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Here at Birminghammoneyman, we believe that there are many positives to using the services of a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham, instead of going direct. That is just our opinion though, of course, we would say that!
There are loads of positives going elsewhere, so it is worth exploring your mortgage options. Thankfully for us, most people will opt to speak with a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham. In this article, we will look at the pros and cons of both routes.
The first benefit of going to a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham is that whilst most high street banks can be approached directly, not all mortgage lenders can be.
This means that to get the best deal across all lenders on our panel, you will benefit from speaking with a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham, though a mortgage lender may still have some deals you cannot get going to a mortgage broker.
An experienced Mortgage Broker in Birmingham will typically require a fee, whereas this may not be the case when going direct. That said, we can help to recommend other services that you may need for much cheaper than they might be with a lender.
In previous arguments some would say that “the bank manager knows my finances inside out,” but this was no longer the case once credit scoring was introduced.
If you know what you are doing and what you are looking for, going direct can be a quick and straightforward process. On the other hand, if you do not know what you are doing, you could harm your chances of ever obtaining a mortgage, as you will not match all lender’s criteria.
A trusted Mortgage Broker in Birmingham will be able to go over the different lenders’ mortgage criteria and will be able to match you up with the most suitable mortgage deal. We always aim to get this recommendation right first time.
Back in the day, mortgage advisors from high street banks would approve you for a mortgage, regardless of circumstances. You would not benefit from correct Mortgage Advice in Birmingham or any consumer protection.
In 2014, the government banned this type of practice. Now, only experienced Mortgage Advisors in Birmingham could go about providing expert Mortgage Advice in Birmingham to customers and making recommendations for products.
The only downside is speaking with specific individuals at a bank, which means you could be waiting months, just to speak with someone.
Because of this, the usage of a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham became more popular. As a company ourselves, we offer various time slots seven days a week, allowing you to pick a time that is convenient to you, and not months in advance!
Quite often, if you book your free initial mortgage appointment early, you may be able to speak with one of our Mortgage Advisors in Birmingham on the same day.
Nowadays, the most difficult part of the mortgage process is matching up against the right mortgage lenders’ criteria. It is also essential to remember that deals with the lowest rates often have higher arrangement fees.
You may have come across a really good deal, only to find that you need to pass affordability checks and be eligible for that deal in the first place. With the help of a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham, we will be able to find the most suitable deals that are suitable for you.
Thanks in part to the regulations that followed after the credit crunch back in 2008, mortgage applications perhaps are not as straightforward as they used to be.
This is not necessarily a terrible thing, however, as it makes lenders have less of a chance of anyone falling into arrears, which both customers and mortgage lenders do not want to occur.
There are still a lot of situations that could cause some issues for applicants, some of which a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham may be able to help with.
As an expert Mortgage Broker in Birmingham, we have seen mortgage lenders demonstrating their competitive prowess, trying to offer better interest rates than their fellow mortgage lenders.
Because of the changes to regulations, the other difference between these lenders is their mortgage lending criteria and whether the customer can match up with them.
Examples of how these can differ, is that some mortgage lenders may have more products for self employed applicants than others, whereas others may not but will be more lenient to something like bad credit mortgages. If you are looking at getting a mortgage as a self-employed applicant, check out our article all about getting a mortgage as a self-employed applicant in Birmingham.
Our trusted mortgage advisors in Birmingham will always keep you in the loop, with availability from early until late, every day of the week, responding as soon as they can.
With our services as a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham, is that nowadays people are so busy. It is often easier to use a professional service, to take the stress off your shoulders.
This is especially beneficial for professional applicants who are dealing with customers of their own, not having the time to run through their process themselves.
From your first initial touch we will discuss your case, and will use our knowledge to help. We like to go above and beyond with customers that need our help.
During your process, one of our Mortgage Advisors in Birmingham will be able to discuss the maxium amount you can borrow and supply you with an agreement in principle, which can help when making an offer on a property. As well as recommend additional services like solicitors and property surveys.
We can also reccomend any potential insurance options with you, helping prepare you and your family for the future, in the event of anything unfortunate that affects your financial state.
If you would like to go direct, that that’s fine, but wether a customer is a First Time Buyer in Birmingham, Self Employed in Birmingham, or looking to Remortgage in Birmingham, they prefer to enlist the services of an expert Mortgage Broker in Birmingham.
