What the f* is going on with our mortgage application?

Rasberrycreamcake

@K_S Our broker called today to say our application has been approved and I got the email from Santander saying they’ve made a mortgage offer!! 😁

I’m so happy and relieved. I just hope it’s for the full amount, didn’t think to ask the broker haha!

K_S

@Rasberrycreamcake Congrats, very happy for you! Thanks for updating the thread 

Rasberrycreamcake

@K_S Thank you 

Rasberrycreamcake

Well, looks like we celebrated too soon. Got the offer in the post today and it’s for £18,000 less than the AIP ☹️ Nothing to do with the valuation as that came back at the full purchase price.

Looks like they only took into consideration my husband’s employed income (£25,000) and my self-employment income (£10,000), but not the child maintenance (paid in CHF but amounting to £10,800 per year) or the child benefit (£1,689 per year) to get to the £156,000 they’re now offering us.

@K_S this might sound like a silly question, but can we “hold on” to this Santander offer until completion and in the meanwhile apply with another lender to see if we can get the full amount?

If we make up the shortfall from our savings that leaves us with almost no savings which makes me feel uncomfortable. But then we do have a tricky case, so am I kidding myself to think we could get more through another lender?

Rasberrycreamcake

@K_S Can I ask for your help with one more question? I’ve been looking around and I THINK that HSBC and Barclays will accept foreign income and that we might meet their criteria. Is it possible that our broker only goes to certain lenders, so they went with Santander but there might be other lenders out there that we could apply to?

Our broker was the one recommended by the developer. When it says they are independent, does this really mean they look at the entire market or just at certain lenders?

K_S

@Rasberrycreamcake Quick thoughts -

- Are you saying that the full mortgage application was for 174k and the offer came back for 156k? It's odd that the broker didn't run this past you or tell you this upfront. Did he tell you exactly why the offer is significantly lower than what you applied for? You shouldn't have to guess really.

- Is the £1,689 child benefit a Swiss income? The UK child benefit for 2 kids should be £1,828 and Santander does consider it at 100% so there should a reason if your's hasn't been.

- Whether it's Santander or another lender, the non-GBP child maintenance will depend on the details that the lender will see. It's hard to guess.

- In theory, yes you can apply to another lender while you have the Santander offer but the details need to be run past the lender underwriter beforehand to avoid wasting your time and (potentially) sunk costs such as valuation fees.

- If you look at their 'terms of business' that was shared at the outset you should be able to tell if they have access only to a 'restricted-panel' or the wider market.

Rasberrycreamcake

@K_S Thank you - this is all really helpful!

- Yes, exactly AIP was 174k and the offer came back for 156k.

- Yes, the child benefit is the UK one and yes you're right about the amount - I miscalculated it because I forgot it's paid 4-weekly instead of per calendar month. 

- Luckily this Santander product included a free valuation, but good point that we may have to pay that if we applied with another lender.

- Hmm, interestingly I don't remember them giving us any terms of business and I don't see them on their website either. I'll need to look into this.

- The MB's customer liaison person is calling Santander now to find out what happened, so fingers crossed they will change their mind but I'm not holding out much hope. I feel like the whole application was heading in the right direction up until the MB handed over the case to their customer liaison team.

- There's another 4-bed house just come onto the market at the development next door which is £10,000 cheaper and includes £5,000 of flooring and appliances which the other house doesn't, and is already completely built, so it would make total sense to go with that house instead, but it's funny how you get your heart set on one house and have already pictured your life there.

K_S

@Rasberrycreamcake I try not to criticise other brokers (as usually on the forum you only get the client's side of the story) but what I can see is just really poor practice and customer experience. I hope they haven't charged you a broker fee for this.

- When an offer is issued by Santander, the broker immediately gets a copy. I review it and confirm that it is as per expectations and email it to the client so they don't have to wait till their copy comes in the post.

- If an offer comes in 18k below what was applied for, it's a serious matter and I pick it up with the lender asap to get it corrected or get an explanation before I go back to the client appraising them of the update.

I should stop there, hope it gets sorted for you soon!

Rasberrycreamcake

Thanks @K_S

We haven’t been charged a broker fee thankfully. I can’t believe they get a copy immediately, that’s makes me really mad they didn’t let me know or try to sort it out sooner