First time buyer mortgage questions

J1one

Hi all

I will preface this with, I am working with a mortgage advisor, but there’s only so much of her time I can take up! 

I am a first time buyer with a pretty woeful salary but good credit.

I am trying to do everything I can do to up my chances of getting the house I’d like. I’m paying off old loans (that’s in the loan section)  downsizing my car and budgeting really hard.

I am wondering what else I can do to make my first home budget better? Currently I’m looking at £130k but to get what I want I’d ideally want £180k so I’m looking to you guys for some ideas and ways to make this happen. 

I’m not going to change jobs or realistically up my salary by a huge amount but I’m a big believer in you don’t know-what you don’t know..so
here we are.

if you can give any ideas, tips or tricks I’d be super grateful. 

Thanks for reading 

Racky_Roo

Could you get a part time job? Lot's of people seem to be doing that for a few months so their overall salary is more. You can always quit once you move in.

MaryNB

Probably one for the Mortgages and Endowments Board.

Also need some more info. Annual salary? Deposit? Current monthly loan repayments? Any defaults, payday loans etc?

£130k to £180k is a huge leap. Not sure there's a magic wand for that...

J1one

Racky_Roo said:

Could you get a part time job? Lot's of people seem to be doing that for a few months so their overall salary is more. You can always quit once you move in.

I guess I could do a WFH job extra on an evening or weekend!  (I currently work full time) 

J1one

MaryNB said:

Probably one for the Mortgages and Endowments Board.

Also need some more info. Annual salary? Deposit? Current monthly loan repayments? Any defaults, payday loans etc?

£130k to £180k is a huge leap. Not sure there's a magic wand for that...

£25000 all in
I will be hoping to have a deposit of around £10000
At the point I apply for mortgage there will be zero other lending as I’m paying it off now.
No defaults, credit rating is in the excellent area.

I’m really open to suggestions how I could make it happen even if they are not ideal eg: I’d have to purchase on a buy to let for two years and then remortgage and move in. I don’t know if that’s legal but that’s where my mind is going! 

user1977

J1one said:

MaryNB said:

Probably one for the Mortgages and Endowments Board.

Also need some more info. Annual salary? Deposit? Current monthly loan repayments? Any defaults, payday loans etc?

£130k to £180k is a huge leap. Not sure there's a magic wand for that...

£25000 all in
I will be hoping to have a deposit of around £10000
At the point I apply for mortgage there will be zero other lending as I’m paying it off now.
No defaults, credit rating is in the excellent area.

I’m really open to suggestions how I could make it happen even if they are not ideal eg: I’d have to purchase on a buy to let for two years and then remortgage and move in. I don’t know if that’s legal but that’s where my mind is going! 

Legal if it doesn't involve lying to anyone, but probably not a great idea as (1) BTL lenders prefer you to already own your own property rather than be a FTB, and (2) you can't use the FTB concession on SDLT (or equivalent) if you're buying it as a BTL (and can't carry it over to a future purchase).

(leaving aside all the responsibilities / hassle of being a landlord, how easily you can get rid of tenant in 2 years time, etc)

Racky_Roo

Is there no possibility of changing jobs to one with a higher salary? Quite honestly, that would be the easiest and quickest way of earning more money so you can get a bigger mortgage. There's so many jobs available at the minute and starting salaries are often more than staying with an existing employer. If you're not at the top of your pay range in your existing job, you might be able to use a new job offer to get a pay rise to keep you if you don't want to leave your existing job.

K_S

@j1one Very very generally speaking, based on the limited info in your posts -

- your max potential borrowing is likely to top off at 4.5x times your income so about £112,500. There are a couple of lenders who may do 4.75x so perhaps £119,000.

- it's good that you have a clean credit history, do make sure you keep it that way

- I'm sure your broker will guide you on this but you need to be careful re paying off background debt as it may not have an impact on your borrowing or mortgage chances but will definitely reduce the deposit you have, I hope that makes sense. To state the obvious, this comment on debt is only meant in respect of the mortgage application. 

J1one

Thank you, I’m glad what I suggested wasn’t illegal at least! 

I’m a letting agent, so all that landlord kerfuffle is normal life to me, but I take what you’re saying about losing my FTB benefits such as they are. 

You can see now why I haven’t troubled my mortgage advisor with these questions as I do realise I’m probably being a bit thick here having never had a mortgage. 

I really wouldn’t want to change jobs, I am lucky that they are very flexible with WFH and childcare (I have a daughter) but as a fairly small firm I know there is a limit to what salary I could get from them.  I could potentially rise a few thousand but not up by the amounts I imagine I’d need like £20’000. 

Finally thank you K_S I had been advised that paying everything off was better but I take what you’re saying that inevitably that’s eating into any deposit I may have. I did consider that my very old and meagre monthly  Repayment loan could stay, it’s only £30/m but paying it off would rob £4000 from my deposit.