Owning your own home

FFS nothing is ever straightforward is it .. just got a call from mortgage adviser saying the property has been valued at zero because of some issue with the roof; lender is insisting on a full structural survey (£1000) if we want the mortgage. He said even with that they reckon it'll be valued £20K less .. what are our options? I am yet to receive the report from home-buyers survey to get the details.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/25/overcrowding-housing-raid-26-living-three-bedroom-east-london

Nope, we had about seven occasions where we thought it was all sorted only for something else to crop up which invariably ended up with us stumping up some more cash.

At least in this instance if it is tangible i.e. roof needs structural work to be safe, you have something to negotiate with rather than a down valuation as it has been overpriced.

That said, the bank will likely only lend on the valuation. So even if you negotiated the 20k off, you would probably need that in cash to do the work as it is unlikely in the current market they will lend you the 20k on top.

Full structural survey is a good thing to have, especially if there is indeed a major issue with the roof. You could take this survey information (but never the survey itself) to the vendors and see if they can re-negotiate possibly too.

amey - ask the mortgage provider if they are willing to lend with a covenant that you will get the roof replaced once you have moved in. not sure whether this will work but we got the home buyers report back which said the roof needed replacing. the mortgage company still lent, valued the place 5k less than what we had accepted, and required the roof to be replaced within 6 months.

Did they ever check that you had done the roof?

They'll often apply a retention, so won't release all the money until you can show them the roof is done.

http://www.ayorkshirehome.com/first-time-buyers/mortgage-retention-explained/

they said the work had to be done within 6 months, along with damp proof coursing.

the 6 months isn't up yet. it's up at the end of july.

we aren't getting the damp proof course done. i was quoted £4.5k. it was a shafted gutter which caused all the water to back up and seep into the brick work causing the damp. i've sorted that so it's in the process of drying out. the damp 'expert' didn't even identify the cause. just suggested injection damp proofing and tanking.

for me they have applied a 5k retention and said i could have the 5k back when the work was completed. they also said that i'd be in breach of the mortgage agreement if i didn't get the work done. we shall see....

Exchanged today, completion Tuesday, happy days!

nice!!

House builder actually has a human bone in their body too, let us store our newly delivered fridge freezer in the garage over the weekend.

Decided to stick in my wee flat for another 2 years, with some improvements. Anyone know of a builder type who could take out a wall and refit a bathroom? @crimsonape ? It's a very small drywall wall.

So after saying that they didn't have any real updates for us, came home to find they'd sent us all the lease and search details and mortgage deed stuff. All signed and witnessed and will be in the post tomorrow

^ This is good news! :)

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/28/london-the-city-that-ate-itself-rowan-moore

Coming soon, adventures in parquet:

great stuff! I long for that day .. sigh

contemplating buying a house / flat in the near future, probably not in London, places that is commutable to London. I am not a big earner, but enough to not be in any debt, have a bit of money left after rent / bills every month and have very good credit rating. I am able to put down a larger than average deposit if that means I'd get a better deal, any suggestion on mortgage advisers I could have a chat with?

L&C were good for a online company.

Exchanged today! Pick up keys on Monday. :D

Thanks will probably give them a go once I have done a bit more research of the areas and budgets etc...

Probably a stupid question, but if they are fee free, how do they make money?

They get commission from your eventual mortgage lender.

All depends what agreement you come to with the adviser before you get detailed advice.

From the FCA:

A mortgage adviser or broker also has to tell you their charges and
how they are paid, which could be:

• a flat rate for their service
  
• an hourly rate, though they must tell you what the rate is and what might affect the number of hours they spend on your application
  
• a percentage of the amount you borrow for your mortgage
  
• a commission payment from the mortgage lender
  

Advisers I know both personally and professionally go with sommat along the lines of;
"My time is charged by the half day, but should you complete on a deal I facilitate my rate is waived and I will be remunerated through lender commission."