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Acquiring a property is a significant financial commitment, and it’s natural to have numerous questions about the mortgage process. As seasoned mortgage brokers in Sheffield, we’ve helped a diverse range of buyers, almost all of whom have asked us, “How long does mortgage approval take?”
If you’re a first time buyer in Sheffield with queries like these, seeking expert mortgage advice is of high importance. However, it’s important to note that not every question has a one-size-fits-all answer, especially when it comes to timelines, as they depend on individual circumstances.
For those with a clean credit history, mortgage approval could take approximately 2-3 weeks. This timeframe is illustrative and may vary. Issues with current or past credit can extend the approval process considerably.
Lenders meticulously scrutinise credit files to assess the applicant’s reliability and ability to afford a mortgage. If there are credit challenges, approval might take months.
It’s essential to understand that there’s no universal timeframe for mortgage approval; it hinges on the lender’s policies and your unique financial situation.
Mortgage approval today is a more intricate process compared to the pre-credit crunch era. Gone are the days of easily accessible mortgages. The current process involves a thorough examination of an applicant’s personal and financial details.
Lenders analyse credit history, income, including occupation, and outgoings via bank statements to evaluate the applicant’s financial capacity. The goal is to ascertain the type of borrower you are and whether you can comfortably manage a mortgage on a Sheffield property.
Given the volume of applicants, this process naturally takes time.
As your mortgage broker in Sheffield, our process is structured to guide you seamlessly through each stage leading up to your mortgage application.
We aim to make your mortgage journey stress-free, allowing you to focus on discovering your ideal Sheffield property while we handle the intricacies of the mortgage process.
To initiate your mortgage journey, schedule your complimentary mortgage appointment with one of our experienced mortgage advisors in Sheffield. You can choose a convenient date and time online or contact our team directly.
With availability seven days a week, we provide flexibility for appointments tailored to your schedule. During this free session, lasting approximately 30-45 minutes, your mortgage advisor will gather essential information to understand your goals and guide you along the mortgage process.
Upon completion of your mortgage appointment, your dedicated mortgage advisor in Sheffield will furnish you with a key document: the mortgage agreement in principle (AIP).
This document becomes essential when making an offer on a property, serving as evidence to the estate agency that you’ve secured pre-approval from a mortgage lender.
With the AIP in hand, you can actively start searching for your desired property. If you’ve already identified your dream home, we can swiftly progress to the next step.
Once you’ve successfully secured an offer on the property, we’ll match it with the ideal mortgage deal from our diverse panel of lenders, encompassing both high street and specialist products.
The details of this chosen mortgage deal will be clearly outlined in a comprehensive mortgage illustration document, ensuring you have a complete understanding of the terms.
If you’re satisfied with our service and the proposed mortgage product, it’s time to prepare your mortgage application. Your mortgage advisor will help you in gathering the necessary documents to demonstrate your affordability for the mortgage.
Once everything is in order, we’ll submit your application to the mortgage lender.
With your mortgage application submitted, the process now rests in the hands of the mortgage lender. It’s important to note that we never recommend a mortgage product that’s likely to be declined.
The lender will scrutinise your attached documents to verify your affordability, check your identification, and confirm your current registered address. If you’ve received a gifted deposit, the lender may require the last three months’ bank statements from the donor and a signed gifted deposit form.
Distinguishing itself from a house survey, a mortgage valuation survey is conducted by a property surveyor sent by the lender to assess the property’s true value.
Different types of property surveys are available, and your mortgage advisor in Sheffield will guide you on the most suitable one for your property type. The survey aims to establish the actual value of the property, ensuring that your requested mortgage aligns with the property’s true worth.
Following the lender’s checks, successful applicants will receive formal mortgage approval. Your mortgage advisor in Sheffield will promptly convey this positive news.
At this point, the process transitions to solicitors for the exchange of contracts and completion of remaining legalities, bringing you one step closer to collecting your keys.
Whether you’re a first time buyer in Sheffield, looking to move home, remortgage in Sheffield, or venture into buy to let properties, understanding the mortgage process is important. As your trusted mortgage broker in Sheffield, we recommend initiating the process up to six months in advance.