Book your free mortgage appointment today with our Mortgage Broker in Birmingham and our Mortgage Advisors in Birmingham will see how we can help you along your mortgage journey.
Hopefully, you have accumulated a large amount of savings for a deposit on your first property and are ready to take that first step on the property ladder. What you are trying to achieve and how your financial situation looks determines How Much Deposit You Need to put down to purchase a property in Birmingham.
Whether you are First Time Buyer in Birmingham beginning the mortgage journey or you have gone through this before and are looking to at Moving Home in Birmingham, our fast and friendly service could help you. This helpful guide can provide you with the information you need to put yourself in a position where are you mortgage ready and in a serious position to begin your mortgage application.
The first thing you need to do is obtain Mortgage Advice in Birmingham is to obtain an up-to-date credit report. Having this with you can provide an insight of your financial situation which is something your dedicated Mortgage Advisor in Birmingham will need an idea of. Along with this, they will be able to see your overall credit rating which can help them match you to a range of mortgage deals when it comes to taking one out.
Don’t panic if you are unable to obtain an up-to-date credit report in time, your advisor will be able to help with getting one.
Prior to beginning the mortgage journey, it’s important that you Get an Agreement in Principle. It’s a document you will need to make an offer on a property! Having an AIP with you shows the estate agent that a lender will agree to lend you a set amount from them in principle by showing them sufficient evidence of your income, credit history etc.
Be aware that AIPs can expire usually within 30-90 days. In the event that your AIP does expire or you need help obtaining one, our team can sort this out for you normally within 24 hours of your mortgage application. Here at Birminghammoneyman, we have a passionate team who are ready to take your call.
Before starting the mortgage journey, you may have already worked out a rough estimate of your expected outgoing after you move house. As a result, you can get an idea of the amount of disposable income you have to pay your mortgage. You may have expenditures and regular outgoings like credit agreements and bills to your weekly food shop. If you are struggling with balancing out all these financial outgoings, our team will be more than happy to send you our versions of a Budget Planner to help you out.
Having a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham by your side is more than just helping you with the mortgage journey and moving home. We have a team of brilliant Mortgage Advisors in Birmingham who will provide a tailored service that can help you become prepared for the mortgage journey.
When it comes to beginning your mortgage application in Birmingham, it’s key that you have all of our documents prepared.
In order to prove that you are who you say are, you need to provide a form of ID. Usually, this is confirmed with a driving license or a passport. You are not allowed to use the same form of ID twice, therefore, if you use your passport for this proof of ID, you cannot use it for another proof of ID evidence and vice versa.
For applicants who are non-UK nationals working over here on a Visa, you’ll need to provide that too.
As well as this, you will need to prove where you live. In order to show this, you may need to give ID and a utility bill/bank statement. Remember to put your current address on all of your accounts and memberships so they are up to date. By doing this, you are preventing any harm on your application as incorrect or previous addresses linked with your name can cause this.
This is an important document and can massively contribute to determining whether you will qualify for a mortgage or not. This is something you will need to provide and will need to be at least three months’ worth. From a lender’s point of view, they will be able to see your spending behaviour as well as what goes in and out of our account.
Some outgoings lenders do not favour are frequent gambling transactions as well as bad spending habits in general. Regularly being in your overdraft or direct debits have bounced consistently can also put lenders off.
For Anti-Money Laundering purposes, it is key that you are to provide evidence of where your deposit has come from. It would be wise to keep all your savings inside the one account and try not to move them around. This also applies to gifted deposits; leave the money inside of the gifter’s account instead of transferring it into your own.
Building up your savings over time in a savings account is something lenders like to see. You can have assistance with this through a Helpt to Buy and Lifetime ISA. If you are getting a Gifted Deposit in Birmingham, the person gifting you the deposit will have to prove where they have got the funds from too.
Proving your income is a significant part of the process. For applicants who are employed, they will need to provide the last three months’ payslips as well as their P60. Additional earnings like overtime, bonuses, commission and shift allowance are usually taken into consideration too. Applicants that are part time employees will normally need to provide additional evidence of their income. However, it does vary between lenders.
Any applicants looking to take out a Self Employed Mortgage Birmingham will have their income assessed in a slightly different way. They need to provide a minimum of 2/3 years’ accounts and earnings from the revenue. One of our expert Mortgage Advisors in Birmingham can help you with this.
