Buying A House

[monkfromhavana]

So, my partner and I are in the lucky position of getting enough money together to get a 10% mortgage on a house (6k from my mum after she died, her parents in Poland lending us 6k and us saving 8k - not sure why I feel the need to tell you that but it sets the scene).

Any got any useful hints, particularly about mortgages as we know naff all frankly. Why are there so many mortgage advisers? They all have access to the same information and deals and whatnot, so why are there so many? If you pay more do they give you a wink and get the good stuff out from behind a curtain? I'm guessing it's a way the system works so that the maximum amount of people can grift the most out of you, but maybe that's just me being cynical.

We've got a free initial meeting with some guy who looks about 12 later today where he's going to tell us "how the mortgage process works with him". My boss's gf is friends with him however and they were satisfied with him, so I'm guessing he's an alright chap.

Anyway, all tips are welcome, including ones about vetting properties by seeing if the letterbox is suitable for pissing through.

[JaDanketies]

We're getting a mortgage that acts like an extended overdraft, so I can bung my tax savings in there to reduce the monthlies, and can then take it out when HMRC wants it. Useful for self-employed people. Still haven't signed the dotted line yet, it's taken several months.

[robhug]

So, my partner and I are in the lucky position of getting enough money together to get a 10% mortgage on a house (6k from my mum after she died, her parents in Poland lending us 6k and us saving 8k - not sure why I feel the need to tell you that but it sets the scene).

Any got any useful hints, particularly about mortgages as we know naff all frankly. Why are there so many mortgage advisers? They all have access to the same information and deals and whatnot, so why are there so many? If you pay more do they give you a wink and get the good stuff out from behind a curtain? I'm guessing it's a way the system works so that the maximum amount of people can grift the most out of you, but maybe that's just me being cynical.

We've got a free initial meeting with some guy who looks about 12 later today where he's going to tell us "how the mortgage process works with him". My boss's gf is friends with him however and they were satisfied with him, so I'm guessing he's an alright chap.

Anyway, all tips are welcome, including ones about vetting properties by seeing if the letterbox is suitable for pissing through.

10% mortgage would mean your house costing 22k, do you mean a 10% deposit

financial advisers take a cut from the provider - its not to say they are all bad but if your of average intelligence you should be able to save money going direct.

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/mortgages/help-me-choose/?mortgagePurpose=Purchase

[bgmnts]

10% mortgage would mean your house costing 22k, do you mean a 10% deposit

220k surely?

[monkfromhavana]

10% mortgage would mean your house costing 22k, do you mean a 10% deposit

This is why I need advice.

Yes, it's a 20k deposit (not that we want to use all that on the deposit, we're in no way looking for a 200k house.

[robhug]

220k surely?

That would be a 90% mortgage

[robhug]

This is why I need advice.

Yes, it's a 20k deposit (not that we want to use all that on the deposit, we're in no way looking for a 200k house.

The bigger the deposit the less interest you pay throughout the lifetime of the mortgage - make it as big as you possibly can. How much are you thinking for a house

[JaDanketies]

My cousin is a mortgage advisor who is sorting all this shit out for us. I can DM you his info if you like?

[katzenjammer]

If I were you I'd probably start here

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/mortgage-guide/

[Buelligan]

Or even here - https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/getting-financial-advice/  it relates to your query, don't be put off by the url title.  I think, in the UK, it's fairly important to get advice on big shit like mortgage options from someone registered and qualified to offer that advice.  That way, if the shit hits, you may have some recourse in law and more importantly, maybe get compensation. 

[monkfromhavana]

The bigger the deposit the less interest you pay throughout the lifetime of the mortgage - make it as big as you possibly can. How much are you thinking for a house

We were thinking to use the extra money to pay off the mortgage guy / legal fees etc. We're looking at around 180/185 for a house. Both got good credit scores and zero debts.

My cousin is a mortgage advisor who is sorting all this shit out for us. I can DM you his info if you like?

Thanks for the offer, but I think we'll probably just go with this guy. Like I said, he's a friend of my bosses gf so I can lever that in to conversation (not that I think it'd make any difference).

Probably going to ask him how it works with regards to timescales. If he does his stuff but then we don't end up buying anywhere for a year (meaning we would have a higher deposit etc) do we have to go through it all again?

[metaltax]

Something for further down the line, but (in my experience) solicitors will do nothing unless you specifically tell them to. Even stuff you'd think would be bread-and-butter, day-to-day conveyancing tasks. Zero. Nada. If one says to you "we need to do Land Registry searches" don't assume that that means "we need to do Land Registry searches and I'll crack right on with that". Make them tell you when, then call them on that day and ask if they've done it.