This proactive approach allows for the arrangement of an agreement in principle and early property exploration within your budget. If you’re considering a property purchase in Sheffield, seize the opportunity to start your mortgage journey now.
Book your free mortgage appointment online or by contacting our team today.
The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate some types of buy to let or commercial mortgages.
A let to buy mortgage works in the opposite fashion to a buy to let mortgage. Instead of buying a home to rent out, you will be buying a home to move into so that you can let out your current property.
The let to buy process begins with a remortgage on your current property. You will need to swap your residential mortgage product with a let to buy mortgage product.
The next step is to find a mortgage for the property that you are buying and moving into. If you have not saved a large deposit for your new home, you may need to release equity through your remortgage to gain extra funds.
Remortgaging doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be using the same lender, you could perhaps access better rates elsewhere and save money on your payments.
Technically speaking, a let to buy is a type of buy to let mortgage. A buy to let mortgage applies to properties that are purchased with the sole intention of being rented out to tenants, allowing the property owner to generate additional income through rental payments.
The difference between buy to let and let to buy is that instead of purchasing a property to rent out, you are purchasing a property to move into so that you can rent out your current property. This process involves taking out a residential mortgage on your new home and switching the residential mortgage on the home you’re moving out of onto a let to buy mortgage.
Ultimately, both processes share significant similarities, with minor differences between the two.
There are many different costs that come with purchasing a property, and the same applies to let to buy properties. One cost that you may have to account for is stamp duty. You will not face a stamp duty charge on every property purchase, so you should check whether or not this applies to your purchase.
Stamp duty is a tax that can be charged upon the purchase of a property. Whether you are charged with stamp duty can depend on the value of the property. If you are within the stamp duty threshold, you will be charged a percentage of the property price, with the amount going up, the more expensive the property value is.
As your let to buy mortgage advisor in Sheffield, we will work out these costs for you so that you can get an idea of how much it will cost to take out your mortgage.
Please note that the information contained in this article is for general guidance purposes only and should not be considered as legal, financial, or tax advice.
The laws and regulations related to Stamp Duty are subject to change, and the information in this article may not reflect the latest updates or changes in the law.
The amount payable for Stamp Duty will entirely depend on personal circumstances. Please speak with the solicitor acting on your behalf, who will be more appropriate to advise on this.
Just like buy to let, in order to get a let to buy mortgage, you must match the appropriate lending criteria. If you are unsure on whether you match the criteria for a let to buy mortgage in Sheffield, get in touch with our mortgage advisors in Sheffield for a free affordability assessment.
First of all, you must have at least a 10% deposit for your residential mortgage, as well as a 25% for your let to buy mortgage. Fortunately, you will have likely built up equity within your current property, meaning that you could remortgage to release a sum of this equity to put towards your deposits.
The mortgage lender will also need to know your projected rental income for the let to buy property. This is because you need to be able to cover 125% of your let to buy mortgage repayments.
Your credit score will have a huge impact on your let to buy application. Mortgage lenders need to be sure that you are a trustworthy applicant that will be able to meet two sets of mortgage repayments.
Buy to let and let to buy mortgage criteria can be very strict. In a regular scenario when an applicant has bad credit, it still may be possible to get a mortgage by taking out a specialist product that requires a higher deposit. In this scenario, you are taking out two mortgages, therefore, it would be unlikely that they would risk lending to an applicant with bad credit.
If you have bad credit, a CCJ/default in your name or missed payments, your chances of getting a mortgage are possibly hindered. You should always seek help from a specialist mortgage advisor in Sheffield before going to your bank; if you are declined, you could do further harm to your credit.
There is a balanced argument for investing in let to buy. Let’s take a look at the positives and negatives:
At the end of the day, it all depends on your personal and financial situation, and what you are looking to achieve. We would recommend speaking with a let to buy expert in Sheffield to evaluate your options and work out your suitability for a let to buy mortgage in Sheffield.
If let to buy in Sheffield is not right for you, perhaps it is time to explore your other options. Get in touch today and we can take a look at your options as a landlord in Sheffield.
