ru'

Okay, first off yeah I'm gonna get some 'proper' advice and all that, but having said half jokingly that I'd sort out a mortgage on scoobynet, I thought I'd post asking for some advice!

We've found a really cool house, and we want to put in an offer pretty soon so some other git doesn't get there first.

What's the question then, I hear you ask?

Well, we don't have a mortgage yet (but we have had some advice and we 'should' be able to scrape one big enough together).

What do we do? Put in an offer based on us getting the mortgage and on a decent survey of the property? Pretend we have the mortgage?

What's the best way to get a mortgage big enough?

Does anyone have any good tips, links, ideas or maybe some random nonsense to add to the thread?

Cheers!

Clare

No real advice, but congrats on getting on the housing ladder. In this day and age, that is no mean feat.

Hope you have many years of happiness, never being able to go out again and giving up the foreign holiday to the bahamas

douglasb

If the agent is going to take your offer seriously, you'll need to show that you have the money to pay for it.

They'll need to be convinced that you have the deposit and can raise the loan. If you put in an offer without being able to show that you can raise the cash, be prepared to be disappointed.

OllyK

Speak to the bank, agree in principal what you can borrow, they will then normally provide you with a certifcate confirming the amount, it isn't worth jack, but it at least shows you've made some headway in sorting your finances out and will get you taken seriously.

Put in the offer - make sure you go low unless you know for sure somebody else is about to offer as well. Then take it from there, the agent will help you along the way, probably trying to sell you a mortgage and legal representation, I suggest you source your own however whilst other stuff is on going. If you can, go for one local to you, things can happen that suddenly require a signature or quick turn around and being able to nip down in your lunchtime is pays dividends.

Best of luck!

brumdaisy

Or... in plain English any decent estate agent will ask for proof that you have whats called a 'mortgage in principle' ie a printed off bit of paper from your lender that shows how much they are prepared to loan you (sometimes if you dont have it on paper they will phone your branch and ask them to confirm you have at least started the mortgage process and agreed an amount they will lend you.)

I would strongly advise that you do not put in offers until you have started the mortgage process - you will really p!ss sellers and estate agents off if you put in offer(s) then find you cant get the mortgage and you will end up disappointed setting your heart on a property only to find you cant afford it, or losing it because you cant get your mortgage in place quick enough.

Despite some lenders getting silly and lending 4 or 5x your salary, many are actually doing the opposite and not even lending the usual amount (3x salary) because once they take into account things like loans and credit cards they know you cant afford it.

Only my opinion but unless you know absolutely 100% that your income is going to increase dramatically in the next few years, please do not borrow much more than 3x your salary. There's no point having a house that you cant afford to decorate/furnish/pay the bills on/ have spare cash for beers at the weekend.

sorry that was in response to douglasb but ollyk typed faster

Recaro

In the exact same boat.

Been looking for a few months, foundd the house I like, made an offer and its been accepted.

Now awaiting for the vendor to find property to move to which is great as it gives me time to sort things out.

Saw an IFA last week, told him exactly where I was with my money and how much I was after, told me I had no problems getting the mortgage loan.

said it wasnt worth getting a mortgage agreed in principle yet, better wait till the chain has been finished. If I was after too much money or had bad credit then we would establish a mortgage in principle now, but I dont.

I used a few mortgage calculators on line and added my savings to this amount, then made offers on this. Went a few grand more then I wanted to but shouldn't cause a problem.

I found that when I placed offers, alot of agents ran through my financial situation to check that I could afford the house. Alot of them wanted me to speak to their financial adviser.

ru'

Cheers for the advice; it's always good to get opinions from people who don't have their hand out trying to tax me!

So it's wrong to have decided on a house which is too much money, and it's wrong to put in an offer when you don't have the dosh. Tricky!

I'll be onto the mortgage people tomorrow me thinks. I'm planning to get something fixed rate which pretty much ***** us for the first couple of years; no doubt things will be better after that!

paul-s

I want to know what happenes to average mid 20's greater londoner's on 20k whos are ftb's??

With a mortgage of 60k at 3x the salary it aint worth a w**k, even with a 2nd applicant ur looking at around 80k. What possible chance do these have of getting anywhere??

stilover

Put in the offer if you know you can get a Mortgage. Once the offer is accepted, then go and shop around for the Mortgage. That's what I did.

No point in getting a Mortgage sorted if your offer is rejected, or you get gazumped.

letdown

Urmmm as a few pople have pointed out you are in no position to put an offer in at all. Get the mortgage first.......then go house hunting.

As Ive said you are in no position to put in an offer and are not being fair to the seller. They will assume that you have the finance in place.....you do not. And if the agent tells the seller that you have no finance in place, the seller will tell you to poke it.

All IMHO.

The Snug Rhino

what a load of complexity.....just tell the estate agent you have an IFA, your income is significant and you have no issues with raising the funds via a mortgage....then ask him how soon the people wil be out because your end is sorted and you want to get on with it.

once offer is accepted (or while it is being pondered) get your loan sorted....unless you are flipping burgers that wont be an issue anyway.

ru'

Thanks for the advice once again.

As ever, a wide range of information allowing me to pick the one I like best!

We're speaking to IFAs today, in between trying to get work out of the way as we're away for a few days from tomorrow am (it's never a good time for a break!).