[robhug]

how old are you & is it your first house

are you currently paying rent or living rent free (parents)

the advisor's fee is normally factored in the deals he's pointed your towards - so its likely he's pointing you towards the deal that pays him the most. So you don't pay him a fee as such, more he gets remuneration from the provider

[monkfromhavana]

how old are you & is it your first house

are you currently paying rent or living rent free (parents)

the advisor's fee is normally factored in the deals he's pointed your towards - so its likely he's pointing you towards the deal that pays him the most. So you don't pay him a fee as such, more he gets remuneration from the provider

I am 43 and my partner is 30, first house and we're rent payers.

[scarecrow]

In Glasgow, most properties are currently going for about 25% over the home report value.

Which is nice.

[robhug]

speak to your adviser, get all the details of what he's offering/found but don't agree to anything (if he says you have to agree now then drop him like a stone)

then put the same details into nationwide's mortgage website and see if the rates they offer you are better, that should tell you all you need to know if he's any good.

But if you can feasibly get that deposit up thats what you should aim for - they give you better rates the better LTV you have

[Shit Good Nose]

The one piece of advice I would give to any buyer - first time or otherwise - is to avoid pre 40s houses like the plague, unless you are 100% sure that everything like heating and water pipes have been replaced, there's a modern style boiler, a damp proof course has been put in, gable walls have been pinned to the frame, the roof timbers have been replaced or at the very least treated, the internal walls adjoining your neighbour/neighbours are up to current fire safety standards, and the electrics have been done.

If I knew what I know now through my job back when we were buying our current place, I'd have sacked this house off without even looking at it.  As it is I think we're trapped and we're fast being priced out of the market.

[Dr Trouser]

Find out who the mortgage gonk is employed/associated with and ask if he is 'whole of market' or not. If he's an IFA then he'll just fire up his slightly more advanced version of moneysupermarket and select something. He'll usually just take a commission so don't pay him. If he is anyway associated with an estate agent tell him to fuck off. You may have to pay a fee (900-1500) to the lender for a certain product but work out long term cost of sticking it on the mortgage loan.

Work out if you want a fixed or tracker beforehand

He will go through a load of MMR questions to make sure you can pay so remember to lie about everything, esp coke habit and subscriptions to donkey wesbites.

[gilbertharding]

Is there a reason why you are using a mortgage advisor?

I mean, I have only bought one house in my life, but we just went straight to the bank which seemed to offer decent terms - I think we read the money pages of the guardian - and went from there. It happened to be the Nationwide, where we already had savings, and we opened a current account to get a slightly better deal, etc.
But they also helped us through the process, etc. and gave us the 'in principle' certificate to show estate agents...

[monkfromhavana]

speak to your adviser, get all the details of what he's offering/found but don't agree to anything (if he says you have to agree now then drop him like a stone)

then put the same details into nationwide's mortgage website and see if the rates they offer you are better, that should tell you all you need to know if he's any good.

But if you can feasibly get that deposit up thats what you should aim for - they give you better rates the better LTV you have

Thanks for the advice, will do. Tonight is only the initial free consultation, so will see what he has to say. Are Nationwide the kind of bellwether of mortgage providers?

[The Culture Bunker]

Is there a reason why you are using a mortgage advisor?

I mean, I have only bought one house in my life, but we just went straight to the bank which seemed to offer decent terms - I think we read the money pages of the guardian - and went from there. It happened to be the Nationwide, where we already had savings, and we opened a current account to get a slightly better deal, etc.
But they also helped us through the process, etc. and gave us the 'in principle' certificate to show estate agents...

Being incredibly lazy, I got a mortgage through my bank (Barclays) who had someone call me up to go through the various options and such, and I've been fairly happy with how it's all gone.

For extra idle points - I bought the first place I looked at, because it was relatively cheap for the area due to being a basement. Thankfully, living in semi-permanent darkness doesn't bother me, but then I went and got married and I know I'll have to go through the whole process again soon enough, but this time in a more serious manner.

[monkfromhavana]

Is there a reason why you are using a mortgage advisor?

I mean, I have only bought one house in my life, but we just went straight to the bank which seemed to offer decent terms - I think we read the money pages of the guardian - and went from there. It happened to be the Nationwide, where we already had savings, and we opened a current account to get a slightly better deal, etc.
But they also helped us through the process, etc. and gave us the 'in principle' certificate to show estate agents...

We were going to contact them directly, but thought a mortgage adviser could maybe sort out something better. My partner has an account with Nationwide and I've had accounts with Barclays for about 30 years, so maybe they'll come up with some good shit.

The thing is, people say "do whichever is right for you" but I have no clue what's "right" for me other than it being affordable.

[JamesTC]

One thing you should brace yourself for is for unexpected delays. Buying my house took an extra three months despite the house being empty. What it come down to was that it turned out that my house was leasehold and we couldn't locate who the freeholder was (turned out to be Sefton Council in the end).

Silly things can throw a spanner in the works at any point in the process and delay things so just be prepared for it.

