Buying a house (and renting)

Ziggy says there's a 87.6% chance you're here to accept the £250.

Drumstick wrote:

Corazon de Leon wrote:We're looking at moving house shortly(renting), we've been in the current place for nearly three years and my wife strawberry floating despises both the flat itself and the surrounding area. All the paperwork is ready to go, so if we walk in and like what we see, we can proceed pretty quickly with getting everything sorted to move. It'd be nice to have a spare room to use as office space.

Good luck mate!

Corazon de Leon wrote:We've found a four bedroom flat on the fringes of a really nice area and right next to where my brother(and more importantly, currently, Loki) lives, and we're viewing it on Friday.

Harsh.

All joking aside, I really miss getting to hang out with people, especially my brother - with his shifts and my jobs I hardly get to see him so it'd be great to live close enough to hang out more regularly. As luck would have it the stars aligned and we're both off this weekend, so were planning on streaming a 24 hour charity gaming marathon(not a plug ) on Saturday. Alas, lockdown restrictions have stopped him and Loki from being able to come over so I'm running it solo, and I'm actually quite sad because I was really looking forward to it being a fun group event.

Mate there's almost nothing better than finally getting out of renting land so that you can finally build your own equity instead of someone else's.

In this country we have a thing called work. Maybe work harder and buy a better place.

Yes Ad

Flat was shite, but got another one lined up for Sunday afternoon(I'm not going to be capable of coherent thought by Sunday afternoon but I'll send the wife along instead). Slightly more expensive than I'd like, but still very workable for saving money while we live there.

What didn't you like about the one you viewed?

Tried getting a DIP yesterday and my own bank Nationwide would not give me the time of day. They would not lend me a penny no matter what the percentage. I went onto Hallifax's site and they gave me the full amount I asked for first time. That's alright but I wonder why NW's calculations refuse to give me anything at all? I have not checked my credit rating recently however I can't see it being that bad as I have never been in serious trouble with debt and never left anything unpaid for long. That might be the problem through, as I do not have any loans apart from university and no car hire or anything like that so there probably isn't much data to base my rating on.

Meep wrote:Tried getting a DIP yesterday and my own bank Nationwide would not give me the time of day. They would not lend me a penny no matter what the percentage. I went onto Hallifax's site and they gave me the full amount I asked for first time. That's alright but I wonder why NW's calculations refuse to give me anything at all? I have not checked my credit rating recently however I can't see it being that bad as I have never been in serious trouble with debt and never left anything unpaid for long. That might be the problem through, as I do not have any loans apart from university and no car hire or anything like that so there probably isn't much data to base my rating on.

Have you ever had a credit card?

In the process of buying our first home. Found out yesterday our mortgage application has been rejected. Annoying as we found out as the vendor told us the survey had been cancelled and asked if we knew why. We called the survey company who confirmed it was cancelled and that the lender had cancelled it.

We contacted our broker to see if they knew why/had an update. Obviously our case manager was on holiday and no one else that knew our case got back to us. We managed to get a number for the lender (Natwest) and called them, they then told us that it has been declined but no reason was given.

Now not sure where we are in the process. We are speaking to our broker on Monday to find out more. Hopefully we can get a reason why and see what other mortgages we can apply for.

Main concern is that it has already taken a while to get to this stage and we are now basically restarting the process. Just hope once we know more and have to tell the vendors they will stick with us instead putting their house back on the market.

Friday afternoon was not the ideal time to get all this information. Just hoping we can make some progress and get some answers on Monday.

BTB wrote:In the process of buying our first home. Found out yesterday our mortgage application has been rejected. Annoying as we found out as the vendor told us the survey had been cancelled and asked if we knew why. We called the survey company who confirmed it was cancelled and that the lender had cancelled it.

We contacted our broker to see if they knew why/had an update. Obviously our case manager was on holiday and no one else that knew our case got back to us. We managed to get a number for the lender (Natwest) and called them, they then told us that it has been declined but no reason was given.

Now not sure where we are in the process. We are speaking to our broker on Monday to find out more. Hopefully we can get a reason why and see what other mortgages we can apply for.

