What is a Property Survey?

Property Survey Mortgage Advice in Leeds

So, you have had your offer accepted on a property but, is the house actually worth what you said you would pay for it?

If you are wanting to know what the actual value is and the property’s overall condition, a property survey can help with this.

This survey will mention any significant repairs or alterations needed, like repairing the roof.

Different types of property survey

There are a plethora of survey options available, however, the most common types include mortgage valuations, homebuyer’s report and a full structural survey. You might find the survey is free of charge, however, this depends on the lender. For more information on the different types of surveys, check out the content below.

The surveys differ depending on the outcomes on the report. For example, you may receive a report that is more detailed and thorough, whereas you might get one that only mentions certain aspects. The more in-depth a survey is, the more it will cost.

Navigating your way through the process can be daunting and you might want to choose the cheaper option. As much as this will save you money at the time, it may not be worth it in the future and become far more expensive.

In the event that you find something on your survey about your property that you weren’t notified about, by law, you can approach the seller and negotiate a fairer price.

Mortgage Valuation

The most basic property survey is Mortgage Valuations. You usually have this carried out on when you are working out how much a property is worth. This is helpful to the lender as they need to be sure that the property price matches the amount you are set to borrow from them.

For instance, if you put an offer above the property’s actual value, the seller will likely accept your offer but, your lender won’t. Unless you have the funds to make up the difference, the lender will pull out of the deal which is known as down valuation.

The one drawback with this survey is that it doesn’t highlight any apparent repairs and damages. On the other hand, it can let you know of any obvious structural defects that will require a further look at. If you are looking for a more in-depth property investigation, you will need to pay extra to upgrade your survey. This could be worth it in the long run.

Homebuyer’s Report

A Homebuyers Report looks at safety. It checks out how safe the property is and if it is suitable to live in. Surveyors will want to know of any mould problems, damp issues or something that does not pass the current building laws.

The report will be carried out by a property expert. They will examine the property from to bottom to see if it’s safe for you to move into.

Full Structural Survey

You might have made an offer on an older building. As a Mortgage Broker in Leeds, we would strongly advise that you undergo a Full Structural Survey.

With the whole property being surveyed, this does make this survey type the most expensive one. This property survey will provide a lot more detail compared to the three primary surveys with showing what condition the property is in and the changes that will need to made if the property price goes through.

A Full Structural Survey can take as long as a whole day, depending on the property size.

It can take a surveyor as long as a whole day to carry out a Full Structural Survey, however, this does depend on the property size.

Do I need to get a survey on a new build?

When it comes to new build properties, surveys work a bit differently. There is a property survey designed for new builds called a Snagging Survey. This will inform you of any minor and significant issues. The issues could range from a crack in the ceiling to a missing hinge on the door.

The new build might be built and ready for you to move into which, in this case, means you would want to look at getting a snagging survey carried out prior to moving in. By doing this, you are able to negotiate the price if there is anything wrong with the property.

Mortgage Advice in Leeds

If you are wondering which survey is the best one for you, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with our team. We have extensive experience helping many First Time Buyers in Leeds and people looking to Move Home in Leeds find the most appropriate property surveys.

You can receive the services of a surveyor to carry out a Homebuyers report or building survey through the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Agreement in Principle: All About Hard & Soft Credit Searches in Leeds

Credit Score Mortgage Advice in Leeds

Over the years as a Mortgage Broker in Leeds, we have found an increase in people paying a lot more attention to their credit rating. As a result of this, we have found that many people who get in touch with our team have already researched online to find a copy of their credit report.

There are many different credit reference agencies to choose from, but the two most popular companies you may know are Experian and Equifax.

Our team highly recommend that new customers who contact us look to use Check My File. By doing this, you’ll find a report that offers customers a collation of information from various sources (the aforementioned two included) in an easy understandable colour-coded report.

You sign up for a 30-day free trial with Check My File and after the 30 days, you will be charged £14.99 a month. This can be cancelled at any time before the end of those 30 days.

