Mortgage Question

[plexer]

If I had any disposable income I'd pay extra, when I do have I intend to.

 

Ben

[featured_spectre]

If we had room for a lodger, we would probably do the same, unfortunately, we lack the space. We want a 3 bed house, on our street, but just have to wait I suppose until one of the neighbours move. lol

[Steve21]

Aye as a few people mentioned my understanding was every "insurance" was optional normally, apart from building cover etc. Some may prefer others, but don't think it's forced if you really object

 

In terms of deposit size, obviously the more the better, but part of me says it's better to keep some money behind just to get you settled in, whether it's for goods, bills or something you need to fix/improve etc It's unlikely you'll find lots of spare money afterwards while paying the mortgage!

 

In terms of rates people are paying, did many people go for a much longer fixed rate at a higher percentage? Just been flicking through Santander options, and seems more sense to go for a 5 year fixed at 2.5% than a 2 year fixed at 2%. Even if you're paying more to start with, soon save it back after the 2 years

 

Thanks,

Steve

[Andrew_C]

The BBC have a web page on mortgages. Lists rates and has a calculator to workout your monthly payments.

 

I'm working on a 15 year repayment at the moment; but with lots of cash, combining two houses into one. Still hurts when you think what you will be paying out! And DON'T get me started on lawyers. Two months down the line, just when things look wrapped up, another bunch of enquiries. The idle ***** have been sitting on their ******* thumbs. If they were acting for me, I'd be in the office tomorrow at 9 kicking some bottom.

[Andrew_C]

Having finally moved, it transpires that the hold-ups were caused by the first time buyer at the bottom of the chain not checking first to see if he would get enough cash. Your Move estate agent didn't check that his mortgage was in place, the buyer didn't know what was required of him and the agents were bloody hopeless at chasing him. Our buyers, who sold with YM have complained to their head office. Then at almost the last minute Halifax decided he had to provide a larger deposit.

 

Moral of story. Get your lender on side early, find out how much they will lend, and whether they are going to move the goal posts. Keep hassling estate agents, and your solicitor/conveyancer if things slow down. And draw your own conclusions on the two above named companies.

[XiJ]

It seems that all the estate agents do us stick it on right move and sit back and wait. We're in our second agent and nothing is happening in our attempt to sell.

 

I'm pretty sure I could market my house and achieve more doing it myself....if I had the time.

[mac_shinobi]

How much extra do you need on top of the deposit as there are things like

 

* solicitor fees

* land registry tax

Etc etc

 

Not sure if im calling them by the correct names / terms etc

 

Presumably those charges are seperate from the deposit

[XiJ]

Deposit is for your mortgage only. You can add arrangement fees etc to the mortgage if you don't have the upfront cash.

 

Solicitors fees range from £750 to £2k+ around here (for first time buyer market ish). We paid £550 6 years ago which covered all search fees + solicitor fee.

 

Get a recommended (by others as well as mortgage lender) solicitor and a fairly local one. Keep chasing them.

[Andrew_C]

It seems that all the estate agents do us stick it on right move and sit back and wait.

The one we used, both buying and selling, worked hard for us. Chasing up and down the ladder to keep things moving, and to stop our seller pulling out when things dragged so badly she lost incentives from her builder.

 

Happy to praise Winkworths. I'd use them again, and my solicitor, Kirklands. Only useful information for those around here though!

[zag]

Having finally moved, it transpires that the hold-ups were caused by the first time buyer at the bottom of the chain not checking first to see if he would get enough cash. Your Move estate agent didn't check that his mortgage was in place, the buyer didn't know what was required of him and the agents were bloody hopeless at chasing him. Our buyers, who sold with YM have complained to their head office. Then at almost the last minute Halifax decided he had to provide a larger deposit.

 

An estate agents job is to market a house and introduce a buyer to a seller. That is all they do.

 

They have nothing to do with checking financial details of the buyer.

[XiJ]

An estate agents job is to market a house and introduce a buyer to a seller. That is all they do.

 

They have nothing to do with checking financial details of the buyer.

 

That's not really true any more. It's also common sense and in their own interest to at least check the buyer has a mortgage in principle / funds to move.

 

They also tend to want you to use their own / partnered lender a lot of the time.

[Andrew_C]

Nuts. Any GOOD agent will be checking the "quality" of the buyer. We went with our buyer as they seemed ready to go, and they were. Their buyer, introduced by Your Move, were not ready, despite thinking they were. If they had done this, we would have held out for more £, rather than a quick sale.

 

Our agents (selling and buying) checked the status of our mortgage position prior to advising that we accept the offer.

[zag]

I've sold both my houses direct without an estate agent, I checked all the buyers credentials myself.

 

Just not sure I would ever trust an estate agent to do stuff like that

[XiJ]

I've sold both my houses direct without an estate agent, I checked all the buyers credentials myself.

 

Just not sure I would ever trust an estate agent to do stuff like that

 

I've come to the same conclusion.