Congratulations, you have just passed your exams and are now a newly qualified teacher. You have found your dream teaching position and are ready to get started in the classroom, but it means you’ll be looking to Move Home to Birmingham. From this, you are now beginning the exciting yet stressful process of finding a place to move to whilst beginning your new teaching role. The good news is that you are not the only person in this situation.
It can be difficult to find a lender who is looking to offer a mortgage to newly qualified teachers. This is because newly qualified teachers have no work history, or have been on temporary contracts. Don’t worry though, it is still possible to get a mortgage as a newly qualified teacher. You might find that various lenders may lend with some even offering reasonable deals to those working in the education section.
Below is a list of various types of mortgages that are available to NQTs:
When it comes to obtaining a mortgage as a NQT, here is a list that as a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham we feel you should considered:
Here at Birminghammoneyman, we have a team of Mortgage Advisors in Birmingham who have extensive knowledge about the lending criteria and they have many years under their belt helping many people with their mortgage situations.
If you are a newly qualified teacher that’s looking to begin their mortgage journey, get in touch with us. We will take some details from you and look at the options available as well as see if you are eligible for a mortgage.
Buying a property can be the most expensive commitment of your life, therefore, it’s important that you know exactly what you’re paying for. All of the different costs of buying a home in Birmingham can blend into one if you’re not careful, and you may be paying more for some parts of the process than you originally thought, which is why we’ve broken down those costs into an article.
If you are a first time buyer in Birmingham, and recently have had an offer accepted on a property but, is the house actually worth what you’ve said you’ll pay for it? In order to establish the true value of a property as well as the overall condition, a property survey will be carried out. This survey will highlight any issues with the property like major/minor damages.
Buying a property can be the most expensive commitment of your life, therefore, it’s important that you know exactly the costs of buying a home in Birmingham. If you’re not careful, you may be paying more for some parts of the process than you originally thought.
The different types of property surveys include Mortgage Valuations, Homebuyer’s Report and Full Structural Survey. In some cases, a property survey can be carried out free of charge depending on the lender that you use.
The type of survey differentiates depending on the outcomes of the survey report. You might want one that is more in-depth, whereas others will only briefly speak about certain aspects. The survey will be more pricey depending on how in-depth the survey is. In the event that you find something on your survey about your property that you weren’t informed about, by law, you are allowed to approach the seller and work out an alternative price, if necessary.
The simplest type of survey is Mortgage Valuations. This is carried out to determine how much a property is actually worth. It’s helpful for the lender as they need to be sure that the property price matches how much you are set to borrow from them. For instance, if you put in an offer above the property’s actual value, it’s likely the seller will accept your offer, but your lender won’t. Unless you have the funds to make up the difference the lender will put out of the deal. This is called a down valuation.
The one drawback with this type of survey is that it will only point out obvious repairs and damages so will lack depth. On the other hand, it does highlight any clear structural defects that will require a further look at. If you are wanting a more in-depth property assessment, you will need to pay more to upgrade your survey. It may be more expensive but, it may benefit you in the long run.
This type of report focuses on safety. A Homebuyer’s Report answers the questions of whether the property is safe and if it’s suitable to live in. The surveyor will look at any mould problems, damp issues or something that does not pass the current building laws. A property expert will carry this out. It’s their job to examine the property thoroughly to make sure it’s safe to live in.
When it comes to making an offer on an older building, as a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham, we strongly advise you to take up a Full Structural Survey.
Because the whole property is surveyed, this is the most pricey of property surveys. A Full Structural Survey will also provide an in-depth insight into the property compared to the three main surveys. The survey will highlight what condition the property is in and what changes need to be made if the property purchase goes through. It can take as long as a full day to carry out a Full Structural Survey, however, this does depend on the size of the property.
If you have accepted an offer on a new build, the survey will work slightly differently. There is a type of survey especially for new builds called a Snagging Survey. It points out both minor and major issues, like a missing hinge on a door to cracks in the ceiling.
When the new has already been built and it’s ready for you to move into, it’s wise for you to get a snagging survey carried out on it before moving in. By doing this, you are giving yourself the option to negotiate to price if there are any issues with the property.
Feel free to contact our mortgage team if you are unsure about what property survey is the right one for you. Our experience has given us the opportunity to help many first time buyers and home mover in Birmingham get onto the property ladder, we’ll help you recommend and choose the right property survey for you!