When dealing with customers, our Mortgage Advisors in Leeds are often asked if they will be doing a credit search on them. This is usually a customer who knows that too many searches can negatively impact their credit score.

Our mortgage advisors will always get permission for the customer to run a credit check, whereas the lender will run their own checks. There are two types of credit searches, one is hard searches and the other is soft searches. Below we will explain the difference between the two as well as how they can help.

What is a hard credit search for a mortgage?

A hard credit search is a type of credit check that provides an in-depth look at your credit report. All financial institutions that carry out one of these will need to seek your permission before undertaking this check.

One of the benefits of a ‘hard’ search would be how detailed it goes. Having this carried out and passing it can increase the chance of you being successful with a mortgage, however, this is not always guaranteed).

After passing this, the only thing that could go wrong with your mortgage process is if you cannot provide the required documentation to back up the information that you have presented to the lender, or it turns out you have provided incorrect information altogether.

Another advantage to having a hard credit search carried out will leave a ‘footprint’ on your credit file meaning that anyone looking at your report can see that this search has already been done on your file.

Having this mark on your file is not a bad thing at all, however, if your credit file shows that there have been multiple searches carried out in a short period of time. By having these displayed, it could give the impression to the mortgage lender that you are applying for lots of credit at the same time which wouldn’t work in your favour.

An important point you need to know about the ‘footprint’ is that it will not leave a note to confirm whether or not your application was successful. Therefore, having several searches highlighted on your report can result in the lenders’ systems assuming wrongly that you are being declined regularly. Think about it; why would you apply for credit with a second lender, unless you’d been declined by the first?

If you have the occasional hard footprint on your record it’s not going to be a massive issue which is why you don’t need to worry about it too much. It’s best to be careful not to have too many of these taken out.

What is a soft credit search?

The other type is a soft credit search. Opposite to a hard credit search, this would be a more straightforward approach by looking at your financial situation. These are normally done through price comparison websites, so you can find out what options may be on offer for you.

Another way it can be used is to verify your identity. Some mortgage lenders will carry out soft searches of their own. It can be common to find these days that even more lenders are changing to this type of credit search.

Even though the one drawback of a soft search is that you will get less information out of it in comparison to a hard search, if you managed to obtain an Agreement in Principle from a lender, this still can be a positive indicator that your application will be accepted.

The one factor that makes soft searches appealing to customers is that you are able to see soft searches that others have carried out on you (many are often surprised by how many have been carried out on them), but these searches will not be visible to other financial institutions like a bank or lender.

Because of this, you will be able to apply for an Agreement in Principle ahead of a mortgage in Leeds, without causing any damage to your credit score, whether you are successful or not.

In the case where you are a First Time Buyer in Leeds looking at making any offers on a property, our expert Mortgage Advisors in Leeds would highly recommend you get a mortgage Agreement in Principle before getting in touch with an estate agent.

It can be ideal to give yourself the best possible chance of securing your dream property at the lowest possible price. Therefore if you present yourselves as having your finances organised, it’s likely you will give yourself the upper hand in your mortgage situation.

Having an Agreement in Principle to hand can also help stop an estate agent from trying to cross-sell any of their own mortgage products to you.

What is a Property Chain and How Can You Avoid Them?

Moving Home Mortgage Advice in Leeds

Property chains can be a common hurdle for homebuyers going through the process. The moving home journey can be interrupted if you are in a property chain as some factors can stall the process.

Having said that, you may encounter a range of problems and hurdles when obtaining a mortgage. It could be that your application is stuck in the pipeline or there might be an issue with your offer not being accepted, it’s possible that you can encounter issues when going through the journey of Moving Home in Leeds.

What is a property chain?

A property chain involves a group of sellers that are connected so will be relying on each other for each purchase to go through. In the case where you are a First Time Buyer in Leeds, you will always be at the beginning of the chain, unlike a seller who would be placed at the end.

