There are three key ingredients to a mortgage. ‘Generally Speaking!’ Credit worthiness, Affordability and Equity. Essentially this means having a half decent credit score, an income which supports the level of borrowing and a deposit. If you have these three ingredients then chances are we’ll be able to get you a mortgage.

If you don’t or if you’re worried about any of these elements then don’t panic, chances are we can do something. The most common concern that our clients convey to us is surrounding their creditworthiness.

Creditworthiness can be split into two main things;

Credit Score

This is a number which is fed into by loads of different things. Things like; how often you move, whether you’re on the electoral role, how often you search for credit and how often you use revolving credit that you have. As well as the obvious things such as not paying bills on time and catching up when you’re late. Yes. It’s super complicated, but it’s a tried and tested way to lend money and it works. For this reason the vast majority of lenders will check your credit score.

If your score looks a bit low to you, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a mortgage. The lenders actually have their own ‘scorecard’ which may result in a very different number to the one you’re looking at. Your Advantage FS broker will request a copy of your credit report as part of our service.

Follow this link to get a copy of your report. It’s free but you need to cancel within the 28 day free trial period if you don’t intend to use their service.

https://www.checkmyfile.com/credit-report

Credit Check

This is a bit more straight forward. Credit Checking simply means a human being, makes the check and applies a policy, lending appetite and their mind to what their looking at. Within reason, this means that credit checking may be a more lenient way to lend money when compared to credit scoring. Specialist lenders do not ‘Score’, they will ‘Check’ instead. This means if you have really good reason for a credit hiccup then they can be sympathetic to the situation. If you’re reading this and you’re think omg, that’s me! Then you should definitely call us.

If you’re employed then the pandemic hasn’t hampered your ability to obtain a mortgage. Sadly the same cannot necessarily be said if you’re self employed, if you took some form of government support then the lender is going to be interested in how your business was impacted by the pandemic and whether your trading has returned to normal ‘pre-pandemic’ levels. If this isn’t the case then there’s still a possibility that we can still help, albeit with a restricted number of lenders.

We get this alot! Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could just say ‘Your score needs to be xxx in order to get a mortgage’ however it’s not quite that simple. A good broker would always request a copy of your credit report to get a good feel for your creditworthiness. It’s important to remember that not all lenders will look at your numerical score, some will just check that your credit history is acceptable to them. Therefore, if your score is low it’s still possible to get a good mortgage, you just need a good broker!

Ever heard the phrase ‘Time heals’. Well it’s certainly true in the world of mortgages. Adverse credit history is usually defined by defaults and County Court Judgements (CCJ) for debts. If you have either of these then the mortgage market will be opening up to you more and more over time. We will potentially be able to help after as soon as 6 months have passed since your Default or CCJ, the market will continue to open up every 6 to 12 months that pass, with rates improving each time.

It is possible to get a mortgage with poor credit history. It’s important to make sure that any accounts that are in arrears are up to date before you apply. The first thing a mortgage broker will ask for is a copy of your credit report, it’s really important that your broker knows everything in order to be able to make their recommendation.

Annoyingly, the lender doesn’t have to tell you why they have declined your mortgage but they usually will. There’s a lot to learn from a declined mortgage so we’ll try to find out as much possible about what has lead to the decision to prepare for the next application.

There are many reasons why you may struggle to get a mortgage. These range from applying for too many credit accounts in a short period of time, to an adverse credit history such as a CCJ or default on payments.

Mortgages typically charge daily interest from the date it starts (completion date) until your first official payment date. If there’s a gap (e.g. completion on the 15th, but your first payment is due on the 1st of the next month), you’ll pay extra interest for those initial days on top of your regular payment.

The first payment is a balancing payment so could well be higher. Don’t worry, there’s no hidden fees!

We often hear this question, so you’re not alone! If you’re kindly gifting money for a deposit, we’ll need to complete a few quick checks.

This involves asking you for some documents to confirm the funds are available and having a brief chat about where they originated. This isn’t because we’re nosy—it’s a legal requirement we must follow under UK Anti-Money Laundering regulations.

These same checks are standard practice across the board, so you’ll likely find the estate agent and conveyancer will need similar information. We’re all working together to make the purchase process safe and secure for everyone.

Thank you so much for your understanding and cooperation!

This one is confusing. Mortgage products often get bumped into a category which is broadly accurate but misleading nonetheless. The fixed length period is a great example of this, quite often a product might be described a 2 or 5-year fixed rate. But, in reality the product has a defined end date from the moment you receive the first illustration from your mortgage broker. This is particularly relevant when you’re buying a property and the completion date is delayed, some lenders will allow you to extend a mortgage offer for up to a year without the fixed rate end date changing.

It’s important to take the description with a pinch of salt, focus on the ‘fixed until’ date on your mortgage illustration and offer. There are a few exceptions to this rule, for example, Nationwide building society do actually fix you in for the amount of time on your offer.