First time buying & selling - advice

First time buying & selling - advice

Author
Discussion

redandwhite

Original Poster:

479 posts

130 months

Friday 3rd February 2017
quotequote all
Looking for advice on this, my thinking is this;

*Mortgage in principle - I am best waiting until i have had an offer accepted on a property i want to buy before getting one of these (as they are time sensitive and leave a mark on credit file). Not using a FA ,doing it myself.

*Conveyancer - Can get this in place prior to accepting an offer on current property or having an offer accepted on purchasing property. (May incur costs however if subsequently dont decide to sell).

Until today we had accepted an offer on our current property and were negotiating hard on the purchasing price of a new property, until the buyer pulled the plug today which is disheartening but not worth loosing sleep over.

I havent got a MIP or Conveyancer set up but have been getting Conveyancing quotes and scouring for the best Mortgage deals. Should i get the Conveyancer set up in preparation for accepting the next offer. House is prime for a FTB.

Had a slight worry when the Estate Agent suggested we needed a MIP before they could formally accept any offer on a purchase , I assume i can get this sorted in a day? Already had a affordability assessement with current lender and looking to borrow way under that.

Any tips appreciated !

RedandWhite


Edited by redandwhite on Friday 3rd February 14:24

valiant

10,311 posts

161 months

Friday 3rd February 2017
quotequote all
Don't think you'll be taken seriously unless you can prove you have funds available to proceed, whether that be cash in the bank or a mortgage in principle sorted. Far too many dreamers and wasters out there.

I think mortgages can be 'held' for six months and may be extended if you're in the middle of the process.

Good luck.smile

redandwhite

Original Poster:

479 posts

130 months

Friday 3rd February 2017
quotequote all
valiant said:
Don't think you'll be taken seriously unless you can prove you have funds available to proceed, whether that be cash in the bank or a mortgage in principle sorted. Far too many dreamers and wasters out there.

I think mortgages can be 'held' for six months and may be extended if you're in the middle of the process.

Good luck.smile
Thanks

TVR MAN

1,038 posts

223 months

Friday 3rd February 2017
quotequote all
Getting mortgage approval in principle is very easy. It took 15 mins online with Halifax for me last week and they also claimed it wouldn't leave a mark on my credit record.

Sarnie

8,050 posts

210 months

Friday 3rd February 2017
quotequote all
TVR MAN said:
they also claimed it wouldn't leave a mark on my credit record.
...............which makes it worthless.

Even a hard credit scored AIP means nothing.......complete industry myth peddled by Estate Agents.

Don't apply for credit until you have a property to buy.

anonymous-user

55 months

Saturday 4th February 2017
quotequote all
You're right Sarnie, but as an agent, it does to at least help us to separate the moderately serious buyers from the dreamers.

romeogolf

2,056 posts

120 months

Saturday 4th February 2017
quotequote all
valiant said:
Don't think you'll be taken seriously unless you can prove you have funds available to proceed, whether that be cash in the bank or a mortgage in principle sorted. Far too many dreamers and wasters out there.

I think mortgages can be 'held' for six months and may be extended if you're in the middle of the process.

Good luck.smile
I would disagree. Having purchased two homes in the last year putting in the offer before having an AIP, neither time did I feel I was treated like a time-waster. Both times they were "generic" lower-cost homes, nothing spectacular, so perhaps this is only a perception for buyers of more exotic properties? Where looking around might be more interesting, and people might just want a nose.

redandwhite

Original Poster:

479 posts

130 months

Saturday 4th February 2017
quotequote all
Thanks all.

Another question, my choice of lender to give AIP once found a property will be driven by the most competitive deal available at the time , how does it work if weeks later when you are nearing completion the deal no longer exists ?!

Also conveyancers, I understand the big pull factor of choosing your local firm in town which allows you to meet in person and chase up when the going gets tough. Other than having to use the postal service , how much worse of Ab experience do you get from a non local conveyancer (often for a cheaper price).

Edited by redandwhite on Saturday 4th February 21:28

drainbrain

5,637 posts

112 months

Saturday 4th February 2017
quotequote all
Gosh things must have changed a lot since I last bought somewhere to live (more than a decade ago). Back then 'sensible' was arranging the finance first and THEN finding a suitable house -ie one which, in the lender's opinion formed suitable security for the loan.

What on earth's the point in going house hunting without any certainty of funds? And what property do you even look at before you know you can borrow enough to buy it?
Funnily enough I've just shaken hands on the sale of my house. And as I want a mortgage for the next one I'll be starting to chase a loan next week. DIP's are meaningless. I'll want a written agreement to lend with at least a 3-month lifespan with the only remaining criterion being the suitability of the house as a security which will require a survey that passes the lender's scrutiny. But the lending part will be set in stone.

