“No deposit? Don’t worry! Thousands of products to chose from. Poor credit history? Never mind! Can’t prove your income?”….
This was the mortgage market prior to the Credit Crunch. Now, fast forward to the present…
A customer needs to be able to prove they can pay. A borrower needs to have a stake in the property they want to buy, they need a deposit! If they have borrowed money before, has this been paid back on time?
The financial services industry has gone back to basics. Does this mean things are simpler?
On a £100,000 mortgage, an interest rate that is 0.25% cheaper will save around £21 per month. This saving can easily be swallowed up in overpriced insurance premiums sold by the mortgage lender. If you don’t sign up to the lenders insurance, will that jeopardise your mortgage application?
When we go shopping, we usually know what to expect. We have been to the shop before; we can see how long the queue is.
Arranging a mortgage is an alien process for most people. Do you really know if the mortgage lender will process your application quickly? Will delays result in you losing the home you wanted?
Going from lender to lender can be demoralising. The amount a lender will lend based on your salary still varies massively.
For the self employed, will a lender look at the most recent years’ accounts or an average over three years? Did your turnover dip during the recession? How will this impact on the amount you can borrow? How long do you need to have been trading for?
Do you get dejected and give up and fall into a negative mindset, “mortgages are so difficult to get!”
A good adviser can guide you through the different lenders criteria as well as find you a mortgage most suited to your needs and demands.
Not all mortgage lenders are happy to post their mortgage products on comparison websites. Smaller building societies often prefer to channel their mortgages through a select number of professional advisor's rather than be inundated with thousands of applications from websites or customers they have no relationship with.
Lenders are looking for brokers to direct the right type of borrower to them. The broker will have already done the leg work, checking the client fits the criteria. The lender avoids wasting time in processing applications that will be rejected and the borrower avoids the stress of a failed mortgage application.
With the lending landscape having completely changed over the past 4 years, taking good advice has never been more important.
If you would like some advice about your mortgage options, talk to Oak Tree Mortgages. Oak Tree Mortgages are a whole of market mortgage broker. They are not affiliated to an insurance company and do not charge a broker fee.
Call us today on 0121 733 8833
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage
Oak Tree Mortgages are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