[TechMonkey]

How much extra do you need on top of the deposit as there are things like

 

* solicitor fees

* land registry tax

Etc etc

 

Not sure if im calling them by the correct names / terms etc

 

Presumably those charges are seperate from the deposit

 

Don't forget Stamp Duty which is not covered by your mortgage. 2% of the house price between £125k and £250k.

[mac_shinobi]

Don't forget Stamp Duty which is not covered by your mortgage. 2% of the house price between £125k and £250k.

 

Does that have to be paid up front or can that be tacked onto the mortgage or does it come out of the deposit so will need more deposit or what exactly ? Thanks @TechMonkey !!!

[zag]

Does that have to be paid up front or can that be tacked onto the mortgage or does it come out of the deposit so will need more deposit or what exactly ? Thanks @TechMonkey !!!

 

I've always paid it out of the deposit.

[Andrew_C]

Errrmmm... Nope. Purchase price of property	Rate of SDLT (percentage of the total purchase price)
£0 - £125,000	0%
£125,001 - £250,000	1%
£250,001 - £500,000	3%
£500,001 - £1 million	4%
Over £1 million - £2 million	5%
Over £2 million	7%

 

https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax-rates

 

As to paying it, what happens is, your solicitor will gather all monies together on completion day and give you a breakdown of what is paid to whom.

Edited July 1, 2013 by Andrew_C

[Andrew_C]

And a further thought on moving; more of a "Life Hack", that only occurred to me when faced with a mountain of boxes on Friday evening. How relevant this is to you depends on how much "stuff" you are moving. We had one 7.5T truck, two 3.5T trucks, one of which went back for the plants and garden furniture. Good thing it was only a 500m move!

 

Buy some plastic crates of a colour you don't have any of at the moment. Over the week or so of your preparation, ONLY pack the things you are going to need over the next few days (drugs, relevant paperwork, keys*) in them. Keep a few of these crates spare for the actually leaving the house morning. Put all the things you can't pack in advance in them. These are likely to be things you are going to want as soon as you get to the new place. (Tea, coffee, kettle, a few mugs/glasses, modem, laptop). When faced with floor to ceiling boxes, the important ones will stand out.

 

LABEL EVERYTHING! Even the binliners full of dirty laundry. Stick parcel tape across the top, and label them.

 

 

*I spotted that the keys for my motorcycle were in the dresser when it was already on the van, and seriously boxed in. No problem, but inconvienient. I wonder where my work keys are?

[JoeBloggs]

It seems that all the estate agents do us stick it on right move and sit back and wait. We're in our second agent and nothing is happening in our attempt to sell.

 

I'm pretty sure I could market my house and achieve more doing it myself....if I had the time.

 

Different Agents do different stuff. Anyone can become an Estate Agent and open up a shop - that's why you need to find the right agent.

If you get the right one, they will bend over backwards for you and really help you sell your property - mailing databases, quality of potential buyers, liaising with solicitors, surveyors, checking they have funds, mortgage in principle, removals, EPCs, floorplans, going on all the property portals rather than just RIghtmove, professional photography the list goes on - then obviously the negotiate the best price for you selling!

Edited July 1, 2013 by JoeBloggs

[TechMonkey]

Does that have to be paid up front or can that be tacked onto the mortgage or does it come out of the deposit so will need more deposit or what exactly ? Thanks @TechMonkey !!!

 

I've been told you have to have it, that it can't come out of the mortgage, of which the deposit is part of. Not paid up front, the Solicitor will send you a declaration form to fill in that will go to the HMRC and I assume you send it along with all the other monies when the time comes. The solicitor then directs it the correct way.

 

Thanks @Andrew_C I'd got confused with something else, it is 1% & of course there are other bands but assumed being first timer he'd stick in the bottom 2 bands.

[mac_shinobi]

I've been told you have to have it, that it can't come out of the mortgage, of which the deposit is part of. Not paid up front, the Solicitor will send you a declaration form to fill in that will go to the HMRC and I assume you send it along with all the other monies when the time comes. The solicitor then directs it the correct way.

 

Thanks @Andrew_C I'd got confused with something else, it is 1% & of course there are other bands but assumed being first timer he'd stick in the bottom 2 bands.

 

Either 0% or 1% as won't be getting a property that's more than 150k at most !!

[featured_spectre]

A good idea is 20% of the house value.

 

Keep 1/4 of that aside for the following

 

Solicitors fees, stamp duty, estate agent fees. The remaining will give you a nice sum for any costs not factored in (hiring a removals company etc)

 

And for your are @mac_shinobi houses under £150k tend to be 1-2 bedroom houses, judging by your needs from what I know of you, you'll need a 3 bed minimum.

Edited July 1, 2013 by featured_spectre

[Andrew_C]

20% huh?

 

Stamp 1%

Agents 1.25%

Solicitors £5K tops

Movers £1k (depends, about what we paid for a heap of stuff, but nearby)

 

On our £250,000 buy we've spent sort of £7000. More than we'd hoped, but the "bank of dad" is helping with a "loan" to do some bits around the house

[mac_shinobi]

Looking at a 3 bed in our area and a max of 150k