Don't tell me this isn't how it's done these days? Because the only option then is to make conditional (on funding) offers which are what we call "coach-and-horses" offers which aren't much more than expressions of interest and which certainly leave a seller to strike a bargain with any other prospective purchaser.




Sarnie

8,050 posts

210 months

Saturday 4th February 2017
quotequote all
redandwhite said:
Thanks all.

Another question, my choice of lender to give AIP once found a property will be driven by the most competitive deal available at the time , how does it work if weeks later when you are nearing completion the deal no longer exists ?!

Also conveyancers, I understand the big pull factor of choosing your local firm in town which allows you to meet in person and chase up when the going gets tough. Other than having to use the postal service , how much worse of Ab experience do you get from a non local conveyancer (often for a cheaper price).

Edited by redandwhite on Saturday 4th February 21:28
When you submit the AIP, you do not secure any rate.

Rates changes every other week. If, when you've found a property, the rates have changed, tough. This is why you don't apply for an AIP until you have secured the property.....what might be the preferable lender today, may not be next week..............

Don't choose a solicitor because they are cheap. Don't choose one because they are local either.

Choose one that is good, based on personal recommendations...........a good solicitor, even if they are not cheap or local, can save you an enormous amount of stress. A poor one can really cause you untold grief and potentially the property itself......no point going with a solicitor to save yourself £50, if they spend every Thursday & Friday on the golf course and only reply to mails and calls on a Tuesday...........

redandwhite

Original Poster:

479 posts

130 months

Sunday 5th February 2017
quotequote all
Sarnie said:
When you submit the AIP, you do not secure any rate.

Rates changes every other week. If, when you've found a property, the rates have changed, tough. This is why you don't apply for an AIP until you have secured the property.....what might be the preferable lender today, may not be next week..............

Don't choose a solicitor because they are cheap. Don't choose one because they are local either.

Choose one that is good, based on personal recommendations...........a good solicitor, even if they are not cheap or local, can save you an enormous amount of stress. A poor one can really cause you untold grief and potentially the property itself......no point going with a solicitor to save yourself £50, if they spend every Thursday & Friday on the golf course and only reply to mails and calls on a Tuesday...........
Many thanks sarnie.

redandwhite

Original Poster:

479 posts

130 months

Sunday 5th February 2017
quotequote all
drainbrain said:
Gosh things must have changed a lot since I last bought somewhere to live (more than a decade ago). Back then 'sensible' was arranging the finance first and THEN finding a suitable house -ie one which, in the lender's opinion formed suitable security for the loan.

What on earth's the point in going house hunting without any certainty of funds? And what property do you even look at before you know you can borrow enough to buy it?
Funnily enough I've just shaken hands on the sale of my house. And as I want a mortgage for the next one I'll be starting to chase a loan next week. DIP's are meaningless. I'll want a written agreement to lend with at least a 3-month lifespan with the only remaining criterion being the suitability of the house as a security which will require a survey that passes the lender's scrutiny. But the lending part will be set in stone.

Don't tell me this isn't how it's done these days? Because the only option then is to make conditional (on funding) offers which are what we call "coach-and-horses" offers which aren't much more than expressions of interest and which certainly leave a seller to strike a bargain with any other prospective purchaser.



If you are referring to my situation , then I spoke with my current lender who gave me a maximum loan figure , I am looking to borrow 60% of that figure. This then gave me a price window for properties.

Not sure you can arrange finances (as you said) any further than I have (by speaking to current lender), before you know the price of the property you are buying. You can only do this once you have had an offer accepted.

...
Typically how long before exchange would you look to secure the mortgage product ?

Sarnie

8,050 posts

210 months

Sunday 5th February 2017
quotequote all
drainbrain said:
Don't tell me this isn't how it's done these days?


This isn't how it's done these days.

drainbrain

5,637 posts

112 months

Sunday 5th February 2017
quotequote all
Sarnie said:
This isn't how it's done these days.
So if you don't know for sure either how much or even if you're going to be able to borrow funds, how do you decide what to buy and for how much? Just base it on the DIP?

Is everyone just making (conditional on funding) offers neither they nor the seller have any certainty will be funded ? So what does the buyer do? HOPE the funding will happen? And the seller? HOPES that the buyer does get funded at some indeterminate future date?

Well that'll bring back 'cash is king' culture I suppose, so anyone buying without a mortgage is going to be a preferred offer.

No more funding agreements with a 3 month lifespan?

Crazy!



Sarnie

8,050 posts

210 months

Sunday 5th February 2017
quotequote all
drainbrain said:
Is everyone just making (conditional on funding) offers neither they nor the seller have any certainty will be funded ? So what does the buyer do? HOPE the funding will happen? And the seller? HOPES that the buyer does get funded at some indeterminate future date?
Yep.

Welcome to buying property in England.