You can book a free mortgage appointment online and pick a date and time that best suits you.
You might be a first time buyer in Sheffield who are looking to take that initial step on the property ladder or looking to move into a different property through moving home in Sheffield, or your mortgage term is coming to an end so are looking to remortgage in Sheffield. Either way, you’ll quickly find that there are a lot of options available for you when it comes to taking out your mortgage.
Below, we have put together an extensive list that highlights the most popular types of mortgages out there to customers on the mortgage market.
If you are interested in any of the mortgage options mentioned below and are looking for more information, then do get in touch as we will be able to connect you with a knowledgeable mortgage advisor for expert, fast & friendly mortgage advice in Sheffield & surrounding areas.
This type of mortgage means that your monthly mortgage payments will stay the same throughout the duration of your mortgage term.
You have the choice in the duration you want to fix your payments. It’s common for people to choose a fixed term of around 2,3 or 5 years or longer.
The benefit of this option is that your outgoings will probably be the biggest one in your finances, regardless of what happens with inflation, the interest rates, or the nationwide economy.
A tracker mortgage will mean you will have a mortgage interest rate that usually reflects the Bank of England’s base rate.
Because of this, the lender nor the mortgage lender will set the rate and it will fluctuate when the base rate does. For example, if the base rate goes up, your interest goes up. Therefore, if it goes down, yours will go down too which obviously would be beneficial to you.
It will require you to pay at a percentage that is higher than the Bank of England base rate. For example, if the base is 1% and you are tracking at 1% above the base rate, this will result in you paying back your interest at a rate of 2%.
A repayment mortgage will involve you paying back a combination of both the interest and capital each month. This is the mortgage people looking to buy a home usually go for.
If you have been able to keep your payments going for the mortgage term duration, you will be guaranteed to have paid it off in full and achieve the goal of owning your own home by the end of it.
This option can be seen across the industry and wider world as the most risk-free way to pay your capital back to the mortgage lender. When you begin your term, the amount you’ll be paying will be mostly the interest with your balance reducing at a slower rate. This is particularly the case if your term is 25,30 or 35 years.
Within the last ten years or so of your mortgage, the process speeds up. This means you will be paying back more capital than interest, with the balance reducing at a far quicker rate.
As a Mortgage Broker in Sheffield, we do find many buy to let mortgages being set up frequently on an interest-only basis ( this option does benefit many landlords), it is progressively more difficult these days to obtain a residential property on an interest-only mortgage.
This is due to the process because when you reach the end of your term, you are still required to pay the full mortgage amount to pay off all in one go, with no additional income to fund the amount you’re required to pay.
With this in mind, there a range of unique circumstances where this can be an appropriate route for a customer to go down such as downsizing when you are older or if you are in a situation in which you have other investments you are able to use to pay back the capital.
When it comes to offering these products, it’s common to find that lenders can be incredibly strict. Furthermore, the loan to values usually is much lower than they were in previous years.
An offset mortgage is where your mortgage lender will create a savings account that will work simultaneously with your mortgage account.
To put this in an example, if you had a mortgage balance of £100,000 and you deposit £20,000 into your savings account, you will be required to only pay interest on the difference between those figures which in this case would result in £80,000.
This option can be a very efficient way of controlling your finances, especially if you won’t be paying higher rates of tax.
As a mortgage broker in Sheffield, we find that we get an ever-increasing amount of enquiries from tenants looking to buy from their landlords. This could be due to the fact that landlords are offering their tenants ‘first refusal’, which provides tenants a chance to buy the house before it goes onto the open market.
If you are wondering if your landlord may offer you the same chance to buy your rented home, it’s worth asking the question as they may be very willing to do so.
Landlords selling their property to tenants has become increasingly popular over the years because the government cracked down on tax relief previously available on buy to let and some of those changes were introduced over a 4 year period. Property has always been viewed as a solid investment, so many decided to get through the tax changes as they have looked at their properties as a long-term investment.