Main concern is that it has already taken a while to get to this stage and we are now basically restarting the process. Just hope once we know more and have to tell the vendors they will stick with us instead putting their house back on the market.

Friday afternoon was not the ideal time to get all this information. Just hoping we can make some progress and get some answers on Monday.

It would be interesting to hear the reason why, make sure your broker gets an explanation from the lender and they can always appeal it if they feel its not justified.

Out of interest do you have an unusual situation? Adverse, furlough from work, s/e business struggling

@BTB sounds like a failure of the brokers, unless there is some extra information they were missing I'm surprised they would get to that stage without being confident the mortgage would be accepted (presumably you already had a decision in principle from the lender?). Your case manager being on holiday without anyone to cover on the one crucial week of their job sounds pretty iffy.

Meep wrote:Tried getting a DIP yesterday and my own bank Nationwide would not give me the time of day. They would not lend me a penny no matter what the percentage. I went onto Hallifax's site and they gave me the full amount I asked for first time. That's alright but I wonder why NW's calculations refuse to give me anything at all? I have not checked my credit rating recently however I can't see it being that bad as I have never been in serious trouble with debt and never left anything unpaid for long. That might be the problem through, as I do not have any loans apart from university and no car hire or anything like that so there probably isn't much data to base my rating on.

This almost certainly is the problem. The whole system is a bit of a mess and you really have to just game it. I got a credit card specifically to build up my credit rating ahead of wanting to buy a house, the trick is to just set up a direct debit from your current account (or whatever) to pay it off in full every month, then make sure you buy things with it every month like your weekly shopping. It seems pointless but it builds up a record of you paying off credit and your score will go up. Signing up to clearscore or similar will give you a good way of tracking your credit score and you can see the improvements, unfortunately you might just have to accept the privacy violations it brings. Bear in mind though that on first getting a credit card your score will go down and it will only move back to where it was (and then higher) after a few months of using it and paying it off in full.

Make sure when you're getting DIPs that they are doing a soft credit check, not a hard one. Hard checks leave a public record and too many are bad thing to have (I think companies assume it means you have been denied by others). It's another reason for spacing out things like getting credit cards before trying to buy a house so the credit checks aren't all bunched up.

Also make sure your address is up to date with anything official. Being registered to vote is an easy and good credit boost for example.

I would recommend going through a mortgage broker though, they have access to intermediary only deals and you won't have to bother with getting DIPs yourself.

poshrule_uk wrote:

BTB wrote:In the process of buying our first home. Found out yesterday our mortgage application has been rejected. Annoying as we found out as the vendor told us the survey had been cancelled and asked if we knew why. We called the survey company who confirmed it was cancelled and that the lender had cancelled it.

We contacted our broker to see if they knew why/had an update. Obviously our case manager was on holiday and no one else that knew our case got back to us. We managed to get a number for the lender (Natwest) and called them, they then told us that it has been declined but no reason was given.

Now not sure where we are in the process. We are speaking to our broker on Monday to find out more. Hopefully we can get a reason why and see what other mortgages we can apply for.

Main concern is that it has already taken a while to get to this stage and we are now basically restarting the process. Just hope once we know more and have to tell the vendors they will stick with us instead putting their house back on the market.

Friday afternoon was not the ideal time to get all this information. Just hoping we can make some progress and get some answers on Monday.

It would be interesting to hear the reason why, make sure your broker gets an explanation from the lender and they can always appeal it if they feel its not justified.

Out of interest do you have an unusual situation? Adverse, furlough from work, s/e business struggling

My partner is self employed which I think will be the reasoning. Annoying though as the broker had all our info and didn't seem to think the self employment would be an issue. Also annoying as the rates now are higher than the one we were offered. Hey ho, just hope we can get a mortgage approved now and this doesn't all fall through.

BTB wrote:

poshrule_uk wrote:

BTB wrote:In the process of buying our first home. Found out yesterday our mortgage application has been rejected. Annoying as we found out as the vendor told us the survey had been cancelled and asked if we knew why. We called the survey company who confirmed it was cancelled and that the lender had cancelled it.