Nothing is guaranteed until contracts are exchanged. Until that happens, either party can walk away for any given reason whether thats because they can't get a mortgage or they've just changed their mind or the vendor decides they are no longer selling......

drainbrain

5,637 posts

112 months

Sunday 5th February 2017
quotequote all
redandwhite said:
If you are referring to my situation , then I spoke with my current lender who gave me a maximum loan figure , I am looking to borrow 60% of that figure. This then gave me a price window for properties.

Not sure you can arrange finances (as you said) any further than I have (by speaking to current lender), before you know the price of the property you are buying. You can only do this once you have had an offer accepted.

...
Typically how long before exchange would you look to secure the mortgage product ?
What they used to do was move from decision in principle to a firm offer. That would have a 3 month 'window'. At that point you 'went shopping', and got a survey and made an offer. If you hadn't found a property by then, a lender might ask for some application data to be refreshed before basically repeating the offer on a 3 month window. However, once the decision to lend had been made, all that was required was for you to find a property whose survey didn't preclude the lender from advancing the funding, which you'd know because you'd already got the survey - being careful to use a surveyor who was on your lender's panel.

drainbrain

5,637 posts

112 months

Sunday 5th February 2017
quotequote all
Sarnie said:
Yep.

Welcome to buying property in England.

Nothing is guaranteed until contracts are exchanged. Until that happens, either party can walk away for any given reason whether thats because they can't get a mortgage or they've just changed their mind or the vendor decides they are no longer selling......
Aha! So it's maybe different with lenders here.

Mind you what you call 'exchanging contracts' we call concluding missives'. And no solicitor will conclude a missive on the buyer's behalf until he's certain his client's got funding. Solicitors much prefer to make offers where the funding (mortgage or cash) IS in place because it allows them to conclude missives swiftly. Which vendors obviously prefer as well.

Why won't lenders in England give unconditional lending offers (subject to survey, of course)? What's the foreseen problem?

Sarnie

8,050 posts

210 months

Sunday 5th February 2017
quotequote all
drainbrain said:
Aha! So it's maybe different with lenders here.

Mind you what you call 'exchanging contracts' we call concluding missives'. And no solicitor will conclude a missive on the buyer's behalf until he's certain his client's got funding. Solicitors much prefer to make offers where the funding (mortgage or cash) IS in place because it allows them to conclude missives swiftly. Which vendors obviously prefer as well.

Why won't lenders in England give unconditional lending offers (subject to survey, of course)? What's the foreseen problem?
Sorry, you seem to have jumped on my "England" statement.

The lending process is no different in Scotland as it is in England.

The legal process is different but the mortgage proceed is exactly the same.

There is no option to submit a "full application" to any UK lender that I'm aware of without having the full property details at the very outset, it's simply not possible.

drainbrain

5,637 posts

112 months

Monday 6th February 2017
quotequote all
Sarnie said:
Sorry, you seem to have jumped on my "England" statement.

The lending process is no different in Scotland as it is in England.

The legal process is different but the mortgage proceed is exactly the same.

There is no option to submit a "full application" to any UK lender that I'm aware of without having the full property details at the very outset, it's simply not possible.
That's the thing I'm talking about:

  • *********************************
Mortgage pre-approval

What is a mortgage pre approval?
A pre-approved mortgage is basically an agreement to lend to a customer before a property is found and full application submitted. It can often be a physical certificate that outlines the lender is happy to approve the mortgage based on the info provided up to that point, and may also indicate the maximum loan available to the borrowers.

The process of getting a pre-approved mortgage in the UK is very different now to what it was years ago, and for a lot of borrowers and professionals the meaning of the approval has itself changed, becoming much more of a positive indication the lender might lend, than an actual mortgage-guarantee.

  • ***********************************
Seems it HAS changed since 2005 when I last bought a principal residence.



Edited by drainbrain on Monday 6th February 00:27

Sarnie

8,050 posts

210 months

Monday 6th February 2017
quotequote all
drainbrain said:
That's the thing I'm talking about:

  • *********************************
Mortgage pre-approval

What is a mortgage pre approval?
A pre-approved mortgage is basically an agreement to lend to a customer before a property is found and full application submitted. It can often be a physical certificate that outlines the lender is happy to approve the mortgage based on the info provided up to that point, and may also indicate the maximum loan available to the borrowers.

The process of getting a pre-approved mortgage in the UK is very different now to what it was years ago, and for a lot of borrowers and professionals the meaning of the approval has itself changed, becoming much more of a positive indication the lender might lend, than an actual mortgage-guarantee.

  • ***********************************
Seems it HAS changed since 2005 when I last bought a principal residence.



Edited by drainbrain on Monday 6th February 00:27
"Since 2005"

Ha!!!

Yep, a few little things have changed since then! smile