Maintaining their investment over time is something landlords, old and new, find difficult. As a result, they look to sell up and leave the property market. In the circumstance where your landlord is looking to sell, then there is a possibility that they would sell to you as the current tenant because they will be aware of the number of advantages by doing this instead of the market. Some of these include:
Tenants aren’t the only ones who benefit from this, tenants do too. Advantages include:
If you are in need of some help with your mortgage after agreeing with your landlord to buy the property, please get in touch to discuss your options for a buy to let mortgage in Sheffield today.
So, you are now ready to take a further step up the property ladder and be one step closer to achieving your mortgage goals. Whether you are a first time buyer in Sheffield, new to the experience, or a home mover in Sheffield looking to sell your current home and live somewhere else, you will still need to start getting prepared for your mortgage.
As a open and honest mortgage broker in Sheffield, here are some expert tips:
As an experienced and well trusted mortgage broker in Sheffield, we always recommend taking advantage of mortgage advice as early on in the mortgage process as you can. This will allow you to get an idea of how much you could possibly borrow and what your estimated monthly costs may be.
You need to prioritise getting an up-to-date credit report, as you will need to know what your current credit score is and what you could potentially do to improve it, if necessary. The better your credit score is, the higher chance you have of your mortgage application being accepted.
There are a lot of different ways that you could potentially improve your credit score in Sheffield and to the surprise of many, it isn’t always too difficult to do so. In some cases, it is even possible to obtain a mortgage deal despite having a low credit score, though this ultimately depends on your lender and the way they look at your circumstances.
By ensuring you have both a mortgage advisor in Sheffield by your side and an up-to-date credit report to hand, you could increase your chances of being accepted for a mortgage in the future. A trusted mortgage advisor in Sheffield will be able to work through everything on your behalf, guiding you throughout the process.
Here at Sheffieldmoneyman, we have the ability to obtain a fully credit-checked agreement in principle for you, something we can turn around within 24 hours of your initial appointment. A dedicated mortgage advisor in Sheffield will help you to get prepared for everything prior to submitting your mortgage application.
In doing this, your mortgage lender will want to see some proof of identification, so that you can prove you are who you say you are, along with where you are living and the amount that you earn from your job. In knowing this, you can now prepare for all the necessary documents you’ll need. These are as follows;
In terms of proving who you are you’ll need to produce some photo ID. Acceptable types of ID include a driving license or valid passport.
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.
Lenders will always have a keen interest in what your spending habits are, compared to anything else.
They need to be absolutely sure that you will have the ability to regularly maintain your monthly mortgage payments on top of everything else you have going out. They will analyse your bank statements very carefully and take everything into consideration.
Lenders aren’t too fond of seeing gambling on your bank statements. It’s something we often see catching people out, as they haven’t realised that it can harm your chances of obtaining a mortgage down the line. They also don’t like seeing customers go over their overdraft limit, as this basically means your spending money that isn’t there.
It’s reasons like this why we always advise that you be careful and make sure that your statements are going to appeal to a mortgage lender, rather than put them off from lending to you.
You will have to prove you have the funds in place for the deposit and also be able to evidence this for anti-money laundering purposes. Try not to move money around your various accounts too much as it will make evidencing the audit trail a more complex process than it needs to be.
Lenders take a preference to applicants who are able to evidence that they have been saving for their deposit. It shows that you have a good understanding of how to put money aside every month and not spend money you don’t have. You’ll also need to factor in any large credits into your accounts.
Quite often we find that the money for a deposit has been gifted by family members. These funds will also need to be evidenced, with the “donor” being required to sign a letter for the lender. This will be to confirm that the funds are strictly a gift and not something they will be needing back from the mortgage applicant.
In terms of affordability, the most important thing is to be able to prove your income. If you are employed this tends to be done by providing the lender with your last 3 months’ payslips and most recent P60. Lenders often take into account regular overtime, commission, shift allowance and bonus.
Make sure that you do plenty of research ahead of time. Preparing for your mortgage and making a note of your anticipated outgoings after you move house puts you in a great position prior to starting the application process.
You can work out an estimate of how much the council tax and utility bills will be. In addition to that, you can also work out your regular expenditures, such as any food and drink you will be buying. This will demonstrate how much disposable income you have available to pay your mortgage from.
