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Getting Prepared for a Mortgage in Grimsby

Moving Home Mortgage Advice in Grimsby

After saving for years and months, you’ve finally reached the point where you are ready to make a deposit on a property. Whether you have had some help from “the bank of Mum and Dad” or have entirely relied on your own funds, it’s time to get the ball rolling!

This may be your first experience as a first time buyer in Grimsby or your second as a home movers in Grimsby, either way, we are here to give you some top tips on how to get prepare for a mortgage:

Know where you stand

As a Mortgage Broker in Grimsby, we always recommend in getting Mortgage Advice as early on in the process as possible. This way you will know how much you can borrow for a mortgage and how much it will all cost. There is nothing better than having a professional Mortgage Advisor in Grimsby by your side to help guide you through the whole process.

Obtaining an up to date credit report should also be at the top of your list, you want to know exactly where you stand in terms of your credit score. You don’t want anything holding you back from buying a home. Taking the above two steps will give you a good insight into how possible this is going to be and what your budget is.

Getting organised

Your Mortgage Broker in Grimsby, like us, will be able to obtain a fully credit-checked agreement in principle on your behalf. In order to get this, you will have to provide some proof of who you are to us, this includes your name, where you live and how much you earn. There is a lot of paperwork for you to get together so it’s a good idea to open a file for yourself and start collecting everything in advance.

Proof of ID

In terms of proving who you are you’ll need to produce some photo ID such as a Driving license or passport.

Proof of Address

In addition to the above, you’ll need to prove where you live. You’ll need to produce a utility bill or original bank statement dated within the last 3 months.

Last three month’s bank statements

The analysis of your spending habits is one of the most important determining factors in whether you’ll qualify for a mortgage or not. Lenders need to ensure that you’re going to be able to meet your mortgage payments every month. Your bank statements should evidence your income and monthly expenditures. Lenders will not be too happy to see gambling transactions on your account, neither will they like it if you go over an agreed overdraft limit or if your direct debits bounce regularly.

Proof of Deposit

You will have to provide evidence that you have the funds in place for the deposit, this is also for anti-money laundering purposes. Try not to move monies around your various accounts too much as it will make evidencing the audit trail much more difficult. All lenders will like to see that your savings account has been built up over time in order to afford the deposit. It shows you are taking this seriously and managing your money well.

Gifted deposits are becoming increasingly more popular, we are seeing that most of our applicant’s 5% deposit is made up of these. These gifted deposits are often gifted by family members or friends. These funds can’t just be handed over, they need to be evidenced; meaning the “donor” will need to sign a letter to confirm that this is a gift and not a loan.

Proof of income

In terms of affordability, the most important thing is to be able to prove your income. If you are employed this tends to be by way of your last 3 months’ payslips and most recent P60. Lenders can take into account regular overtime, commission, shift allowance and bonus. If you are self employed in Grimsby then you’ll need your accountant’s help. This will be to request your tax year overview.

A list of your Expected Outgoings

You should put some time aside to do some research and make a note of an estimate of your anticipated outgoings after you move house. You can work out an idea of how much the council tax and utility bills will be. In addition to that, you can work out your regular expenditures, such as food and drink. This will demonstrate how much disposable income you have available to pay your mortgage from.

When applying for a mortgage, to save things from getting complicated, you should get help off a specialist. Having a Mortgage Advisor in Grimsby by your side could prove extremely beneficial. You want to do your best to impress your lender and show them that you have done all you can within your power to get everything ready for your mortgage application. Grimsbymoneyman can help you with this and depending on your circumstances, we could have everything arranged within 24 hours of your free mortgage consultation. Get in touch today, we can’t wait to hear from you!

Different Types of Mortgages in Grimsby

Mortgages Types Explained in Grimsby

Whether you’re a first time buyer in Grimsby looking to step onto the property ladder or someone who’s moving, you’ll soon discover that there’s a diverse array of mortgage types available. Some are widely known and readily accessible, while others are more niche. To help you better understand the variety of mortgages at your disposal, we’ve compiled a list of the most common options offered by lenders. We’ve also created informative videos for each mortgage type to make them more comprehensible, as some can initially appear quite complex.

What is a fixed-rate mortgage?

A fixed-rate mortgage is quite straightforward. With this type of mortgage, your monthly payments remain constant for a predetermined period that you agree upon with your lender. Typically, people opt for fixed-rate mortgages with durations of 2-5 years, but you can choose longer terms, such as 10 or even 15 years.

It’s essential to consider that long-term fixed-rate mortgages lock you into the same payments for an extended period, and significant changes can occur over 10 or 15 years. The economy and interest rates are unpredictable over such extended periods. To potentially save money in the long run, opting for a 2-year fixed-term mortgage and renewing it with a different rate every 2 years could be a more flexible and advantageous approach.

What is a tracker mortgage?

A tracker mortgage is where the interest rate closely mirrors the Bank of England’s base rate. Unlike fixed-rate mortgages, the lender doesn’t set the interest rate but ties it directly to the Bank of England’s rate. Your interest rate is usually expressed as a percentage above the Bank of England base rate. For instance, if the base rate is 1% and your tracker mortgage is set at 1% above the base rate, your effective interest rate would be 2%.

During periods of high Bank of England interest rates, lenders may be less inclined to offer tracker mortgages since they can result in higher interest payments for borrowers. Fixed-rate mortgages tend to be more popular in such circumstances because they provide stability and protection from rising interest rates. If you choose a tracker mortgage when the Bank of England rates are high, it may lead to higher mortgage payments over time, which might not be suitable for borrowers seeking predictability and affordability.

What is a repayment mortgage?

