by admin | Feb 28, 2020 | Mortgage News
If you’re thinking about buying a home this year (or any year), it pays to take a strategic approach. Here are a few tips on how to do so.
Start by researching your preferred area(s)
Think about what you need in a place to live and then think about what you would like to have in your local neighbourhood. When you’re listing out your wants, try to give them a score so you know how much each one really matters to you.
Look out for places where you could make compromises to get a better deal. For example, you might need to live in a place where you can reach your work within a certain length of time. You might want to keep that time as short as possible. The compromise might be to look at locations where there are expected to be improvements made to public transport within the near future. If you can live with a longer commute for a short while, over the long term, you could benefit from a shorter commute and an increase in the value of your home.
Keep an open mind about adapting a property to suit your needs
Hopefully, you’ll find the perfect property for you very quickly, but if you don’t then you basically have two options. One is, of course, to keep looking and the other is to make adaptations to a property so that it is suitable for your needs (and preferably your wants as well).
Obviously, you need to be sensible about this. In particular, you need to think carefully about what, if anything, you could reasonably do yourself and what would need to be done by a professional. You’d also have to factor in the cost of making the changes if you decide to put in an offer on the property. Last but by no means least, if you’re thinking of making significant changes, it would be a very good idea to check whether or not planning permission would be required and if so to confirm at least the likelihood of getting it before committing to the purchase.
Do whatever you can to make yourself an attractive buyer
When sellers can choose from different offers they may focus on price or they may focus on convenience. In other words, they may accept a lower offer from a buyer whom they believe will be in a good position to take the sale through to completion in the quickest possible time and with minimal inconvenience to them. This means that the more preparation you do, the more attractive you can make yourself to a seller and the more chance you have of your offer being picked over higher ones because you are seen as a safe option.
Regardless of whether or not you already have a mortgage, you want to double-check your credit record and make sure that it is free of any errors. This would also be a good time to see if there is anything you can do to improve it, no matter how small of a change it seems. For example, if you have a credit card you never use but never got around to closing, you should make a point of closing it.
If you’re a first-time buyer/renter, then ideally you want to be pre-approved for a mortgage. If you already have a property, then ideally you either want to sell it before you put in an offer for another property or be able to demonstrate that you can buy another property without needing to sell your current one. In other words, try to avoid becoming part of a chain.
Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
by admin | Aug 2, 2019 | Mortgage News
If you are buying your first home or moving to a bigger one, then there’s a very good chance that you’re going to need a mortgage to help you to do so. The bad news is that being approved for a mortgage is very far from a formality. The good news is that it is possible, as evidenced by the many people who successfully do so each year. With that in mind, here are some tips on maximising your chances of mortgage approval.
Build a deposit
There are two good reasons why mortgage lenders prefer borrowers with larger deposits. The first reason is the straightforward fact that larger deposit lowers the lender’s exposure to fluctuations in the property market. In principle, the borrower is responsible for the mortgage, but, in practice, if the worst comes to the worst and the borrower goes bankrupt, it will be the lender who is left on the hook. The second reason is that the ability to raise a large deposit shows that the borrower can save (or has access to financial support from other sources).
Make sure your credit record looks as good as it possibly can
In addition to checking for any clear errors (and getting them corrected), see if you can go a step further (or several steps further) and actively improve it. Sometimes even simple changes can make a difference (possibly only a small difference, but every improvement is a gain). For example, if you’re not on the electoral roll, then get your name added (and if you are on, make sure you’re listed at the address you’ll be giving to your mortgage lender) and if possible, add a landline phone number. On a larger scale (and with potentially more impact), make the time to pay off any small-scale debts you are carrying, such as credit cards you hardly use, and then actually close them (rather than leaving them in limbo). In fact, if you still have any credit cards with zero balances, then ask yourself if you really have a compelling reason for keeping them open and if the honest answer is “no” then close them. If you need any more encouragement to take this step, then remember that every financial product you own is a potential point of compromise and so minimising the number of companies which have access to your financial details should also reduce the likelihood of you becoming a victim of fraud and/or identity theft.
NB: remember that the UK has three main credit-reporting services Experian, Equifax and CallCredit and you will need to check your record with each of them to get a full picture of how your financial history will look to a lender.
Keep your finances on a steady track
Remember that your credit record is only the first check a lender will make. If you pass this hurdle, they will want to take a more detailed look at your spending by means of your bank statements. With this in mind, you want your statements to give the impression of a person who lives their life in a way which is unlikely to give a potential lender a moment’s cause for concern. So, for example, unless you are really desperate to leave a job you hate, wait until your mortgage is 100% secured before doing so and if your plan is to start your own business, then hold off making any purchases which make this obvious to the lender. In other words, while you have to answer any questions truthfully, you only have to answer what they actually ask. Always remember, however, that the onus will be on you to keep up with your mortgage payments and that the consequence for not doing so can be losing your home, so resist any temptation to over-stretch yourself from the start.
Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
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