We contacted our broker to see if they knew why/had an update. Obviously our case manager was on holiday and no one else that knew our case got back to us. We managed to get a number for the lender (Natwest) and called them, they then told us that it has been declined but no reason was given.

Now not sure where we are in the process. We are speaking to our broker on Monday to find out more. Hopefully we can get a reason why and see what other mortgages we can apply for.

Main concern is that it has already taken a while to get to this stage and we are now basically restarting the process. Just hope once we know more and have to tell the vendors they will stick with us instead putting their house back on the market.

Friday afternoon was not the ideal time to get all this information. Just hoping we can make some progress and get some answers on Monday.

It would be interesting to hear the reason why, make sure your broker gets an explanation from the lender and they can always appeal it if they feel its not justified.

Out of interest do you have an unusual situation? Adverse, furlough from work, s/e business struggling

My partner is self employed which I think will be the reasoning. Annoying though as the broker had all our info and didn't seem to think the self employment would be an issue. Also annoying as the rates now are higher than the one we were offered. Hey ho, just hope we can get a mortgage approved now and this doesn't all fall through.

This will be the reason.

NatWest decline all self employed cases currently.

This is regardless of whether the client can evidence that their trading levels haven't been affected by lockdown etc.

Halifax are the least stressful lender to use for self employed people but as we're now in October you will need 19/20 tax return completed if not already done. They're also great if you have next to no credit history either.

Grumpy David wrote:

BTB wrote:

poshrule_uk wrote:

BTB wrote:In the process of buying our first home. Found out yesterday our mortgage application has been rejected. Annoying as we found out as the vendor told us the survey had been cancelled and asked if we knew why. We called the survey company who confirmed it was cancelled and that the lender had cancelled it.

We contacted our broker to see if they knew why/had an update. Obviously our case manager was on holiday and no one else that knew our case got back to us. We managed to get a number for the lender (Natwest) and called them, they then told us that it has been declined but no reason was given.

Now not sure where we are in the process. We are speaking to our broker on Monday to find out more. Hopefully we can get a reason why and see what other mortgages we can apply for.

Main concern is that it has already taken a while to get to this stage and we are now basically restarting the process. Just hope once we know more and have to tell the vendors they will stick with us instead putting their house back on the market.

Friday afternoon was not the ideal time to get all this information. Just hoping we can make some progress and get some answers on Monday.

It would be interesting to hear the reason why, make sure your broker gets an explanation from the lender and they can always appeal it if they feel its not justified.

Out of interest do you have an unusual situation? Adverse, furlough from work, s/e business struggling

My partner is self employed which I think will be the reasoning. Annoying though as the broker had all our info and didn't seem to think the self employment would be an issue. Also annoying as the rates now are higher than the one we were offered. Hey ho, just hope we can get a mortgage approved now and this doesn't all fall through.

This will be the reason.

NatWest decline all self employed cases currently.

This is regardless of whether the client can evidence that their trading levels haven't been affected by lockdown etc.

Halifax are the least stressful lender to use for self employed people but as we're now in October you will need 19/20 tax return completed if not already done. They're also great if you have next to no credit history either.

Ah right. That explains it then. Concerning no one at L&C mentioned that yesterday. Thanks for the info and for the tip on Halifax as well!

BTB wrote:

Grumpy David wrote:

BTB wrote:

poshrule_uk wrote:

BTB wrote:In the process of buying our first home. Found out yesterday our mortgage application has been rejected. Annoying as we found out as the vendor told us the survey had been cancelled and asked if we knew why. We called the survey company who confirmed it was cancelled and that the lender had cancelled it.

We contacted our broker to see if they knew why/had an update. Obviously our case manager was on holiday and no one else that knew our case got back to us. We managed to get a number for the lender (Natwest) and called them, they then told us that it has been declined but no reason was given.

Now not sure where we are in the process. We are speaking to our broker on Monday to find out more. Hopefully we can get a reason why and see what other mortgages we can apply for.

Main concern is that it has already taken a while to get to this stage and we are now basically restarting the process. Just hope once we know more and have to tell the vendors they will stick with us instead putting their house back on the market.

Friday afternoon was not the ideal time to get all this information. Just hoping we can make some progress and get some answers on Monday.

