When to apply for Mortgage

knowlesv83

I had a quick peruse of the sticky but I could only find the thread for first time buyers which we aren’t.

We have sold STC our house a few weeks back (our buyers had already sold STC their property to a first time buyer) and as of yesterday we had an offer accepted on a house we loved.
Our buyers need to find a place but fingers crossed this may be the end of the chain.

My question is we have an AIP but should we sort out our formal mortgage application now or after the chain is complete?
The estate agent said we should get going with things - But I have a dim memory of paying for the searches on a place we nearly bought 14 years ago which then fell through before we found our current house. My inclination is to wait until everyone has a place to move - but is this correct?

Thanks in advance

TheJP

You don't pay for searches when you apply for a mortgage. I would start the process now, it could take longer than you think. The searches are done via the solicitor, usually after you instruct them they want you to pay for certain items up front but wont start the process until the chain is complete.

knowlesv83

TheJP said:

You don't pay for searches when you apply for a mortgage. I would start the process now, it could take longer than you think. The searches are done via the solicitor, usually after you instruct them they want you to pay for certain items up front but wont start the process until the chain is complete.

Thanks for that - I am clearly not remembering things correctly! We will look at starting the application over the next week or two.

Snookie12cat

I wouldn't do anything until the chain is complete as the mortgage offer could expire before you get to the end. 
That being said, you could apply just to secure the good rates on the off chance 6 months is enough time to get it all done.

anselld

Personally, I would not spend any money on applications, surveys, searches, etc until the chain is fully complete and everyone is proceedable.  There is no point being "ahead of the game" it just increases the risk of wasting money.

TheJP

anselld said:

Personally, I would not spend any money on applications, surveys, searches, etc until the chain is fully complete and everyone is proceedable.  There is no point being "ahead of the game" it just increases the risk of wasting money.

Mortgage application doesn't cost any money until you complete. That's what the OP is asking, when to apply for a mortgage. 

anselld

TheJP said:

anselld said:

Personally, I would not spend any money on applications, surveys, searches, etc until the chain is fully complete and everyone is proceedable.  There is no point being "ahead of the game" it just increases the risk of wasting money.

Mortgage application doesn't cost any money until you complete. That's what the OP is asking, when to apply for a mortgage. 

Not usually the case.  There is usually a valuation fee and often an application fee, some or all of which will not be refundable if there is a need to change horses.

TheJP

anselld said:

TheJP said:

anselld said:

Personally, I would not spend any money on applications, surveys, searches, etc until the chain is fully complete and everyone is proceedable.  There is no point being "ahead of the game" it just increases the risk of wasting money.

Mortgage application doesn't cost any money until you complete. That's what the OP is asking, when to apply for a mortgage. 

Not usually the case.  There is usually a valuation fee and often an application fee, some or all of which will not be refundable if there is a need to change horses.

These are usually built into the mortgage upon completion, I've never paid anything up front. Either way you'd probably be wanting to have the mortgage sorted before you spend money on a survey making sure that you will have the money to buy the house.

anselld

TheJP said:

anselld said:

TheJP said:

anselld said:

Personally, I would not spend any money on applications, surveys, searches, etc until the chain is fully complete and everyone is proceedable.  There is no point being "ahead of the game" it just increases the risk of wasting money.

Mortgage application doesn't cost any money until you complete. That's what the OP is asking, when to apply for a mortgage. 

Not usually the case.  There is usually a valuation fee and often an application fee, some or all of which will not be refundable if there is a need to change horses.

These are usually built into the mortgage upon completion, I've never paid anything up front. Either way you'd probably be wanting to have the mortgage sorted before you spend money on a survey making sure that you will have the money to buy the house.

You got lucky then, fair enough.  A "free" valuation will only be a one-off, no mortgage co is going to keep on stumping up for valuations that fall through.
Either way, doesn't change the advice ... don't commit money until chain complete.

Slithery

TheJP said:

Either way you'd probably be wanting to have the mortgage sorted before you spend money on a survey making sure that you will have the money to buy the house.

Or to look at it the other way, you'd probably want to be getting a survey done first before you spend money on applying for a mortgage to make sure that there were no issues with the property that would cause you to pull out...

TheJP

Slithery said:

TheJP said:

Either way you'd probably be wanting to have the mortgage sorted before you spend money on a survey making sure that you will have the money to buy the house.

Or to look at it the other way, you'd probably want to be getting a survey done first before you spend money on applying for a mortgage to make sure that there were no issues with the property that would cause you to pull out...

Yes you can look at it either way. I always get the mortgage sorted first so i know ill be able to afford the property, then again I've never had a sale fall through so its never worried me.