Mortgage broker - ask me anything

Wightknight

I have recently been accepted and received an offer from NatWest… when I first applied the rate for a 5 year fix was 6.39% two weeks ago I noticed that they had dropped their rate from 6.39% to 5.89%… I phoned my mortgage broker and they approached NatWest, who switched me to the product with the lower rate. Today I note the rate has dropped again to 5.25%… a difference of about £80 a month… legal are nowhere near exchange or completion, am I pushing my luck by asking to move to the new product again?

Bananas25

some advice please we are stuck in a mortgage with CHL they have now put the interest rate up to 5.99% this is fast becoming more than we can afford but we don't seem to be able to leave this company this is an old northern rock mortgage, unfortunately we do have bad credit so can't get a high street mortgage but we don't seem to be able to get any better deals and this company does not do new mortgages. Currently the mortgage is only in my husbands name we would like to add myself an change but lost on where to start.

JustDavid

creed92 said:

Our fixed rate with Kensington is coming to an end in the summer. We had hoped to be able to switch to a mainstream lender as my adverse credit is now over 6 years old. Unfortunately, I’ve since learned from our broker that as my wife and I are both now self-employed (recently, not had first years accounts yet) then this is not an option.

Our broker reassured us that we’d get offered a product transfer a few months beforehand and we could remortgage without going through a full application. I was just hoping to hear some thoughts on from anyone else who has similar dealings with Kensington lately. We wouldn’t be changing any terms. I appreciate we’ll be looking at rates of over 6%, I just don’t want them to not offer us a transfer and then we get stranded on their variable rate! 

They can't not offer you a different. It's illegal for lenders to make you  "mortgage prisoner". If you aren't changing anything about the existing borrowing (Term, amount, same property etc) they will have to offer you a range of new products to switch to once your deal ends. You should be able to look at, and arrange this within the final 3 months of your existing product coming to an end. Makes no difference if you've changed job, become self-employed, taken a pay cut, even if you arent working, they can't not offer you a new range of products.

mattyboy7110

Hi,
We have an agreed mortgage with HSBC but that property fell through and we are trying to change it to a different property. We've instructed the broker to make the change and they have but they're completely non-responsive at the moment and it's been 6 weeks and no news.
Do you know if HSBC will accept a call from me rather than the broker to chase this up or will they not deal with me at this stage? Would I call the intermediaries number or the number on my mortgage agreement?
Thanks

JustDavid

In most cases, if the mortgage is being done via a broker, the lender won't deal with it/you directly, and comms will have to go through your broker. If you are finding a total lack of contact from your broker, try raising a complaint with them. As a regulated firm, they have to acknowledge and respond otherwise you go can go to the ombudsman about a breach of FCA time scales for complaint handling.

Tugaville

Hi There,

Hopefully you can answer this question I have.

I've just made my first payment of my mortgage, was lucky to get a product change back in august, so not as bad as current rates.

I'm with Natwest on a interest & repayment mortgage, just started the 5 years, and was wondering if I could temporarily change it to interest only , let's say 3-6 months in order to clear some credit card and overdraft debt, without having to change my mortgage product, and having to go through the affordability process again.

Also would this affect my credit rating, or is it an option that banks give that I wasn't aware of.

Thank you in advance 

JMA74

Wightknight said:

I have recently been accepted and received an offer from NatWest… when I first applied the rate for a 5 year fix was 6.39% two weeks ago I noticed that they had dropped their rate from 6.39% to 5.89%… I phoned my mortgage broker and they approached NatWest, who switched me to the product with the lower rate. Today I note the rate has dropped again to 5.25%… a difference of about £80 a month… legal are nowhere near exchange or completion, am I pushing my luck by asking to move to the new product again?

Not at all.  Just an admin exercise with them.  They issue the offers immediately to the solicitor through a portal so don't even need to wait for post. 

On brokers side we just upload a memo with the new product details and get a new offer once its been processed.   They are only working on 3 days at the moment. 

Direct process may be different but it will still just be admin, no further assessments

JMA74

Tugaville said:

Hi There,

Hopefully you can answer this question I have.

I've just made my first payment of my mortgage, was lucky to get a product change back in august, so not as bad as current rates.

I'm with Natwest on a interest & repayment mortgage, just started the 5 years, and was wondering if I could temporarily change it to interest only , let's say 3-6 months in order to clear some credit card and overdraft debt, without having to change my mortgage product, and having to go through the affordability process again.

Also would this affect my credit rating, or is it an option that banks give that I wasn't aware of.

Thank you in advance 

You would either have to ask for a change to your mortgage and meet their interest only criteria (£75k sole income or £100k joint, repayment vehicle in place)...or you request the change due to financial difficulties.  Not sure on Natwest themselves but some banks will note a payment arrangement on your credit report. 

The credit report has to show an accurate reflection of your circumstances, if they say that you couldnt pay your agreed mortgage then its still accurate.  

K_S

mattyboy7110 said:

Hi,
We have an agreed mortgage with HSBC but that property fell through and we are trying to change it to a different property. We've instructed the broker to make the change and they have but they're completely non-responsive at the moment and it's been 6 weeks and no news.
Do you know if HSBC will accept a call from me rather than the broker to chase this up or will they not deal with me at this stage? Would I call the intermediaries number or the number on my mortgage agreement?
Thanks

@mattyboy7110 Hopefully this has been sorted out by now! HSBC have been pretty quick over the last month or two so it definitely shouldn't take them 6 weeks to sort out a change of property post-offer, unless the valuation is taking that long to arrange.

IAMIAM

Applied HSBC direct online this week, I have not submitted any documents - but my stage has already gone to Ready to Offer/Click to Create Offer. I do not want to complete until 1st July 2023. If I refrain from submitting documents and/or clicking create your offer, will this delay the offer by the week I need or has my offer already been done and I am a week too early!!

Also note, my completion date of 1st July 2023 is a Saturday, just checked!
Does this matter?!

I am surprised as its gone from application (xmas eve) to offer (today) already!