For example, a person is ready to move into a property they’re buying. From this, the buyer needs to wait for the seller to move out first. Then if that seller is in the same situation, they will also be waiting for them to move out to move in.

How long will the process take in a property chain?

This all comes down to the seller’s situation which you will be unaware of.

Sometimes, you may not even know that you are in a property chain, and the full process could run smoothly. This is the ideal situation for everyone because it makes the moving home process go smoothly and straightforward.

On the flip side, if things don’t run as well, this can involve waiting. This is why our team recommend you start your process with at least six months of preparation. Within this time, you can look for that perfect home and provide some time if you get stuck in a property chain.

What happens if my property chain breaks?

The full chain could suffer if you are linked with a property chain and one purchase does not go through. Therefore, if this chain breaks, you will either have to wait or look for another property.

In the case where the property chain breaks at your purchase, there can be a way to stop it from damaging the overall chain if you act fast.

An option for sellers could be to contact the people planning to buy your property by speaking to your estate agent. By doing this, you can inform them of the situation sooner rather than later.

It’s best to prepare for a break in the property chain regardless if you are on a seller’s level or your level.

You could buy a property that isn’t in a chain or a small chain, sell your property, rent temporarily, buy a new-build property etc.

How can a property chain break?

There could be a number of reasons why a property chain can break. This could happen at your’s, your seller’s or even your buyer’s level:

• The lender declined the buyer’s mortgage application
• A seller decides that they don’t want to sell their property
• A buyer/seller loses their job or becomes ill
• The property survey that was carried out on the property highlighted some significant damages and structural issues.

Above is just a small number of examples, there are many more reasons. As mentioned, the length of the property chain you are in will depend on how these situations impact your ability to move home.

How can I avoid a property chain?

Avoiding a property chain can be difficult, especially if you are buying at a busy time of year or when the market is hot.

Furthermore, you could research and speak to your estate agent to get an idea of your position in the midst of the application stage. It is best that you organise your finances as early in the process as possible. Being prepared for things that could go wrong, the better.

In the case where you avoid a property chain (also known as ‘chain-free), the moving process will more likely be straightforward. This is obviously factoring in that you provide evidence that you can afford a mortgage and deposit the property.

Are you thinking of moving home to Leeds?

Our moving home Mortgage Advisors in Leeds can help you through the process if you are looking to buy and sell your property.

If you are looking for help with the moving home process, book yourself in for a free mortgage appointment.

The Credit Crunch

In The Beginning of The Mortgage Market

In order to understand what occurred in the 2007/08 “Credit Crunch”, we need to see what events lead up to it. As a First Time Buyer in Leeds in the 1970s and ’80s, you were likely to approach a building society to take out a mortgage.

It can be hard to imagine, but banks have not always been involved with mortgages! To determine whether or not you qualified for a mortgage, you first need to arrange an appointment with the building society manager. The process will include customers being encouraged to take out savings accounts with the building society, and then the building society would use that money to lend to other customers. Interest rates would also be higher to borrowers than the rate they were paying to savers so that they could make a profit.

When the banks began getting involved in mortgage lending, they swift away from the older model. Instead, they would “buy” the money from markets, to accelerate the rate at which they could lend out to customers.

Mortgages in The 2000s

Towards the mid-2000s, there were a lot of new specialist lenders working in the market. Many of them originating from North America.

The method they would do things would be through selling their book of mortgage customers, allowing them to raise new money and lend again, this is known as Securitisation. These investors usually come from larger financial institutions like pensions funds and High Street Banks.

From this, the market started to make a lot of money, and these new lenders use this opportunity to relax their lending criteria. This means that a poor credit history or a self-certified mortgage wouldn’t have been a problem, so they thought.

Problems Arise For The Mortgage Market

As you can imagine these mortgages began to default. This affected major banks with them losing confidence in each other, because of the uncertainty of how exposed they were in the fast unraveling sub-prime mortgage market.

The banks’ share prices quickly dropped. A number of banks were bailed out by the UK Government (or more accurately, the taxpayer) to prevent them from going under, while many failed to carry on.