If you are looking for a surveyor to carry out a Homebuyer report or building survey, you can obtain these services through the Royal Institution of Charted Surveyors.
Whether you are first time buyer in Birmingham beginning the mortgage journey or you have gone through this before and are looking to to move home, our fast and friendly service could help you. We’ll provide a tailored service that can help you get prepared for a mortgage in Birmingham.
Buying a property can be the most expensive commitment of your life, therefore, it’s important that you know exactly what you’re paying for. All of the different costs can blend into one if you’re not careful, and you may be paying more for some parts of the process than you originally thought.
Let’s take a look at how much it costs to buy a home and the costs involved with property investment.
If you’re a First Time Buyer in Birmingham, you’ll find this article particularly useful as it will break down each cost for you and show what each one means.
On the contrary, if you’re Moving Home in Birmingham, it’s still useful to remind yourself of the costs involved so that you can prepare accordingly.
Once you’ve put down an an offer on the property in Birmingham and it’s been accepted, your lender will carry out a valuation on the property to make sure that your offer matches the true value of the property. Factors that could affect your valuation include structural damage, property age, the local market, etc.
Prices will vary for the valuation will vary from free of charge to several hundred pounds. Sometimes, you will be offered one for free as the price is incorporated into another cost or it could be a bonus for taking out a certain product.
They are also different types of valuations, and you will pay more depending on which one you need. For example, if you need a full building survey as you’re purchasing an older property, you may have to pay a lot more than someone who’s bought a new build.
Some lenders may charge you for taking out a mortgage with them. This type of fee usually comes with the products with the cheapest rates. It’s worth mentioning that not every mortgage will come with an arrangement fee, however, when they do, you may be expected to pay a large fee, such as £999, depending on the product and lender.
You may be asked to pay this fee upfront or have the option to add these to your mortgage balance. If you choose to add them to your mortgage, you may incur further interest charges. As a Specialist Mortgage Broker in Birmingham, we can compare 1000s of mortgage products on your behalf, trying to find a suitable one for your situation with minimal additional costs.
You’ll need a solicitor to arrange the legal side of the mortgage process. The fees quoted by various firms may differ enormously. An estimated amount for a low-value property would be £600. You will provide the solicitor with the new property’s address, whether it’s leasehold or freehold. You’ll also need to provide the purchase price to obtain quotations.
You need to make sure that:
You’ll only face estate agency fees when you are selling a home in Birmingham. Estate agency fees are rising alongside property prices; you can expect to pay between 1-2% of the property price. The minimum amount is usually £500 to sell your home. Prices may also rise when you look for a more personalised service.
Stamp duty is a tax that the solicitor will collect upon the competition of the property purchase, in addition to your solicitor’s fees and disbursements.
More stamp duty details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax.
A Mortgage Broker in Birmingham will usually charge a fee for their service. These fees will be disclosed upfront so that you know what you’re paying for and how much it’s going to cost.
We recommend trying to use a trusted company that charges upon completion only. Avoid any application fees where your money will be at risk.
The cost of moving all of your household items to another property can vary, it mainly depends on what service you want, how far you’re moving and how much stuff you have!
If you are happy to hire a van and transport your belongings to your new house by yourself, the service may cost significantly less. It can cost less than £500 in some situations. However, some people will prefer to pay for the full service and get someone to pick up their belongings and help them move. This service can be £1,000 plus.
If you want to speak to a Moving Home Mortgage Advisor in Birmingham, feel free to get in touch and book your free appointment online today.
One of the most important points at the start of your property journey, before you even get ready to make your purchase, is to ensure you have enough saved to cover the deposit. We regularly hear first time buyers in Birmingham that this part can sometimes be a little tricky.
Quite a common way around this, however, is for someone close to you to help you cover either a portion of the deposit or the full amount. This is called, quite aptly, a gifted deposit. In order for a gifted deposit to work, there will need to be an agreement that this is purely a gift and not a loan to be paid back.
For many, they benefit a lot more from buying a property and obtaining their own mortgage, than they do when renting from a landlord or local authority. There are lots of reasons for this, with one being that your monthly payments could be a lot less than you might have been paying per month on rent.
If you have worked out that you’ll be able to afford these monthly mortgage payments but can’t afford the initial deposit, then this is where a gifted deposit can become useful. In some cases we even see a gifted deposit being added onto an already saved deposit, increasing the amount.