It would be interesting to hear the reason why, make sure your broker gets an explanation from the lender and they can always appeal it if they feel its not justified.

Out of interest do you have an unusual situation? Adverse, furlough from work, s/e business struggling

My partner is self employed which I think will be the reasoning. Annoying though as the broker had all our info and didn't seem to think the self employment would be an issue. Also annoying as the rates now are higher than the one we were offered. Hey ho, just hope we can get a mortgage approved now and this doesn't all fall through.

This will be the reason.

NatWest decline all self employed cases currently.

This is regardless of whether the client can evidence that their trading levels haven't been affected by lockdown etc.

Halifax are the least stressful lender to use for self employed people but as we're now in October you will need 19/20 tax return completed if not already done. They're also great if you have next to no credit history either.

Ah right. That explains it then. Concerning no one at L&C mentioned that yesterday. Thanks for the info and for the tip on Halifax as well!

Im a mortgage underwriter and the lenders have a really difficult job at present as you need to make sure the business is going to be sustainable.

Let's say you get 3 months business statements which show £0 turnover or very little what an underwriter will do is annualise the amount to see if turnover is in line to previous years, if you see a significant reduction then from a lending perspective its hard to justify using the salary/dividend that may not pay an income that was earned in previous years when the levels look to be decreasing.

There are things you can do to try and mitigate the risk, get contracts for future work etc which support things getting back to pre March levels

Also if i was you i would find a local broker, l & c are great for straight forward clients but anything that may be more hard to get through you may fall through the gaps as there business is set up fot quantity not quality

Cheers for the help Poshrule!

Currently waiting on approval for a mortgage via Halifax who have so far been accepting of my temporary contract (it’s been a year an a half, made permanent after 3 and it’s healthcare based so a fair safe choice with a second job to back it up)

Was told we’d know after 2-3 weeks but it’s been 6 now and it’s agony. The move in date will be pushed so far back I’ll be lucky to get my furniture delivered before Christmas. Luckily my sellers seem happy enough despite the time ticking on.

Managed to speak to our broker yesterday and as NatWest have said their decision is final we are going to start again this time with Halifax. Making a couple of changes to our original info, increased deposit slightly and changed my partners profession from musician to teacher (as her main work is teaching singing at a school), so hopefully that gives the lender more confidence.

Relieved that we know what is happening again now, but still very stressful. Updating the vendors today (with some delicate wording...) so hoping they aren't too frustrated. We complained to our broker about communication so will hopefully be getting more regular updates.

@Bunni, we've been told 27 working days to hear back, but that was their average so I'm assuming at the moment it is higher.

BTB wrote:Managed to speak to our broker yesterday and as NatWest have said their decision is final we are going to start again this time with Halifax. Making a couple of changes to our original info, increased deposit slightly and changed my partners profession from musician to teacher (as her main work is teaching singing at a school), so hopefully that gives the lender more confidence.

Relieved that we know what is happening again now, but still very stressful. Updating the vendors today (with some delicate wording...) so hoping they aren't too frustrated. We complained to our broker about communication so will hopefully be getting more regular updates.

@Bunni, we've been told 27 working days to hear back, but that was their average so I'm assuming at the moment it is higher.

Lenders are so busy at the moment and everything is taking longer to work as more checks are having to be done due to the state of the economy

Landlord is selling the place we're renting in Hackney coz of the stamp duty thing at the moment. Bit annoying as we were wanting to stay here for another year or so so we cna then move to America when my greencard comes in at some point next year.

She said she'll wait til she accepts an offer then trigger the 2 month break clause for the contract. We wanted a bit more certainty around dates so we triggered the break clause our end, meaning we'll move out early December.

Found a nice place in a nice area and it'll be nice to have a place to just me and my partner (being married and having a flatmate feels a bit weird).

Anyway finally jumped through all the reference hoops only for the estate agent to be like "Yeah the reference has failed coz your current landlord has put the tenancy end date as ages away" (this is the end date had we not triggered the break clause).

So now got to go back and ask them to re do it with th actual enddm date if December. I was soooo close to not having to stress any more.