You need to accommodate lots of time to prepare for your mortgage application. It can sometimes be a lot quicker and much easier to approach a mortgage broker in Sheffield who can take the bulk of the process and do it on your behalf.
A mortgage advisor in Sheffield will be able to work out how much everything is potentially going to cost you and guide you through the entire mortgage process, doing their best to work hard and try to secure you a competitive mortgage deal.
Getting ahead and planning early will always impress your mortgage lender. Let an expert mortgage broker in Sheffield help you out. Get in touch to book your free mortgage appointment with a trusted mortgage advisor in Sheffield today.
University is a place to enjoy some of the greatest things that come with adult life; for example, freedom and independence Although, University costs a lot of money, and sometimes it can be hard to see exactly what you’re putting your money into, especially when it comes to accommodation fees.
Student accommodation can be a hit or miss situation. You may get an amazing landlord in Sheffield that takes care of you and your housemates, regularly checking in and taking care of property repairs and damages. On the other hand, you could get a landlord who does the opposite and leaves you with something like a broken washing machine for 4 weeks!
When you’re raking out money for rent month on month and getting the minimal back, it can be hard to ignore the fact that you should be getting treat better. Why don’t you look at becoming your own landlord? This way, you will be in charge of things and manage your property your way.
This can be made possible through a student mortgage. Taking out a mortgage as a student may not only save you money in the short term, but also in the long run.
Getting a student mortgage will allow you to save costs on your accommodation and will also give you an early opportunity to get yourself onto the property ladder. They are more popular amongst higher education students who plan to continue their education through to their masters/PhD.
If you’re not planning to live in the property in the future, you can always sell up when you’re ready to move on. You could even keep it as a buy to let in Sheffield to rent out to other students!
By the time that it comes to the end of your course, you should have built up a bit of equity within your home. You can withdraw this equity if you would like. Equity can be turned into cash, and you can spend it however you want, it’s your money after all. It could be anyway from a wedding to a new car. The more equity in your home, the more money you can withdraw.
There are lots of things you could do with your property in the future!
Student mortgages can sometimes be hard to obtain. The reason behind this is that you need to have funds in place to afford one, and as a student, that can be difficult.
As a mortgage broker in Sheffield, when we come across a student mortgage application, we have to ask the applicant a set of questions so that we can find out whether they qualify for one or not. Firstly, we will need to know if you have a deposit for the property. This can be something like a gifted deposit, a Lifetime ISA or even as simple as funds from a savings account.
Secondly, we need to know that you can actually afford a mortgage. Your mortgage advisor in Sheffield will measure your affordability right off the bat. You will need some sort of income to take out a student mortgage. Some lenders will accept a part-time job, whereas others will only accept a full-time job.
Your lender needs to know that you’re a reliable applicant. You can show this in multiple different ways. Here are a few examples:
Increased deposit amount – Putting down a higher deposit would mean that the total amount that you borrow would decrease, hence also decreasing your mortgage payments.
Using government schemes – Using government-led schemes under the “Own Your Home” program, you may be able to access a larger deposit for your student mortgage. A few of the schemes included are the Lifetime ISA and the Shared Ownership scheme; there are many more if you visit https://www.ownyourhome.gov.uk/all-schemes/.
Have an AIP ready – An agreement in principle can benefit your student mortgage application. It proves that a lender has already agreed to lend to you providing that you can supply documents to evidence your income, affordability, etc.
This is just naming a few. For further ways to appear more reliable during your student mortgage application, get in touch with our mortgage advisors in Sheffield today.
Like most mortgage options, you have to meet certain requirements before getting the green light:
With this in mind, you’ll also have to think about what you’re going to do with those spare rooms. To help you manage your money, the best idea could be to look into renting them out.
Lenders will be aware of all of the risks that come with lending to a student. This is why they always take precautions.
When signing the papers for your student mortgage, you’ll have to declare a guarantor. This is someone who will cover your payments if you fail to pay them at any time. There are some limitations to who your guarantor can be:
Lenders have to have a backup just in case anything happens. This situation is in the worst possible scenario of course.
For help achieving your student mortgage dreams and first time buyer mortgage advice in Sheffield, get in touch today. We can help you see whether you match the criteria for a student mortgage or not.