The more deposit that is put down initially, the better rates you are going to open yourself up to. This in turn offers quite the benefit to home buyers, as you are guaranteed to lower your monthly mortgage payments in doing this.
We usually find that it is people’s parents, whether that be their birth parents, adopted or sometimes even carers, who are the ones that will gift a deposit. Across the industry, online and in person, you may see this with the tagline “The Bank of Mum & Dad”.
There are a few lenders out there who will possibly allow deposits to be gifted by some other family members such as aunties & uncles, though this will require your dedicated mortgage advisor to take more care when searching for the right mortgage lender to use.
If anyone over the age of 55 is willing to give you a hand, they may have the option of taking out an equity release in Birmingham as a means of gifting you a deposit.
When we have our primary chats with customers who are in the situation where they are struggling to save for a deposit, we will usually ask if they are able to be gifted the deposit from someone they know.
In those instances we either hear that they didn’t even know their parents could help, or they do know but don’t feel like they can approach them about the topic.
The reality is that if they are able to do so, most parents are more than happy to help their children if they can. Inheritance can help them achieve this, with some parents opting to gift it early if they have enough saved. We have also had cases where equity release has been used to help them out.
Lenders are not particularly keen on working with customers who take out loans for a deposit. The reason for this is because it is an additional financial commitment that could possibly get in the way of your mortgage repayments.
It’s not like there aren’t lenders out there who will accept this, because some of them will, it just makes for a more difficult process.
The majority of lenders out there won’t give you a mortgage unless you have at least a 5% deposit. Some may want more than this though and is entirely dependant on the lender and the situation. Bad credit, for example, will usually mean you have to put down at least a 15% deposit.
When it comes to gifted deposits, there is usually no limit to the amount that can be gifted. As mentioned earlier, the more you have, the better the rates you open yourself up to and the more likely you are to save money on your monthly payments.
Gifted deposits will mostly be beneficial to a first-time buyer in Birmingham or a home mover in Birmingham.
Depending on the lender that your mortgage advisor in Birmingham selects for you to go with, the required 5% deposit can be paid via gifted deposit.
As a general rule of thumb, all mortgage lenders will require a gifted deposit form. You may be asked to provide additional proof and ID (such as a donor ID or bank statements).
This all depends on the lender that your mortgage advisor in Birmingham feels is right for you and your personal circumstances.
Once you have gotten the hard part out of the way, that being saving up for your deposit (or if you’ve utilised a gifted deposit) and have decided you are ready to buy your first property as a first time buyer in Birmingham.
The next step is to get yourself prepared for the mortgage process that is about to follow.
In our experience as a mortgage advisor in Birmingham, we have found that customers benefit the most by getting in touch with a mortgage broker as early on in your process as you can.
Your dedicated advisor will help you to work out an outline of the amount you could be looking to borrow for a mortgage and how much your monthly mortgage costs could be.
Before anything else, your top priority should be to obtain an up-to-date credit report. You ideally don’t want any credit issues such as a missed phone contract payment, to hold you back from a mortgage. A credit report will be able to show you potentially harmful factors.
Following these steps will give you a realistic overview of the likelihood that you’ll succeed with a mortgage and what your budget could be. This will help you to organise your accounts, such as any existing credit cards or phone contracts.
Our hard working and dedicated mortgage advisors in Birmingham are able to obtain a fully credit-checked agreement in principle for you, within 24 hours of your primary mortgage appointment.
There’s a lot of important paperwork for you to gather for your process, so it’s a good idea for First Time Buyers in Birmingham to start organising what you will be required to have ahead of looking for your mortgage. In doing this, you possibly enable yourself to go through the process quicker.
We need to be able to prove your identity. With this, you’ll need to provide us with some photo ID such as a driving license or passport, so that we can prove who you are.
On top of this, you’ll need to prove where you are living. To achieve this, you need to send us a utility bill or original bank statement that has been dated within the last 3 months of your current home address.
One of the most important factors when seeing if you qualify for a mortgage, is analysing your income and spending habits. This can can be a big difference maker in whether or not you obtain a mortgage. Your bank statements should show your income and what you having regularly going out.
Lenders will not be too thrilled to see gambling transactions on your account. They also won’t be too happy if you go over an agreed overdraft limit or if your direct debits regularly bounce.
It’s best to plan ahead regarding your bank statements. The more organised they appear to be, the more likely you are to be accepted by a mortgage lender.