[Clatty McCutcheon]

I would tend to go for a building society rather than a bank, as it seems that they can offer lower interest rates and better deals generally. I'm not basing this on any real expertise, but when I finally managed to get a deposit (and my shit) together back in 2010 it seemed to be borne out by the research I did then, and I ended up taking a mortgage with Nationwide.

I can't say I micro-manage or analyse it, other than letting them take a wedge of my earnings each month and maybe trying to pay it off a bit more quickly when interest rates are low, but I've never had any issues, touch wood. On the rare occasion that I've forgotten that I had other money coming out of the account, not leaving enough to meet the monthly mortgage payment, I was able to sort it out quickly with them without any hassle, etc. The payment holidays that they offered during the pandemic seemed quite useful, although I didn't have to resort to using them, thankfully.

[peanutbutter]

In Glasgow, most properties are currently going for about 25% over the home report value.

Which is nice.

yep, right now seems to be the worst point in my adult life to buy a house from what I can see. Which is great cos I'm at the point I'm totally fed up of renting...


Anyone have any experience getting a mortgage as a contractor? I could stand to make a lot more money that way by the looks of things.

[Shit Good Nose]

Mortgage brokers have access to a shit-load more mortgages and offers than banks and building societies, which only tend to offer their own main packages.  They don't even always do that - we're with Lloyds for our mortgage and when we were looking to move last summer (prior to Mrs Nose being made redundant putting the kibosh on it) the best mortgage available to us was another Lloyds one, but it was exclusive through brokers and we couldn't get it direct from Lloyds, but it was .5% lower interest rate than the cheapest direct bank or BS one, and still cheaper even taking into account the fee.

They can also get around a lot of restrictions that banks and building societies can't, and can usually squeeze a bit more money for you.

Unless you have a massive deposit and enough income to comfortably cover the mortgage you need without issue, I would ALWAYS recommend going to a broker (obvs do your research to make sure the broker isn't dodgy).

[JohnnyCouncil]

Something for further down the line, but (in my experience) solicitors will do nothing unless you specifically tell them to. Even stuff you'd think would be bread-and-butter, day-to-day conveyancing tasks. Zero. Nada. If one says to you "we need to do Land Registry searches" don't assume that that means "we need to do Land Registry searches and I'll crack right on with that". Make them tell you when, then call them on that day and ask if they've done it.

Would agree with this, we moved about 2 months ago, it took about 15 weeks and my wife was on at the (useless) solicitors every day. Also anything you give them, make sure you keep copies, we got right down the line and they'd lost all the documents we gave them on day 1.

Probably not relevent to you but we also found that the estate agent was worth every (and there were lots) penny, did a fair bit of chasing for us, also managed to get us more for our place and less of a reduction based on faults that were found.

[Blinder Data]

Something for further down the line, but (in my experience) solicitors will do nothing unless you specifically tell them to. Even stuff you'd think would be bread-and-butter, day-to-day conveyancing tasks. Zero. Nada. If one says to you "we need to do Land Registry searches" don't assume that that means "we need to do Land Registry searches and I'll crack right on with that". Make them tell you when, then call them on that day and ask if they've done it.

Yes, keep on top of your solicitors. Bought a house last year for the first time in a comparatively stress-free manner, but even so it felt like nothing happened for weeks until a few days before the exchange when suddenly various documents and processes were demanded of me ASAP. This lack of forward planning on behalf of solicitors/estate agents has probably been made worse by the bonkers state of the current market.

And I echo advice to go for a mortgage broker unless you know your onions and tell white lies about your health etc. I stupidly gave an honest answer when taking out life insurance about how I used to smoke infrequently, which seemed to add £25 per month to the bill.

[touchingcloth]

speak to your adviser, get all the details of what he's offering/found but don't agree to anything (if he says you have to agree now then drop him like a stone)

then put the same details into nationwide's mortgage website and see if the rates they offer you are better, that should tell you all you need to know if he's any good.

This. We were minded to get a Nationwide mortgage as we had a building society account with them, and in our first no obligation mortgage session with an independent adviser all of the best deals she showed us were with Nationwide, so we saved the fees and went direct through Nationwide's own team.

Think hard about the minimum term of the mortgage you go with. We got our mortgage in 2016 on a 10 year fixed term as we couldn't see ourselves moving that quickly, but after Brexit that all changed and we had to pay our way out of more than 6 years of the fixed term, and we'd already lost the option of re-mortgaging after we finished the improvements we made on the wreck of a house we bought.

[Shit Good Nose]

Think hard about the minimum term of the mortgage you go with. We got our mortgage in 2016 on a 10 year fixed term as we couldn't see ourselves moving that quickly, but after Brexit that all changed and we had to pay our way out of more than 6 years of the fixed term, and we'd already lost the option of re-mortgaging after we finished the improvements we made on the wreck of a house we bought.

Not too many offering any more than five year fixed at the moment due to how low the interest rates are, and those that do have a LOT of restrictions on them and who they're available to.