees, and instruct valuations

Underwriting

Day 15

New business and Product Transfers with ADBO

Assess Further Information

Day 8

Documents submitted date

The Nationwide one you posted was much easier to understand than this. We applied on the 5th September, have been asked twice for further information, valuation has been done and came back fine, and now we're just stuck in limbo waiting for more news. Their guidelines don't mention valuations and the further information bit appears to be after the underwriting stage, but we've already been asked for this, so I'm a bit confused. 

Thanks.