You will have to prove you have the financial capability to pay for the deposit and also evidence where this came from for the purpose of anti-money laundering.
Try not to move money around your accounts too often as it will make auditing where everything came from a little complex. Lenders like to see you build up your savings, so you’ll need to provide individual proof for any large financial deposits into your bank account.
We regularly see that money for deposits has been given as a gift by a member of your family. The gifted deposit also need to be evidenced, with the “donor” needing to sign a letter to confirm it is a gift and not to be paid back as a loan.
Regarding being able to afford a mortgage, the most important thing is to be able to prove your that you are financially capable to keep up monthly mortgage repayments.
If you are a regular employee, the proof you will be required to provide is the last 3 months’ payslips and most recent P60. Lenders can take into account frequent overtime, commission, shift allowance and any potential bonuses.
If instead you are an applicant who is self-employed in Birmingham, then you’ll need to enlist the help of your accountant. They will help you request your last 2 or 3 years’ tax overviews and tax calculations documents from HMRC, which you can use for proof of income.
When taking out a mortgage in Birmingham, it really is a good idea to prepare yourself ahead of the process starting. Make note of what you expect your outgoings to be after you move and work out what you are able to afford.
Factor in costs like council tax and utility bills, food, drink and leisure activities. This will demonstrate how much money you actually have free to put towards monthly mortgage repayments.
It may seem like a difficult process, but without taking the steps we mentioned above, it is not possible to proceed with any lender or broker. Once you have taken the necessary steps, you’ll be just that little bit closer to your home owning dreams.
It’s better to prepare yourself in advance, making a collection of everything a mortgage lender might wish to see. This saves both your time and frustration further along the process, especially if it’s something that could’ve easily been arranged at the start.
A mortgage agreement in principle is basically an obtainable document or certificate of confirmation that proves to the estate agent or seller of the property that ‘in principle’, the bank is willing to lend you a certain amount for a mortgage. You may also see this called a decision in principle.
This is something that we will always look to obtain for of our customers if they don’t have one already, and something we can usually get within 24 hours of your initial appointment.
In order to obtain an agreement in principle, you will have to pass the lenders credit score. This works out well because in almost all cases, this is a very good sign to the lender that you are creditworthy and could be trusted with a mortgage.
If you are in the market for buying a new home as a first time buyer in Birmingham, then an estate agent will often want to check again and again in order to make 100% sure that you are ‘mortgage ready’ when it comes to making any offers on a property.
In having this certificate on hand, you will prove to the seller that you are able to obtain a mortgage for the amount you will need to purchase the property and are ready to proceed with the sale.
A mortgage agreement in principle will not be a definitive guarantee of being able to obtain a mortgage, as the rest of your full application will require further background checks (such as evidencing your income) and having a property valuation undertaken on the property you’re looking to buy.
As an experienced mortgage broker in Birmingham, we highly suggest that all customers try to obtain an agreement in principle at the earliest opportunity. This is because of the following reasons:
1. Negotiating Power.
2. Avoid Disappointment.
3. Knowing Your Limits.
Once you reach the point of being able to make an offer on a new home, the majority of estate agents will undertake the necessary steps to ensure that you can go forward with a mortgage on the property.
Generally speaking, they will require you to provide them with evidence that you are able to afford the purchase of the property, prior to listing the property as sold and taking it off the market.
If you have already managed to have a mortgage agreed prior to making an offer on the property, you’ll come off as more appealing to the seller.
This will also prove to the seller that you’ve put a lot of careful thought about your mortgage journey and not just decided to purchase out of the blue, with no preparation.
This might persuade a seller to accept any offers that you make that are lower than the initial asking price. Make sure not to make offers too low though, as you don’t want to insult the seller.
When it comes to making a purchase on a property, we often find that customers can go full steam into the process, making an offer on a property without making sure that they can afford to actually buy the property in the first place.
This could lead to customers facing potential disappointment if the mortgage application happens to fail, as by that point they may have already had their heart set on that property.
By getting in touch with a mortgage advisor in Birmingham early on, the potential disappointment that you otherwise would’ve faced could potentially be avoided.
Often, there are various factors that are causing a mortgage to decline that can be overcome with a little time and the guidance of a trusted mortgage broker.
