FAQs

There are many things in life you could do yourself but this doesn’t mean you should! A few things spring to mind; hair dressing, car repairs, dentistry and (especially for me) DIY! Yes, we could just go on Google or YouTube and get some pointers, but would our version of what the professionals can do be the best? Probably not!
Remember that choosing a mortgage rate is just part of a much larger process that a mortgage broker can help you with.

No you don’t. The estate agent’s only purpose is to act as the intermediary between seller and buyer. Of course, it’s entirely up to you who you choose to arrange your mortgage and help you through the journey, but this does not need to be the estate agent.
Purchasing a house will be the most expensive thing you have bought and there is an awful lot to do between now and picking up the keys. Therefore, it is really important that you feel comfortable with and trust the person you choose to guide you through this. This could be the estate agent, your bank or a mortgage broker like TMG Mortgages. Your bank will only have access to their own mortgage products and estate agents are often limited to a small number of lenders which is why many people prefer to speak to a mortgage broker like us with a wider choice of lenders and no sales targets to drive their advice.

We believe that trust is an important factor between mortgage adviser and house-buyer, so we don’t charge any fees initially to allow you to get to know us as we get to know you. We will happily chat with you and go over the process, what to expect, how mortgages work, how much you can borrow, what the monthly costs might be, etc. and be available for you whenever you have any questions. We only charge a fee upon mortgage application which is quite far down the line. So if after you have found a house and had an offer accepted, you prefer to choose a different way to arrange the mortgage, then we would wish you well and there is no cost to you. The actual fee will depend on your circumstances, but typically this would be £450.

People often don’t realise that they need to keep back some of their savings for up front costs and professional fees. Without knowing the details of a specific property, if is difficult to give actual costs here but we can give estimates after we discuss what kind of property you are looking at. That said, the typical areas you would incur costs will be; solicitors, stamp duty (a government tax when purchasing a house), lender fees, survey fees, broker fees and removal firm costs. You would only have estate agent fees if you are selling a property.

You will have your mortgage payments, insurances and regular bills to to keep on top of each month. You will have additional costs if you buy a flat so it is important to check what these are with the estate agent if you are considering buying a flat. Any regular outgoings are factored into the lender’s affordability calculations, so it is important that they are all discussed early on to ensure the correct maximum borrowing calculations are made. We will go over these in detail with you with the aid of a budget planner to ensure that you can comfortably meet your regular commitments.

When buying a flat there are a few more considerations to make. Flats are usually leasehold which means that whilst you don’t own the whole building that your flat is in, you will own that ‘unit’ that your flat occupies. This means you effectively rent the space your flat is in from the owner of the whole block (known as the freeholder). They will agree that you have have this space for a set number of years which is often hundreds of years, but occasionally, flats can be sold when there is not long left on the lease which causes major legal issues and lenders will insist that there is a set amount of time remaining before they agree to lend. This will usually be something like 50 years + the length of your mortgage.

Your credit score and credit report are tools that lenders use to assess your creditworthiness. There are several credit reference agencies but there isn’t one standard measure that they all use. So, in isolation your credit score number is difficult to translate into how a lender may view your application. This is why it’s important to view the score within the context of the credit report as a whole. The score is determined by various factors that appear on your credit report such as:
How many loans, credit cards and finance agreements you have
Have your commitments been paid on time and are they currently up to date?
How close to your credit card limit is the amount you owe?
Do you have County Court Judgements (CCJs) or defaults?
Are you on the electoral role at your current address?

Because the credit file is such an important part of finding the most suitable mortgage for you, we will probably ask you to obtain a copy of it (we will recommend the best way to do this).

Top Tip – Obtain a copy of your credit report as soon as possible, ideally long before you apply for a mortgage. This way you will be able to anticipate any potential issues and address them ahead of time.

In most instances, yes you can. Your credit file will show how bad your credit history is, and this will determine the interest rate charged by the lender as well as the amount of the deposit you’ll need to find.

Top Tip – Share your credit report with your mortgage broker as early as possible. Your adviser will be able to offer some advice around the best way to progress in terms of which lender would be best and the timings around when to apply for the mortgage.