In the midst of ‘The Great Recession”, almost 80 different banks, building societies, and lenders spanning across 20 different countries filed for bankruptcy or were acquired. Because of this, lending dried up fast.

Everyone lost confidence in the UK economy as the property prices significantly dropped. The market took nearly a decade to fully recover.

Economy Recovering

This event is something that no one wants to repeat, in particular, the UK Government. Investigations were carried out to look into the cause of the “Credit Crunch”. These were accumulated and led to the creation of the “Mortgage Market Review of 2014”.

Since then, self-cert mortgages have now got banned, however, the biggest change that came was the responsibility of ensuring the mortgages were affordable, now is responsible to the lender.

They are in charge of looking in detail at customers’ incomes and outgoings with more precise lending criteria. Lenders delve deep into credit commitments, childcare, and other outgoings. This can ensure the lender that customers could consistently afford their mortgage repayments.

Obviously, this has made getting a mortgage more challenging than before. It’s required for the customer to reorganise their paperwork to prove their finances get taken seriously. Running up to the Credit Crunch, many mistakes for made. The important thing is that the industry has learned a lesson and hopefully minimised the chance of this ever happening again.

Open & Honest Mortgage Advice in Leeds

Mortgage Advice in Leeds for Newly Qualified Teachers

Newly Qualified Teacher Mortgage Advice in Leeds

If you have reached your goal of completing all the required exams to become a Newly Qualified Teacher, you are probably looking at the next step. With all your new skills and qualification, you will be looking at finding yourself a teaching position.

You may find a teaching position that is based in an area that is too far to commute which could mean you looking at option available for you with Moving House in Leeds.

With this in mind, you may be looking at finding yourself a place to live. Due to keeping the balance between homeownership and settling into your new role, you may find this an exciting yet stressful time.

Throughout our time as a Mortgage Broker in Leeds, this situation has happened to numerous home buyers and homeowners who were wanting the process to be stress free and smooth while they focus on their new career.

Newly Qualified Teacher Mortgages

As a Newly Qualified Teacher, it can be a challenge to look for a mortgage lender who will be happy to offer a mortgage to an individual who is a newly qualified teacher.

This could be for a number of reasons, one being a lack of or no work history to show or because they only have a temporary contract.

Despite these being an issue, there are numerous options for Newly Qualified Teachers who are looking to get a mortgage. Here at Leedsmoneyman, our knowledgeable team of Mortgage Advisors have helped a lot of NQTs on their journey of obtaining a mortgage with a Mortgage Broker in Leeds by their side.

On your mortgage journey as a Newly Qualified Teacher, it can be common to find that there are a small number of lenders who have deals suited to public sector workers like teachers.

In order for everything to run as smoothly as it can, it’s important that you choose the best mortgage lender for your circumstance. This part of the process can be the most difficult out of the full mortgage journey.

This is where a mortgage advice team in Leeds can help by searching through thousands of mortgage deals for you in order to get the most suitable deal for your circumstances.

What mortgages for NQTs may be available?

Even though mortgages can be complex for New Qualified Teachers, there are still options out there available to you on the mortgage market.

Below are the types of mortgages that we find regularly come up when we are dealing with cases involving Newly Qualified Teachers.

• Help-to-Buy Schemes – A government backed scheme that is designed to help first time buyers who are in the market looking to purchase a new build home.
  
• Fixed-Rate Mortgages – A mortgage types that we find is used quite a lot and keeps the interest the same throughout the term therefore keeping the monthly payments the same.
  
• Shared Ownership Mortgages – Also referred to as ‘part buy part rent’, that gives first time buyers a chance to buy a share of the property. The other part of the share is owned by a third party like a housing association. This type could make your monthly outgoings easier to manage.
  
• Tracker Mortagage: A type of variable rate mortgage, which the interest rates follow the Bank of England’s base rate. This can cause a fluctation into your montly mortgage payments.