For prospective first time buyers in Sheffield, as well as home movers in Sheffield, credit scoring often appears as an unfair way for mortgage lenders to evaluate their applications. Conversely, from the perspective of these lenders, credit scoring is perceived as a cost-effective and consistent to minimise their risk.
If you’re feeling apprehensive about the credit scoring system when applying for a mortgage, there’s no need to worry. The good news is that a multitude of mortgage lenders out there, each with their own unique scoring systems and criteria.
To alleviate your concerns and improve your chances of accepted, it’s a smart move to obtain a copy of your credit report when applying for a mortgage.
By providing your mortgage advisor in Sheffield with an up-to-date credit report right from the start, you offer them a clearer insight into your financial standing, thereby increasing the likelihood of a successful application.
Keep in mind that having this credit report in hand will also enable your mortgage advisor in Sheffield to identify any potential issues or areas that could benefit from improvement, allowing you to address them before applying for the mortgage.
This proactive approach not only bolsters your chances of approval but also grants you with more confidence and peace of mind throughout the entire mortgage process.
Always remember, each mortgage lender has its own set of criteria, so don’t feel disheartened if one lender turns down your application. Your mortgage advisor in Sheffield will work with you to find the best fit among the various options available in the market.
When it comes to checking your credit report for mortgage purposes, you’ll find various credit reference agencies, including well-known names like Experian and Equifax. Our top recommendation is to go with CheckMyFile, as it provides a comprehensive overview based on information from multiple credit agencies.
The good news is that CheckMyFile offers a 30-day free trial, giving you ample time to review your credit report without incurring any costs during this period. The best part? You have the flexibility to cancel the trial whenever you like, if you so choose.
This approach allows you to make well-informed decisions regarding your creditworthiness, ensuring that your mortgage application rests on a solid foundation.
By using the link below, you’ll enjoy the added benefit of receiving a free, instant PDF download of your credit report. Take advantage of this opportunity to pave the way towards a successful mortgage journey!
Try it FREE for 30 days, then £14.99 a month – cancel online anytime.
Improving your credit score is a cricial step when applying for a mortgage, and there are several steps you can take to boost your creditworthiness. First and foremost, be cautious when using price comparison websites, as they may trigger credit searches that could have a negative impact on your score.
To avoid any potential red flags for mortgage lenders, it’s best to refrain from applying for other types of credit in the immediate future.
One effective method to positively impact your credit score is by registering on the electoral roll. Ensuring that your name and address are accurate and up-to-date can have a positive impact on your score. Address errors can inadvertently give the impression of multiple residencies, potentially affecting your creditworthiness.
Moreover, handling your credit card usage wisely can significantly impact your credit score. Maxing out your credit card every month may lead to a reduction in your score, so it’s advisable to use it responsibly and pay the balance in full each month.
Though closing unused store or credit card accounts might cause a short-term dip in your score, it can be beneficial in the long run and reduce your vulnerability to fraud.
Furthermore, financial ties to family members, friends, or ex-partners can affect your credit score, especially if their credit history is poor. If you no longer have active financial connections with these individuals, you can request that credit reference agencies remove these links.
When seeking mortgage advice in Sheffield, providing our trusted and experienced mortgage advisors with comprehensive information about your finances will enable them to offer the best possible guidance and support throughout the mortgage application process.
With their expertise and your improved credit score, you’ll be well-positioned to secure the ideal mortgage that suits your needs and financial situation. It’s a step towards achieving your homeownership goals with confidence!
When buying a home, you can choose one of two options: to buy it upfront or take out a mortgage on the property and pay it off over a fixed term.
Both ways are costly, however, buying a house with cash is the obvious most expensive option. Paying upfront requires you to pay the price that’s on the tag, whereas, taking out a mortgage allows you to pay off the property over a long period of time.
If you have the funds in place to do so, buying a property with cash could be a great investment. Whether it’s to live in yourself or to use as a buy to let in Sheffield, it can put you ahead of people on the property ladder who have taken out a mortgage.