When you have a repayment mortgage, you’re making monthly payments that cover both the loan’s interest and principal. If you consistently make these payments throughout the mortgage term, you’ll ensure that the loan balance is fully paid off, and the property becomes entirely yours.

Repayment mortgages are the most secure way to repay the borrowed capital. In the early years, the majority of your payments go toward interest, causing the balance to decrease slowly, especially if you’ve chosen a longer-term mortgage, such as 25, 30, or 35 years. However, this pattern changes in the last decade of your mortgage, where your payments start to pay off more of the principal than interest, resulting in a quicker reduction of the remaining balance.

What is an interest only mortgage?

While many buy to let mortgages in Grimsby are commonly structured as interest-only, obtaining an interest-only residential property mortgage has become considerably more challenging. Lenders are now less inclined to offer interest-only products. However, there are specific situations in which this option may still be available.

Such situations include downsizing in later years or having alternative investments earmarked to repay the principal. Lenders have become much stricter in their criteria for offering these products, and the loan-to-value ratios are significantly lower than in the past.

What is an offset mortgage?

An offset mortgage involves the setup of a linked savings account alongside your mortgage account by the lender. The concept is simple: if you have a mortgage balance of £100,000 and maintain £20,000 in your linked savings account, you only pay interest on the reduced amount, which is £80,000 in this scenario. This approach can be highly effective for managing your finances, particularly if you fall into a higher tax bracket.

Mortgage Broker in Grimsby

Whether you are a first time buyer in Grimsby searching for a perfect home or current home-owner wanting to move house, we can help! You may be looking to remortgage, interested in buy to let mortgages, need mortgage advice in Grimsby. Guiding you through these situations is what we do best and it is our service to you as our consumers.

How Much Can I Borrow For A Mortgage?

How much can I borrow?

One of the most common questions we get asked from customers like first time buyers in Grimsby is “How much can I borrow for a mortgage”. Let’s look at the background of affordability assessments and how they apply post-2014.

Historic rules when borrowing for a mortgage

Back in the day before credit scoring, mortgages were manually assessed by your local building society manager. Lenders moved towards more uniform income assessments to provide a consistent approach in the 1990s.

Maximum lending “caps” were brought in so that customers couldn’t borrow more than 3-4 times their annual income.

At the time of the credit crunch in the 2000s, these income multipliers kept becoming more and more generous. Of course, some lenders allowed their customers to “self-certify” their incomes with no background checks such as payslips.

This went horribly wrong and it was a struggle to get onto the property ladder from 2008-2010. This is because lenders battened down the hatches and created a cautious (over-corrected) lending environment.

Nowadays approach to how much I can borrow

In 2014, the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) was introduced once the market had finally recovered. This brought a new set of guidelines for lenders to adhere to. The old income multiplier method was scrapped and replaced with new, more sophisticated affordability calculators.

These new calculators gave a closer look into an applicant’s spending habits and net disposable income. This meant that the lender could have an in-depth look into your bank statements to ensure that unaffordable mortgages were not granted as they were before the Mortgage Market Review was introduced.

To this day, there is still a “lending cap” in place at about 4.75 times your annual income but your expenditures are also analysed. For example, lenders seem to penalise low-earners and even things like gambling can sometimes affect your chances of being lent the money. Some take pension contributions as a fixed outgoing so would often lend, say a public sector worker with a big pension deduction less than a private sector and so on.

Mortgage Advisor in Grimsby

If you are looking to maximise your borrowing capacity to obtain the home you want to buy then we would advise you to speak to a Mortgage Broker in Grimsby, like us. A Mortgage Advisor in Grimsby will research the property market on your behalf and try to find a lender that will lend you the right amount that you need.

Before you take out a mortgage you should sit down and have a chat with an expert Mortgage Advisor in Grimsby and work out your finances together to ensure that the repayments feel comfortable to you.

Learn More About Property Surveys

What is a property survey?

When customers like first time buyers in Grimsby have an offer accepted on a property your next job is to arrange a property survey.  This will establish the condition of the property and ensure that it is worth what you are going to pay for it. If something is found on the survey you are then in a position by law to approach the seller to negotiate a price for the works required.

Choosing the right survey

Here’s a short video from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) that explains the different types available to you.

Property Survey Types

There are 3 main types of property survey available to you:

  1. Mortgage Valuation
  2. Homebuyer’s Report
  3. Full Structural Survey

Mortgage Valuation

A basic valuation is the cheapest option and you will be required to have one of these before you receive your mortgage offer.  Please don’t confuse this with a full survey.  The mortgage valuation confirms to the lender that the property is worth at least what it is lending you.

Your mortgage lender may even offer you a free basic valuation as part of your deal.

A Mortgage Valuation will not highlight any repairs that are needed. However, it may point out any obvious defects and recommend that you investigate further.

Homebuyer’s Report

A Homebuyer’s report will cover structural safety and highlights problems, including damp, as well as anything that doesn’t meet current building regulations.  This kind of report will give you an independent report of your property by an expert.

To ensure you are not paying for two surveys it is advisable to ask the mortgage companies surveyor to carry out this report for you – it will usually take a couple of hours to complete.

Full Structural Survey

A Full Structural Survey is advisable for older properties and those of a non-standard construction.

Depending on the property size and type – a full structural survey can take as long as a day to complete.

A full structural survey provides a detailed report on the condition of the property and highlights issues that should be investigated further before going ahead with the purchase, providing you with peace of mind about the condition of your property.

You can find a surveyor to carry out a Homebuyer’s report or building survey through the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Grimsbymoneyman.com & Grimsbymoneyman 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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