When it comes to NQT mortgages, there are more other factors lenders might consider. In some cases, depending on the lender, they might not ask you to evidence previous employment and may let you get up to a 95% LTV (loan to value).

Some mortgage lenders may treat a 12-month first contract the same as a permanent job role, instead of seeing it as a temporary contract.

A small majority of mortgage lenders around the country could get you on your mortgage prior to beginning your job. This does mean you have to show them a signed contract and a confirmation of your start date.

This can be helpful for you, especially if you are preparing to start making your first mortgage payments at the same time as your first month’s wages from your new job is due, around the time your mortgage has completed.

How a Mortgage Advisor in Leeds may Help

At Leedsmoneyman, we have a team of knowledgeable mortgage advice experts in Leeds all with a vast amount of knowledge and experience in helping customers in the world of mortgages and the property markets, helping numerous first time home buyers with their mortgage needs.

Having a dedicated Mortgage Broker in Leeds by your side in the mortgage process can have many benefits. Our goal is to take the stress away and provide a tailored service through searching thousands of mortgage deals to find the one that is fitting for your situation. We also can recommend possible conveyancing solicitors for you to use and more.

If you are wondering what options are out there for you as a first time home buyer, book online for a free mortgage appointment with one of our expert mortgage advisors in Leeds. In this appointment, your dedicated advisor will ask you about your situation and help you with the next part of your journey.

Getting Prepared For a Mortgage Application in Leeds

First-Time Buyer Mortgage Advice in Leeds

After saving for months/years, you are now at a point where you can put all your hard-earned savings down for a deposit on a flat/house. Now it’s time to get mortgage ready!

You might be a First Time Buyer in Leeds stepping into the mortgage world for the first time or you have experience in the home buying journey as a homeowner and are looking at moving home in Leeds. Either way, our tailored service would prove beneficial. Below is some helpful information that will help you have a grasp on what the mortgage process entails and provide you with information on what you need in order to be mortgage ready for your application.

Get mortgage ready in Leeds

Know where you stand

Firstly, getting Mortgage Advice in Leeds should be at the top of the list. Having an experienced Mortgage Advisor in Leeds by your side guiding you through the process, advising the best route for you in terms of your personal and financial circumstances can be very beneficial.

If you are looking at the amount you may be able to borrow for a mortgage and the amount it will cost, seeking Mortgage Advice in Leeds can help indicate this. Before your Mortgage Advisor in Leeds can begin the process of looking into competitive mortgage deals for you, affordability and a borrowing capacity assessment will need to be carried.

A Mortgage Broker in Leeds, like ourselves, can provide a helping hand throughout the process as well as support you in getting the basics prepared for your mortgage application. In order for your Mortgage Advisor in Leeds to understand your financial position from the very beginning, they will request an up-to-date credit report.

Getting organised for your mortgage

At the start of your mortgage journey, you will need to obtain an agreement in principle. This should be your first priority because without it you won’t be able to make an offer on a property.

Here at Leedsmoneyman, we work hard to provide you with a fully credit-checked agreement in principle sorted for you in 24 hours to take some weight off your shoulders. We would need you to prove who are you are by providing the following:

• Name,
• Where you live,
• How much you earn.

It’s good to be organised as there is a lot of paperwork you will need to collate. Therefore, it’s best to create a file for yourself and start collecting this in advance.

Proof of ID

In order to start the mortgage process, you will need to provide some form of identification. This needs to be a photographic ID like a Driver’s License or a Passport.

Proof of address

As well as the aspects mentioned above, you’ll need concrete evidence that you live at the address that you say you do. Evidence you’ll need could be a utility bill or original bank statement dated within the last three months.

Last three month’s bank statements

One of the most determining factors that can massively contribute towards whether you’ll qualify for a mortgage or not is your spending habits. Your bank statements are something your lenders like to take a look at because they can get an idea of what goes into your account and what goes out. This provides an insight into if you’ll be able to manage your monthly mortgage payments as well as your other expenditures.