9 times out of ten, when making an offer on a property, if you’re a cash buyer you’ll have an advantage over other applicants who are taking out a mortgage. One of the reasons is due to your reliability.
A property seller who is looking for a quick purchase will love a cash buyer. Having a cash offer eliminates the probability of getting caught up in the property chain. This is where a property is being sold to a buyer, however, they can’t move in yet as they’re still trying to sell their current home and sort out their mortgage. This can go on and on, ending in repeated homeowners struggling to move out as they’re waiting on their buyer to move out.
This shows your reliability. You don’t have to wait around for your buyer, they can proceed straight away. Also, you won’t have to pass any affordability checks as you already have the funds in place and you won’t need a valuation to be carried out on the property.
Everyone wants a quick and simple process when moving home in Sheffield. It’s more than likely that if you were to make a cash offer, you’ll see the process through within no time at all as opposed to having you taken out a mortgage.
You won’t have to take out a mortgage if you choose the cash route. However, as a mortgage broker in Sheffield, we can say that sometimes it’s just as quick to take the mortgage route. It’s our job to provide a fast and friendly service in Sheffield.
Taking out a mortgage is the same as taking out a loan. You’re committing to around 25+ years of potential mortgage payments. If you buy a property with cash, you won’t be making this commitment.
You also won’t receive any interest. Your mortgage payments may increase each month due to interest, whereas if you’re buying with cash this can never happen as you’ve already paid it all off.
If you don’t have the funds in place to make a cash payment, you’ll have to take out a mortgage on the property you’re looking to buy.
Rather than using all of your life savings to purchase a property upfront, you could save money short term by taking out a mortgage instead. Usually, depending on your credit score, getting a mortgage will only require a minimum of a 5% deposit (5% of the property’s value).
A mortgage allows you to pay off your home in monthly payments. Monthly payments allow you to pay little back each month not the whole of it in one go.
If you’re looking at a property and the listing says “cash buyers only”, it’s likely that the property needs lots of repairs doing on it. If this is the case, you are unlikely to be able to get a mortgage on this property. You may be dodging a bullet if you are choosing a mortgage over cash here.
Even though it’s not required, we’d always recommend getting a property survey carried out just in case. This applies to both cash buyers and mortgage applicants.
Going into a cash purchase blind may put you at a slight disadvantage to someone who has a mortgage advisor in Sheffield by their side. Things are as simple as possible when you have your own mortgage advisor in Sheffield.
As a mortgage broker in Sheffield, it’s our job to deliver a fast and friendly mortgage advice service. Get in touch today and we can help you through the moving home process. We can help you make an offer on a property, arrange an AIP within 24-hours and perform a free affordability assessment on you.
Generally, you’ll find that the longer that you fix your mortgage for, the higher your interest rate is going to be. This is why you should look for a shorter fixed term, so that you can access lower rates.
Even though short term fixes could eventually save you money, your mortgage will need to be regularly reviewed and renewed more frequently. When it comes to your remortgage in Sheffield, it can depend on how the economy is performing and what sort of deals of available to what sort of rate you’ll pay on your new product.
Sometimes, you may end up paying more than your previous months’ mortgage payments, and then sometimes you may end up paying less.
If you would prefer to fix your rate for a longer period, you can take out a medium to long term fixed mortgage if you want to.
The most popular fixed rates are 5-year terms. These deals are sort of in the middle, not too short nor too long. They also add the security of constant monthly payments for the foreseeable future.
The only negative to fixing into a 5-year term is that your overall payments may be more than if you were to had fixed a 2-year product and then a 3-year product, but not by much.
If you wanted to go even further and try and secure a 7 to 10-year fixed-rate product, you may need to try and access specialist lenders as there are a limited number of these products on the market. They aren’t the most popular of choices amongst home buyers and owners, due to the length of the term. You won’t get much flexibility with a mortgage in the long term; they may also come with expensive setup fees and rates.
In addition to interest rates and monthly mortgage payments, you’ll also have to consider booking and arrangement fees. A booking fee will be charged upfront and an arrangement fee will be charged at completion. Sometimes these fees can be incorporated into your mortgage payments, however, this can increase the total amount paid in the end.
