Mortgage broker - ask me anything

herewego123

Hiya

Is there a way to check what the broker actually told the lender before the full application result comes back? 

Just to make sure its all correct 

K_S

Wilt said:

Hi there,

I have a mortgage with Halifax part of which was ported from a previous property, so it is split in to two sub-accounts with two different products.

One of those products is coming to an end soon so I'll need to do a product transfer for that sub-account. However, I'd like to pay off quite a bit of that sub-account before I start a new product with an ERC.

Do I need to wait until the ERC period of the current product has ended, then make the payment to the sub-account, and only then initiate the product transfer (meaning I'll spend a small amount of time paying the SVR), or can I sort out the product transfer ahead of time?

Also does anybody know if Halifax are offering trackers on product transfers? It seems to only be offering fixed rates to switch to in my online account, but if I look at the Halifax intermediaries website it does look like they have a tracker product for remortgages.

@wilt

Reducing loan size before PT - I don't know how it works direct but for a broker PT: When you book a PT, the LTV is calculated based on the loan size at that time so if you want a lower LTV product, you'll need to make the overpayment before you reserve a PT. If you want to maximise your time on the current rate then Halifax allows you to 'split' the loan into part 1 which goes on to your selected product and part 2 (the amount that you want to payoff) that goes on to SVR. So on day 1 after completion, you can pay off the part 2 in full with no penalty.

Tracker PTs - I hope I'm not mis-remembering but off of the top of my head, I do recall seeing tracker options when I last did a Halifax PT for a client a couple of weeks ago. Couldn't say for sure though. I do know that Halifax may offer different options to two different clients based on things like loan size, etc.

K_S

herewego123 said:

Hiya

Is there a way to check what the broker actually told the lender before the full application result comes back? 

Just to make sure its all correct 

@herewego123 You can ask the broker to share a copy of the full mortgage application that was submitted to the lender.

bsms1147

Similar to the question above;

Nationwide, fixed

When my fix ends and I want to do a product transfer, and also pay off a chunk of the balance, is the process the same as for Halifax above?

Or do I move onto the SVR, pay off as much as I want, and then PT the remainder?

Note my LTV bracket won’t change (already sub-60%)

K_S

bsms1147 said:

Similar to the question above;

Nationwide, fixed

When my fix ends and I want to do a product transfer, and also pay off a chunk of the balance, is the process the same as for Halifax above?

Or do I move onto the SVR, pay off as much as I want, and then PT the remainder?

Note my LTV bracket won’t change (already sub-60%)

@bsms1147 I don't know for sure tbh but off of the top of my head, it's what you have said if you need to overpay by more than the 10% (of original balance at the start of your Nationwide mortgage) overpayment allowance.

Ideally you'd want to reserve a rate sooner rather than later so you're not leaving yourself open to rates rising between now and the end of the fix. If the amount you want to overpay is more than the 10% o/p allowance, then I'm not sure how you would achieve both.

Best speak to Nationwide and see what they suggest.

rosierd

As a broker if you submit a complete application at XYZ rate. Do you keep an eye on the rate if it goes down before exchange/completion and then go back to the lender to get your client the reduced rate?

Essentially once an application is done from your point of view it is done and dusted.

K_S

rosierd said:

As a broker if you submit a complete application at XYZ rate. Do you keep an eye on the rate if it goes down before exchange/completion and then go back to the lender to get your client the reduced rate?

Essentially once an application is done from your point of view it is done and dusted.

@rosierd I can't speak for all brokers but I do track the specific lender's rates post-offer, inform the client of a rate reduction for their offered product, explain the potential implications of applying to switch the product (soft/hard credit check, underwriter asking for latest payslip / bank statement, re credit-score, can delay completion if it's imminent, etc.) and check with the applicant if they would like me to go ahead and request it.

In the recent rate environment, if rates have moved significantly, then I also do a whole of market check a few months down the line just in case there are significant savings to be had, and check with the applicant if they want to explore a fresh application with a new lender.

For purchase apps, I wouldn't always know how far/close completion might be as in most cases the clients have no reason to keep me updated of progress on conveyancing and most lenders will only send the broker a completion notification when funds are requested a few days before completion or right after completion.

in_my_bumble_opinion

Hi, we are thinking of moving house in the spring, which would involve porting our mortgage and (likely) arranging a second product as we will probably need a bigger mortgage. Obviously we hope to meet any affordability criteria for that second product/extra mortgage. I phoned our current mortgage provider (Natwest), just to ask how things work when moving house/porting, etc, and also asked them about affordability criteria. They mentioned something that I was not aware of; namely that it is currently possible to increase the mortgage term to match a retirement age of 74/75 (can't remember which it was), which is 4/5 years beyond what was previously permitted. My inference from the conversation was that 'maxing-out' our current mortgage in this way (which obviously would reduce our current payments) before our move would increase our affordability for the additional mortgage we will need. I suppose my question is, would that be the case? They did say that opting to increase the term would not impact us negatively when/if we applied for a second mortgage. I am aware that it means we would pay more overall to reach the end of the mortgage, though we would plan to reduce the term at some point in the future. Thanks

K_S

@in_my_bumble_opinion If your maximum borrowing is limited by your current term (you can get a rough idea for yourself using the NW affordability calculator here https://spa.mortgages.natwest.com/calculator/adbo-affordability) then yes, upping the term to a max intended retirement age of 75 may make it easier for you to borrow what you need for the move.

If your max borrowing is unchanged at 70 Vs 75, then increasing the term may not have any impact.


I wouldn't worry too much about stretching the term to make the numbers add up. It doesn't necessarily mean you will pay more in interest as you always have the option to voluntarily overpay (NatWest has a 20% annual overpayment allowance which should allow to pay off the mortgage in less than 10 years of you really wished to) and achieve the same impact as a shorter term.

in_my_bumble_opinion said:

Hi, we are thinking of moving house in the spring, which would involve porting our mortgage and (likely) arranging a second product as we will probably need a bigger mortgage. Obviously we hope to meet any affordability criteria for that second product/extra mortgage. I phoned our current mortgage provider (Natwest), just to ask how things work when moving house/porting, etc, and also asked them about affordability criteria. They mentioned something that I was not aware of; namely that it is currently possible to increase the mortgage term to match a retirement age of 74/75 (can't remember which it was), which is 4/5 years beyond what was previously permitted. My inference from the conversation was that 'maxing-out' our current mortgage in this way (which obviously would reduce our current payments) before our move would increase our affordability for the additional mortgage we will need. I suppose my question is, would that be the case? They did say that opting to increase the term would not impact us negatively when/if we applied for a second mortgage. I am aware that it means we would pay more overall to reach the end of the mortgage, though we would plan to reduce the term at some point in the future. Thanks

theonenonly

A bit disappointed by LandC, just had a chat and supposedly my amount has dropped from £280,000 at AIP to £223,000 when looking at what lenders can actually offer. Which is around 4.1x our salary.

I mentioned Nationwide's Helping Hand to him and I don't think he works with them so couldn't say how much they can lend, and I also mentioned that civil servants can sometimes be offered 5.5x by some specialist lenders too, but couldn't give me any information.

Should I adjust my budget for what I can buy or maybe get an AIP with Natwest Helping Hand and see what's available?