One of the main things that lenders look for on your bank statements is gambling transactions. This factor can cause risk further down the line which is why lenders will look at if you do frequently gamble and will be cautious towards this. If you are constantly gambling, lenders won’t risk the chance. Another thing lenders will see as a drawback is if you are regularly going over your overdraft limit or if your direct debits bounce consistently.

Proof of the deposit for your mortgage

For anti-money laundering purposes, you will need evidence that you have the funds in place for the deposit. It’s best that you try not to move the monies around your various accounts too much because it will make evidencing the audit trail more challenging. Your savings building up is something lenders like to see, therefore, you’ll need to account for any extensive credits in your accounts.

There has been a recent increase in the popularity of gifted deposits, we have seen that they contribute towards many people’s 5%. Usually, gifted deposits are generally from a family member or friend of the applicant. In order for these funds to be evidenced properly, the “donor” of the funds will need to sign a letter confirming and evidencing that this is a gift and not a loan.

Proof of income

Proving your income is one of the most important things when it comes to affordability. Employed applicants usually will need to evidence this through the last three months’ payslips and most recent P60. Regular overtime, commission, shift allowance and bonuses is another thing lenders can factor in. Whereas self employed will need help from their accountant by requesting your tax year overview.

A list of your expected outgoings

Looking into an estimated amount of your anticipated outgoings after you move house can always be helpful. Furthermore, you can work out an estimation of how much the council tax and utility bills will be. On top of this, you can work out regular expenditures like food and drink. Taking all these into account will show how much disposable income you have available to your mortgage.

When applying for a mortgage, it can be a challenge if you are doing everything on your own as things can become complicated. With a Mortgage Advisor in Leeds being there every step of the way can be very helpful. Impressing your lender by showing them you have done all you can within your power to get prepared for your mortgage application can be challenging. We can assist you with this by providing the best impress of you to your lender and we would have everything prepared for you within 24 hours of free mortgage consultation depending on your circumstance.

Can I Port My Mortgage to a New Property in Leeds?

Porting a Mortgage in Leeds

Porting a mortgage takes place when you are looking to move home at the time of your fixed-rate deal. It’s actually possible as a homeowner to transfer your mortgage product and you will potentially have the option to port your mortgage if necessary.

Instead of paying the early repayment charge (ERC), the lender might give you the option to pick up the remaining amount on your current mortgage and move into the property. This option is not available to all applicants moving home as it depends on where you’re looking to move and if the lender will let you proceed with porting the mortgage.

Taking out a Second Charge mortgage can be an option if the property is valued more than what you will be paying back. If you are wanting more information about this, check out our MoneymanTV YouTube channel with our video: What is a Second Charge Mortgage?

Are all Mortgages Portable?

You may find that not all mortgages are portable, especially if you are with a specialist lender as the option to port may not available to you. To find out if you can port your mortgage or not, contact your lender who can confirm this for you.

Should I port my Mortgage?

Despite porting be an option for some customers, many decide not to. The reason for this might be that your lender will not lend you extra money so you can move. If you are provided with additional funds, this will be at a separate rate from the one on your current deal. You might turn down the new deal you have been offered and decide to take the early repayment charge and go to a different lender.

What is a Sub Account?

When you port your mortgage, a sub-account on your mortgage is created. The additional funds will go onto a different deal to the one you have on your current mortgage. Regardless of you having one mortgage and one direct debit, two different rates of interest will apply to each.

The annoyance that can come with having sub-accounts is that down the line you may the different products will overlap. Aligning the accounts could mean that one of the sub-accounts will have to go onto the lenders’ standard variable rate for a certain period of time.

Here at Leedsmoneyman, we can offer mortgage advice when it comes to porting mortgages. Therefore, if you are moving house in Leeds and dealing with a buy to let mortgage or you are in need of support with a self employed mortgage, booking a free appointment with one of our dedicated mortgage advisors can help explore your options.

Leeds Mortgage Advice on Porting a Mortgage