Owning your own home

Mark: that's about it. We know the costs, we're not expecting them to pay all of it (it's for future work, but it's been billed and we're trying to confirm the transfer of it all).

BUT, their solicitor should be able to confirm in writing that all past and existing charges have been met and should be able to indemnify you against any arrears.

That we're falling down on. They haven't/can't/won't and we're chasing it all ourselves. A phone call to the estate agent yesterday seemed to sort things out. They are under the same impression I am, that the seller's solicitor is useless.
We're doing the running around to get answers to prevent us from having to go to their solicitor again.
I have impressed upon them the desire to complete as we've been priced out by market gains during this time, i've given them the "if we don't get this, we may have to leave where we've been living for 4.5 years. And this may mean leaving London, which involves all sorts of career/life changes". This "resonated" with our estate agent as he's just moved his family from one borough to the other and knows the confusion this can cause a small family.

fingers crossed.

Just to clarify: it sounds middleclasscrywank, it is a little bit, but mostly it's directed at someone who's causing confusion to both sides by not being competent.
While it would be nice to split the bill, we'd be happy just to know what we can do with the money. The estate looks better for the money spent, it's a nice little space, i'm not after something for nothing.

Sheesh guys/gals, no offence but buying a property is a big deal! It's one of the biggest financial decisions you'll ever make, you really need to be a bit more organised/informed before you start trying to buy places. This is basic stuff!*

*Not having a go, or at anyone in particular, I say this with love etc. ;)

(Very) basic buying property to do list:

• Get on your local authority electoral register - this normally takes months rather than weeks I'm afraid as they add names in batches and normally only do it every few months (although this will depend on your LA).
  
• Request a copy of your credit report from all of the credit reference agencies (Experian, Equifax, Callcredit). This isn't the same as a credit check, but the fact you have requested it does go on your file. Don't pay for premium services, they are all legally obliged to provide a report for £2. Don't pay more! Pore over it with a fine tooth comb, make sure any black marks (late payments etc.) actually happened and you don't have any outstanding debts you didn't know about. E.g. I had a £28 O2 phone bill they never actually told me about that was years old, so I had to contact them and settle it.
  
• Make sure other small debts are paid off/your finances are in good order. Close any accounts you don't use with a credit function - this could make it look like you have more debt available to you.
  
• Get all of your deposit money in one place, in your own bank account(s). Until you actually have the money it is theoretical. Lenders don't like theoretical money.
  
• Have an initial conversation with a whole of market broker. They will be able to give you a general idea of what you can afford/are likely to get given your personal circumstances without getting into credit searches and so on.
  
• Find a good conveyancing solicitor and have them ready to go. You never know when you might want to ask them something.
  
  
  

@hoefla - You don't say if you're on the electoral role at the moment. If you're not, you will need to get on it, but it will take months to filter through. You should also (especially if you have missed payments) get the copies of your credit files and check they are accurate. Any changes will again take months, rather than weeks, to be actioned. A decision in principal is good, but it's based on your income/affordability criteria and isn't the same as an actual mortgage offer which will check things like your electoral role status and your credit history.

Basically you have two options - press ahead regardless, but bear in mind that you could be rejected if you aren't on the electoral role and have a less than perfect credit record, and a recent rejection for a mortgage WILL count against you if you apply for another one. Or spend some time sorting this stuff out, then start looking at properties again in a few months. You could ask whoever got you the mortgage in principal (I hope this is a broker, and whole of market one at that) what in their experience the likelihood of your being accepted is if you're not on the role and/or have a less than perfect credit history. A broker is better placed to advise on this, as they may recommend another product from a different lender.

@roboto - Just get that money in the bank. Money in the bank talks. Bear in mind that they don't know you from Adam and you're telling them you will have some money, but you haven't yet. I'm not saying what the person in question told you is right, but hippy is correct in that lenders now take much more interest not just in what you earn and how much money you have but what your spending/budgetary habits are. They want to know if you can really afford it. Be prepared to be asked some quite personal questions about your lifestyle. Look at it from their perspective - they're offering to lend you a huge amount of money, so they want to know you're responsible. But it still feels a bit odd when they ask you questions like how much you spend a week on eating out (for example).

Oh, and it's quite normal to not pay bills on time, but not something you should be doing if you want a good credit record!

Oh Roboto the 15% thing - they're either saying this because they think you can't afford more or they're wrong. I would ask to use your own independent adviser. If they say no push it.

Part buy part rent complicates it, but even if they say no there is nothing to stop you getting a second opinion from your own adviser.

And personally I would just get that cash, put it in your account and tell them you saved it. Much simpler.

@hoefla - You don't say if you're on the electoral role at the moment. If you're not, you will need to get on it, but it will take months to filter through.

European Elections are coming up in May, I suspect they may be a bit more proactive about registering voters.

And personally I would just get that cash, put it in your account and tell them you saved it. Much simpler.

Surely they'll want to see the bank statement, and then notice a lump sum desposited fairly recently? Underwriters in the building society I work for would want to see the applicant's bank statement as evidence of deposit, and may ask for the bank statement of where any unusually large/3rd party transactions came from for a full audit trail for anti money-laundering purposes.