The only good thing about this process is that the scoob is a company motor, so getting rid of it to save dosh for the house is not an option! Woo-hoo!

B9GLY

Northern rock were really good with me last year when i bought my first house! they would lend me alot more than anyone else and had some good ftb options to ie cashback etc

good luck!

Recaro

My mate got alot of cashback last year with NR, they dont seem to be offering that much cahback now.

There fees are quite high though.

paulg1979

iTrader: (1)

I'm a first time buyer and bought a property on a first time buyer scheme. Should of been in there next month but not ready until November . The developer payed 5% of our mortgage so we only needed to get a 95% mortgage. Still had to get a £154,000 mortgage but saved ourselfs nearly £9000 deposit, its something you should look into. Alot of these developers do good deals for first time buyers.

OllyK

It's easy for them to do so when they are over charging you to start with. In general you'll find new developments are priced quite a bit higher than equivalent older properties in the area and probably have a smaller garden to boot.

paulg1979

iTrader: (1)

Where I live the the price we bought a 1 bed apartment we could have bought an old 2 bed terrace house that needed lots of work doing to it and was the size of a rabbits hutch. They are priced high but are valued by solicitors and was valued at what we paid.

OllyK

They are priced high becuase most people are too lazy to slap a coat of paint about and want to move straight in. Developers charge a premium accordingly and can make "gestures" and still make 35% profit and more.

Interestingly, near me there is a development going up, Miller homes. 3 & 4 bed detatched and semi. Starting at £213,950. You'll pick up a detached 3 bed in the same area for under £150K, with bigger rooms and a garden big enough to build another house in.

paulg1979

iTrader: (1)

You know where you are with a new build. Its all done for you. Thats why you pay the extra money. The last thing I want to do is decorate a whole house when i've only just moved in.

OllyK

For £73K it better be gold leaf throughout!

Also remember with a new build, you will get shrinkage and crackign which will need sorting. The builders will invariably **** things up so you'll have an ongoing snagging list for weeks or months after you move in.

paulg1979

iTrader: (1)

I'm not just paying for the apartment. Its location too. Lets just say I won't be opening my french doors onto my balcony and staring at a load of houses on the other side of the road but instead lots of green and a nice old castle which I prefer.

Thanks for the advice though and I do agree snagging is going to be crap but my girlfriends old man is a site manager and will know what to look for so should go well hopefully.

ru'

Well, I got a hell of a message on the mobile today when I got out of a meeting.

"Hi babe, it's me. I've put in an offer at the asking price and its been accepted."

WTF! Talk about a shock! Of course it's been f'ing accepted you daft mare!

So, now it's serious! No time to sort out any mortgage today, not back in the UK until weds, and the clock is ticking.

Still, it's only 30k more than we were planning. What's 30k between friends.


Faaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!! !!!!

hades

Plenty of mortgage lenders offer a decision in principle in mnutes on the net. I've gone through that with my present lot (Coventry BS), Iknow Yorkshire BS do so too, both do a lot of good rates and decent income multipliers. plenty of other companies offer a decision in principle on a few numbers on the net too - unless you're a tricky case in which case you need to speak to them.

I'd seriously suggest looking at sites like http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/mortgages/default.aspx and searching yourself for the best deals - if you have an idea of what you want and what you can afford, you can generally (but not always) find as good/better deal than your IFA will sell you. As it's free, stupid not to try both. I recently tried two IFAs and ended up sourcing my own mortgage.

njkmrs

Is that the Castle they are planning to turn into the main attraction at the new Theme Park !!!!!!

Ooohhh Suits you sir .!!!!!!!!

brumdaisy

You mean the one next to the green belt land that next year will be the construction site for a new 8 lane ringroad?

paulg1979

iTrader: (1)

Already looked into that and the castle has to stay!!

brumdaisy

the planning committee voted in favour of the 12 lane carriage way (sorry did I say 8 earlier?) on the basis that vehicles wouldnt obscure the turretts, but on the condition that the road didnt block access to the new 'castlegate' drive thru macdonalds - flagship branch apparently with a big yellow 'M' lighting up the castle at night... luvvvly

Drunken Bungle Whore

Some women get the rest of us a bad name! We've been buying and/ or selling property for 4 years (not developers - just got caught in piles of cr@p) and in all that time, and in all the houses we've been involved in - NOTHING has gone for the full asking price. Most things have been at least 10% off - and thats included the places we've sold. The vendors must think it's fecking Christmas!!

Can't you call the estate agents back and claim you've no idea who this crazy woman is and start negotiating all over again? You're first time buyers - assuming you get your mortgage sorted OK - you are worth your weight in gold in the property market!!

Either that or hope the survey finds a bunch of things you can re-negotiate over.....

hades

That kind of thing does seem area dependent. Where I'm buyin at the moment, I've not found anywhere that's gone for much more than 2% below asking price (looking at houses that have completed on land registry site etc), and most are within 1%. 2.5% under for the place I move into in 2 weeks is better than anywhere else I've seen. Previous area, higher percentage discounts are more common. No idea why such things seem to be regional, but they do.

However, have to agree that an opening offer of "I'm a cash buyer, would you take the asking price" seems a touch mental. Start with a low offer, stress the no chain stuff etc and then if necessary work up to a suitable compromise.