If you are a First Time Buyer in Birmingham and know you have a good credit score because you’ve never been turned down for credit, have paid everything on time and are registered on the voters roll etc, it is still worth getting in touch with us for mortgage advice in Birmingham.
You might find that you could approach various different lenders and each time get a different max mortgage amount back from them. These lenders all calculate affordability in their own unique way, with their own individual criteria.
If you are self employed in Birmingham, though the mortgage process is not completely impossible to navigate, it can be very complex for self employed applicants, without the assistance of a mortgage broker in Birmingham by your side.
Some lenders will take your net profit, others are known to use your salary and dividends. Some use your latest year, whereas some others will use an average over three years.
Being aware of your borrowing limits is very important when it comes to applying for a mortgage, as then you have a realistic idea of what your price range on a property is going to be.
Our team of mortgage advisors in Birmingham will be able to give you a guide of the potential maximum mortgage available to you and help you to work out an estimate of the amount you’ll possibly be paying back per month for your mortgage.
First time buyers in Birmingham, and other consumers are awareness of credit scoring appears to be higher than ever before, and a large majority of people who get in touch with our team appear to have already reviewed their credit reports online.
There are lots of different credit reference agencies to choose from, with the two most commonly heard of companies being either Experian or Equifax. We personally would recommend that new clients use Check My File for a 30-day free trial. If you do not cancel, this will change to £14.99 a month, though you can cancel this at any point in time. This report offers our clients a collaborative look at the information produced in an easy to understand the color-coded credit report.
Try it FREE for 30 days, then £14.99 a month – cancel online anytime.
Often our customers will ask if our Mortgage Advisors in Birmingham will be doing a credit search of their own, because they are aware that too many searches can cause problems for their credit score. The lender always runs credit checks, but our Mortgage Advisors in Birmingham will ask the client for their permission beforehand.
A hard credit search will provide a much more in-depth look at your credit report. Any financial institution that looks to carry one of these out should seek your permission before doing so. The advantage of a “hard” search would be that you have a much higher chance of succeeding with your mortgage if you pass the credit search, as they will have already gone quite deep into your details.
The only thing that can go wrong from then on is if, for some reason, you cannot provide satisfactory documentation to back up the information you have disclosed, or it turns out you have provided false details.
Another benefit to the hard search is that it leaves a ‘footprint’ on your credit file, meaning that anyone who looks at your report can see that it you’ve already been under the microscope so to speak. This isn’t inherently a bad thing but if for example, you have multiple searches included in your credit file in a short period, then it could be perceived as you are applying for lots of credit at once, which the lender may feel is suspicious activity.
The footprint does not state whether your application was successful or not but if you have several searches over a few weeks then lenders’ systems could wrongly assume you are being declined on the basis that “Why else would you go to Lender number two unless Lender number one had said no?”.
The odd hard footprint on your record is no big deal so this doesn’t give reason to worry a whole lot about it. The main lesson to take away here, is take precaution in having too many hard searches, as this could negatively affect your process.
On the other side of the coin, we have a soft credit search. This is a much ‘lighter’ search which looks at your financial situation and would be the type of search that would be carried out on price comparison websites to let you know what may be available to you. It may also be used from time to time, in order to verify your identity. Many mortgage lenders carry out soft searches, and we’re always seeing more lenders switching to this type of search.
While less information is offered to who is carrying out a soft search, as opposed to what they would receive if it were a hard search, you can still get a good idea as to whether or not you’ll find mortgage success by obtaining an Agreement in Principle. If you get this, you’re theoretically in with a good shot anyway.
One of the most beneficial things about soft searches is that while you will be able to see soft searches that have been carried out on you, if you check your credit file (people are usually surprised by how many have been carried out on them) these searches are not visible to other financial institutions like banks, building societies or other mortgage lenders. This means you can freely apply for an Agreement in Principle and it is unlikely to damage your credit score, whether it is successful or not.
If you are in the market for making an offer on a property as a first time buyer in Birmingham or are maybe moving home in Birmingham, our trusted Mortgage Advisors in Birmingham would highly recommend that you have a mortgage agreement in Principle in place before getting in touch with the seller.
You want to be able to give yourself the best possible chance of securing the property you want at the lowest possible price, so if you can demonstrate that you have your finances in a good place, you are effectively giving yourself the upper hand. Having an Agreement in Principle could also mean that any estate agent may be put off trying to ‘cross-sell’ their other in-house mortgage services to you.