If you’ve got the funds in place to do so, you may want to pay off a chunk of your mortgage early. Usually, people do this after they’ve received a large lump sum of money for something.
If you do this, you may be charged with an ERC or otherwise known as an early repayment charge. You are tied into a deal for a set period of time, so jumping out of the deal early will cost you. You can continue with repaying early if you are okay with paying the ERC.
An ERC is calculated as a percentage of the amount that is still owed on the whole mortgage, not your term. For example, if you have £200,000 left on your mortgage, you may get an ERC of 2% which is £4,000. If a current deal is available on the market that you want to access, it may benefit you more to take the ERC and remortgage early.
As a mortgage broker in Sheffield, we would recommend not chasing after ‘headline’ deals. You need to remember that the deals with the lowest rates come with the highest arrangement/setup fees.
For remortgage advice in Sheffield, please contact us today. We have helped 1000s of customers fix excellent mortgage rates in the past, and you could be next!
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Once you’ve had your offer accepted on a property, you are going to move onto the next stage of the mortgage process… getting the property surveyed.
A property survey is carried out to determine whether the true value of a home correlates to the amount that a buyer has offered for it. The survey will also show the overall condition of a property, highlighting defects and damages (if there is any).
There are lots of different types of property surveys, however, three stand out as the most popular amongst the crowd:
A property survey may be carried out free of charge depending on the lender that you use. If you are offered a free survey, you may be limited to what you can see on the report, or sometimes the lender may not give you a copy.
Each survey differs, some will provide great detail and tell you everything that you need to know about your property, whereas others will not. Usually, the more that you pay for a survey, the more in-depth the report will be.
If your survey shows something about the property that you weren’t told about, by law you are allowed to approach the seller and work out a price reduction is necessary.
A Mortgage Valuation is the simplest property survey and usually the cheapest. They are carried out to find out the true value of a property.
Before committing to lending to you, your lender will need to find out whether the property’s value matches how much you are set to borrow from them. If you put in an offer above the property’s value and it gets accepted by your seller, it’s good for them but not for your lender, therefore it’s unlikely that your lender will accept your application. This is because they will have to lend more than the property is actually worth; this is called a down valuation. If you can make up the difference between what you said you’d pay and the mortgage amount, you’ll be able to go ahead with your lender, although, if you can’t then the lender will pull out of the deal.
Unfortunately, a Mortgage Valuation survey will not point out minor damages or repairs, it will just show clear structural defects that will require attention as soon as possible. If you want a report that goes further in-depth, you will have to pay more to upgrade to a different survey.
A Homebuyers Report focuses on the safety of the property and how safe it is to live inside of it. The report will include problems such as mould, dampness or something that does not pass the current building laws.
This survey will be carried out by an expert. They will thoroughly examine the property from top to bottom so that they know exactly how safe it is to live in.
As a Mortgage Broker in Sheffield, we usually recommend a Full Structural Survey, especially to those who are purchasing an older building. You sometimes need to be aware of everything.
This survey is the most expensive of the three and usually them all. This is because your surveyor will look at the whole property, often spending a whole day to determine its worth and to find out what’s wrong with it.
If the purchase goes through and you now know everything about the property, you may have saved yourself a lot of money in the long run as if you didn’t know about the damages, you couldn’t act on them meaning that they could worsen overtime.
New builds usually requires a different type of survey called a snagging survey. This will highlight both minor and major issues. It could be from a missing door hinge to cracks in the ceiling.
If the new build has already been built, it would be wise to have a property survey carried out on it before you move into it. Just because the property is a new build doesn’t mean that there is nothing wrong with it. As a Mortgage Broker in Sheffield, we would always advise that you have some sort of survey carried out on a property.
Whether you are a first time buyer in Sheffield or moving home in Sheffield, if you are struggling to choose the right property survey or just need general mortgage advice, feel free to get in touch with our team. Sometimes, it can be difficult to get the ball rolling when it comes to moving home, so make sure to get in touch if you need any help!
You can obtain the services of a surveyor to carry out a Homebuyers report or building survey through the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
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Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
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Sheffieldmoneyman.com & Sheffieldmoneyman 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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