This can vary, but be prepared to provide:
Identification (e.g. passport or driving licence)
Proof of address (e.g. a recent utility bill)
Proof of income
Bank statements
Credit report
Other documents are sometimes requested, depending on things like your employment status, evidencing other income (such as benefits or maintenance), etc.

Top Tip – Ensure your documents have your up to date details on them, especially if you have recently changed your name or address.

This will depend on several factors including:
Your current age
Your retirement age
The lender’s policy
Your overall affordability
However, most lenders will allow you to go up to your 70^th birthday but won’t let you take the mortgage for longer than 35 years. There are exceptions to this however and we can discuss this with you. 

Top Tip – Whilst it’s nice to have lower monthly payments by taking the mortgage over a long time, you will end up paying back more interest. So, try to pay it off as soon as you can.

Most lenders will want to see 2 years financial documents which would typically be your Tax Calculations and Tax Year Overviews, (as well as company accounts if you’re the director of a limited company). They normally then take an average of the last 2 years (if you’ve had an increase in profit in the most recent year). However, there are some lenders that will accept just the most recent accounts which is handy if you have only been trading for just over a year!

Top Tip –  The vast majority of lenders require your tax documentation to be less than 18 months old. This means that you may need to submit your Tax Return earlier than HMRC need you to.

Yes they can. There are several ways in which parents, other family members and friends can help you to buy a property. They can help by giving you the deposit (or part of it), or they can join you on the mortgage to give you a boost in income and affordability (without them being on the house deeds meaning that the property is just in your name).

Top Tip – If you have someone on the mortgage with you, there are financial and legal implications for them. Therefore, they will need to take Indeendent Legal Advice.

This will depend on various factors, the main one being how many people are in the property chain. Your solicitor also has lots to do and is reliant upon various third parties, such as the local council and water board responding to their enquiries. When a lender agrees a mortgage, they send you a mortgage offer which is usually valid for 6 months. It’s very rare that we need to go beyond this timeframe and typically, a 3 month period between applying for the mortgage and moving in is normal.

Top Tip – It’s important that the solicitor you use is efficient and accessible, so do not be tempted to use the cheapest one you can find! We have worked with several firms over the years who we have a great relationship with and can instruct one of these solicitors for you.

As responsible lenders, the mortgage providers want to know how you conduct your finances and that you can demonstrate that you can afford a mortgage payment each month. They will also look out for anything that might be a cause for concern, such as gambling transactions (even if you have a lot of wins), payday loans, and that you keep within any agreed overdraft limits. 

Top Tip – It’s good to show that you have enough spare funds each month to pay a mortgage payment, even if you don’t pay for a mortgage or rent now. So try to keep some money in your account each month (or better still, transfer some to a savings account).

All lenders will accept income from your main employment, whether that’s from self-employment or working for an employer. After this, it gets complicated! Lenders are generally happy to also accept overtime, bonus, commission, shift allowance, etc. However, these are often calculated differently to your main salary. This means that in order to get an accurate assessment of what you can borrow, you can’t just use the figure on your P60 to determine your annual income.

Some lenders also accept things like Child Benefit, Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Tax Credits, Universal Credit, maintenance and income from second jobs. There are various rules and exceptions to these, so it’s important to discuss this with a mortgage broker so that each lender’s rules can be looked into properly.

Top Tip – Don’t use lenders’ online affordability calculators to work out what you can borrow as many people end up with the wrong figure, meaning they are not able to buy the house they set their heart on. Let an experienced mortgage broker do this for you before you start looking for your dream home!

In most cases, your deposit (which can be from various sources) will need to be at least 5% of the house price. The larger the deposit the better, as this will open up more options for you with lower interest rates. There are some special schemes in place where your deposit can be as little as £5,000 or even zero. However, these are not for everyone, but we can discuss them with you to see if you are eligible.

Top Tip – Start saving up as early as possible. Look out for special savings plans such as the Lifetime ISA which gives you a bonus to top up your savings.

This will depend on your individual circumstances. Lenders will factor in things like your employment type, income, committed expenditure, dependents, age, credit history and deposit size. They all have their own way of working this out, so it is important that you speak to a mortgage broker like TMG Mortgages to ensure this is done properly. If you get in touch with us, we can answer these questions for you.

Top Tip – Only borrow what you are comfortable with paying back each month. A lender may offer you more than you need, but that doesn’t mean you have to max out!