Help to Buy was introduced in the 2010’s, off the back of the UK government’ previous FirstBuy Scheme. With a series of pre-existing and new schemes placed under that banner, it was designed to help first time buyers get onto the property ladder.
Over the years we have seen schemes under this banner disappear, whilst others have carried on without that branding. The most popular and well-known of these was the Help to Buy Equity Loan Scheme, which was closed to new applicants towards the end of 2022.
What this means is that first time buyers are no longer able to use a Help to Buy in Birmingham or anywhere in the UK, though this doesn’t necessarily mean that support for home buyers has ended. There are still a variety of schemes that can help to buy in Birmingham!
The forces help to buy scheme was introduced to help regular armed forces personnel get onto the property ladder. It was brought into the mortgage market after it was found that there was a large number of servicemen and servicewomen who were struggling to obtain a mortgage.
It was originally a pilot scheme, however, due to its popularity and helpfulness, the government decided to make this an enduring policy. Here is another helpful video from our MoneymanTV YouTube channel. Take a look for an in-depth look at the Forces Help to Buy scheme:
The scheme is very helpful if you can qualify for it; it can allow you to borrow up to 50% of your annual salary, with the total being capped at £25,000. This amount that you have borrowed can be used for your deposit or other fees that come with buying a home, such as solicitor’s and estate agent’s fees.
You can access the scheme if:
If you meet the scheme’s criteria, you can apply for it through the Joint Personnel Administration System or seek mortgage advice in Birmingham on how to apply for it.
As a mortgage broker in Birmingham, we can help explain this scheme for you in full, and tell you whether or not you’ll be able to access this scheme. They will sort everything out for you, making your mortgage experience stress-free and simple.
When applying for this scheme, you should know that you will still have to prepare documents to aid your application. Our team of mortgage advisors in Birmingham can help you get prepared for this so that you are mortgage ready!
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Shared ownership is the scheme that often gets applicants confused. The scheme allows buyers to purchase a share in a home. This means that you are sharing ownership of the property with a housing association. Here’s a helpful summary video on “What is Shared Ownership”:
With Shared Ownership in Birmingham, you will pay a mortgage on the share that you own, then pay rent on the remaining share. You will pay rent to the housing association linked with the property. The percentage of the property that you buy usually has to be between 25%-75% of the property, though this can be different. The lower your percentage share is, the lower your mortgage and your deposit is likely to be.
Further down the line, if you have the funds, you can opt to buy the remainder of the property if the housing association let you. People usually do this once they are settled in, have a higher income or even once their share has been paid off.
To access the shared ownership scheme, you have to meet its criteria:
For further Shared Ownership mortgage advice in Birmingham, make sure to get in touch with our experienced mortgage advisors in Birmingham, we will be more than happy to explain the scheme for you and see whether you qualify for it or not.
The Lifetime ISA scheme is not at the forefront of the mortgage market despite its great ability to help get first time buyers in Birmingham onto the property ladder. The scheme is often confused with an expired government-led scheme called the “Help to Buy ISA”, and that’s partially why we believe that not many people take advantage of the scheme.
The Lifetime ISA (Individual Savings Account) can be used for one of two things: to buy your first property or to save for later life. You must be between the age of 18-40 to access this scheme.
The Lifetime ISA lets you put money into an interest-free savings account, the maximum amount of money that you can add to ISA each year is £4,000. Every year, the government will top up your savings with a bonus of 25% of whatever you’ve saved.
Focusing on using the Lifetime ISA towards the purchase of your first home, you must know that in order to take money out of the ISA, you must have had the ISA account for at least 12 months. Here is the criteria for when you want to use your Lifetime ISA savings to buy your first property as First Time Buyer in Birmingham:
If you withdraw funds from your Lifetime ISA for an unauthorised reason, you will be charged a withdrawal charge. This charge is usually around 20-25% of the savings.
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UK Moneyman Limited is Registered in England, No. 6789312 | Registered Address: 10 Consort Court, Hull, HU9 1PU.
Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
We are entered on the Financial Services Register No. 627742 at www.register.fca.org.uk
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Birminghammoneyman.com & Birminghammoneyman are trading styles of UK Moneyman Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
UK Moneyman Limited is Registered in England, No. 6789312 | Registered Address: 10 Consort Court, Hull, HU9 1PU.
Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
We are entered on the Financial Services Register No. 627742 at www.register.fca.org.uk
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