Has anyone here bought property in Spain?

Spoke to the mortgage advisor again this morning. The problem is that there are no lenders who will lend us more than 85% based on the fact we are going for shared ownership and the money is coming from outside the UK.

If the gift comes from within the UK then there are lenders who will sell you a 95% mortgage. Madness.

Anti money laundering rules?

• I am currently on electoral register... in a different town. It is the address where my credit card and bank statements go. Better or worse than being on it here?
  
• We have a whole of market broker. Who said not to start moving the deposit into current accounts yet, and to leave it where it is.
  
• I've spoken to a solicitor who said not to instruct/appoint them until after an offer is accepted.
  

• I have one credit account which is paid in full within 1 month about 90% of the time.

• Credit report then.

• And another chat with the mortgage broker.

If anything for peace of mind.

Ok, some of the deposit is a gift. I don't have any paperwork for that yet.
But I do have my own paperwork for a load of savings that exceed the value of the gift. Is there any point in me taking that stuff to show the estate agents?

European Elections are coming up in May, I suspect they may be a bit more proactive about registering voters.

most councils register every month - the months filtering through thing is more about the time it takes to affect your credit record, isn't it?

Anti money laundering rules?

Racists.

Spoke to the mortgage advisor again this morning. The problem is that there are no lenders who will lend us more than 85% based on the fact we are going for shared ownership and the money is coming from outside the UK.

If the gift comes from within the UK then there are lenders who will sell you a 95% mortgage. Madness.

Speak to a different advisor?

Or ask this one whether the problem goes away if "a mate" gives you the money?

There was a hint that the problem goes away if the money gets gifted from one of my family members. They rarely question where the money comes from before it is gifted from a UK resident...

I brought maybe $40k of cash over from my account in Oz. Just tell them it was your own account.

inclined at this point to "plough on"... the mortgage refusal affecting future prospects being the major disuasion. yes, we will speak to mortgage broker this week about the other stuff.

one of the other estate agents has also come back to us. should we tell them we have made other offers or no? does everything collapse if they start doing concurrent checks on us?

I had my money gifted. Some from abroad, some from here.

I had a crappy handwritten letter from my dad explaining that he had gifted me it, but didn't say where it was from.

All went ok.

I had to show where my deposit was coming from (i.e. declaration from parents that no strings were attached) to satisfy the mortgage lenders. My parents had to show where the money they were gifting me came from to satisfy the ant-laundering rules.

As things were being done on the hurry-up I asked what the consequences of getting the cash from other sources might be, and was firmly told that the lender would remove the mortgage offer.

This was in 2009, a few years before (2005-6ish) I lent a friend a few thousand quid to get her over the deposit threshold. No questions were asked at all. Don't know if anything changed in-between or if it just depends on who the lender is.

I'm guessing a lot of this depends on whether you're a first time buyer. For my recent purchase I didn't have to provide any copies of bank statements or proof of all of the deposit. Half the cost of the house was covered by equity from the sale of my flat, so that was straightforward enough and I was due to borrow the rest on a mortgage, and then realised I was about £20k out. I had no idea where it was coming from, so I just said 'savings' and they accepted that. All they did was check on the available equity from the sale of the flat and ran a standard credit check on me. I managed to find the balance through overdraft, year-end bonus and some savings I actually did have, but hadn't really thought about. The lender was pretty slack to be honest, maybe the LTV ratio helped.

@ Fox, your advice is, of course, sound but most people (myself included) aren't that organised. I've bought, lived in and sold a number of houses in London and managed to muddle through. Maybe I've just been lucky...

Re the deposit, I had to scan about 3 years worth of bank statements showing where deposit savings had come from to get the solicitors approval.

Think I sent the same details to the mortgage people too.

Have a deadline to exchange tomorrow and our buyers are trying to do a gazunder :(

@ Fox, your advice is, of course, sound but most people (myself included) aren't that organised. I've bought, lived in and sold a number of houses in London and managed to muddle through. Maybe I've just been lucky...

True. I'm an absolute shambles and I managed to buy a house.

@ Fox, your advice is, of course, sound but most people (myself included) aren't that organised. I've bought, lived in and sold a number of houses in London and managed to muddle through. Maybe I've just been lucky...

Some people, like tricitybendix, can muddle through fine, but by taking that approach as a first time buyer now you risk effectively denying yourself the opportunity to own a home for a period of time, which would be unfortunate, especially given the current state of the market.

You were probably lucky in the sense that if you have owned a number of houses you bought as a FTB before all of these checks and balances were brought in. They are a direct result of the 2008 boom/bust/recession/whatever when lenders leant to people who couldn't afford it and they defaulted, so there are now many more checks in place by most mortgage lenders to check that you can.

Like you say, my advice is for first time buyers only and I actually know nothing about remortgaging. Our fixed deal ends this summer so I will probably be posting in this thread then asking advice!

can any of you lot's rich folks / in laws lend me a couple of grand? i need to record and produce a vanity album.

#norefunds