As a first-time buyer mortgage broker who helps lots of people just like you, I wanted to share with you a little story! Hopefully, this will illustrate why using a first-time buyer mortgage broker like me will help you. Read on and you might be surprised!
First time buyer mortgage broker – a ‘must’ for every first time buyer
We had a lovely first-time buyer couple come to us after they had been looking at properties for 6 months. In the beginning, they had spoken to their bank and given a rough idea of what they could borrow. That’s a good start, right? Wrong! I’ll come on to why shortly. Unfortunately, the problem was they just couldn’t find a property that they wanted within their budget. As you can imagine, after 6 months of trying, they felt a little deflated!
Don’t get me wrong, these first-time buyers did a lot of good things. The fact they tried to get a clear idea of how much they could borrow before they viewed properties was great. And this is exactly what you should do. Never, ever view properties unless you know what you can borrow. It’s just a waste of time. Of course, that’s not to say don’t look online, I think that’s a great way to start a property search.
Speaking of which you should take a look at Hubinto. It’s an amazing property portal. I recently came across it and I thought it might help you. It’s a great way to view, see data, research properties, and collect all the properties in your own collection., plus lots more…it might help you with your research!
Getting back to the first time buyer story:
Unfortunately, they weren’t to know that there is a better way of getting a mortgage and establishing what they could do! This was the problem:
- They only had an idea of how much they could borrow from one lender, not even two or three…just one!
- They assumed all lenders would lend the same amount!
- Their bank did not thoroughly assess their payslips! The bank just gave them a rough idea.
When we started looking at it, the amount they could borrow varied (a lot) from lender to lender. This was because they had various elements of pay (overtime, bonus etc) on their payslips which wasn’t taken into consideration by their bank. Interestingly, some lenders would allow us to use all of their ‘other’ income while others would only allow us to use some of it. At the time, I knew this could (potentially) make a huge difference to them.
A first time buyer mortgage broker will help you discover your options!
A first-time buyer mortgage broker like us is so much more than someone who will find you the best deal. A good one will help you establish your options with all the lenders and (importantly) help you every step of the way throughout the buying process. This means they will be able to help you when the estate agent is putting pressure on you. They will be able to chase and speak to the solicitor to get an update. Hassle the lender to push your application and make sure the survey is booked. A good first-time buyer mortgage broker will do all this for you and keep you informed every step of the way.
Remember, you aren’t necessarily going to know how the process of buying a property works. We don’t expect you too either, which is why we are happy to help you every step of the way.
Getting back to this couple – the big difference was:
- We looked at their payslips in detail and maximized every element of income (not rocket science, but very important).
- We were able to look at the whole of the market (all the lenders) to find a lender who would offer them the maximum borrowing amount (this can differ a lot between lenders).
In the end, we found a mortgage which was not only affordable. It fitted within their monthly budget and interestingly, allowed them to borrow £45,000 more than they thought they could!
If you want to take shortcuts, I wish you all the luck. But in the long run, you will end up wasting time, energy and probably end up disappointed. I like to think that if you want to do something, do it properly and then the rest becomes easy!
A first-time buyer mortgage broker can be your saviour!
£45,000 extra made a huge difference! Suddenly they could look at properties they thought were out of reach. These properties were always on the market, but of course, they never considered them. Within 2 weeks they found their first home, made an offer and 6 weeks later moved in!
If only they had chatted to me earlier! They would have saved themselves 6 months and lots of time and energy looking and viewing properties. The time wasted, frustration and disappointment could have all been avoided. But at least they got there in the end.
As a first time buyer, this is what you need to do:
The simple moral of this story is to make sure you speak to an independent mortgage broker. You then should get an accurate idea of what you can do. Remember, don’t settle for a rough idea. Being fair to the banks, some mortgage brokers are also guilty of giving people a rough idea, don’t settle for this.
When you are a first-time buyer you need to know exactly what you can do. Not roughly, not approximate, not hopefully…exactly!
The only way to do this is for a mortgage broker to thoroughly assess your income. It’s just not possible to be accurate without this…period!
If you want to take shortcuts, I wish you all the luck. But in the long run, you will end up wasting time, energy and probably end up disappointed. I like to think that if you want to do something, do it properly and then the rest becomes easy!