Ask the experts
About our experts...
At John Charcol, we are constantly asked for advice by borrowers on what they should do when it comes to mortgages. As such, we created this section so that you can submit your questions to our experts. The answers are provided by a number of people who have years of experience in the mortgage market. The team is led by Peter Woodward who spent his formative years as an underwriter with one of the major UK lenders and the last 10 years in our Technical Department along side Ray.
So please do submit your question and we will do all we can to answer it as quickly as possible
Please be aware that these answers can only be generic and no personal recommendations can be made.
Posted on 19/04/2010
My husband entered an IVA in 2005 and paid it off early in 2007. We sold the house and rent. We have a year to go until his defaults come off of his credit rating. We are desperate to buy our own house. He earns £53k and I earn £11k (as I am part time). We have never missed a mortgage payment or rent payment. We have a 15% deposit. Went to an ifa and he told us that Halifax have agreed a Decision in Principle. Yippeeeee!!! We fell in love with a house, offer accepted and now underwriters have turned around and said no!!! I just don't understand. Help!!!!
Categories: Bad credit, The application process explained
Posted on 13/07/2009
My partner and i are looking for a good mortgage deal and have been speaking with an independent broker. so we are clear that we are not being pushed into a deal that is unsuitable will the broker have to inform us of the commissions in each deal that they could earn or is it going to be kept secret from us. Furthermore at what stage should we be informed by the broker about any commisions?
kind regards
chris
Chris,
It is a requirement of the Financial Service Authority that brokers must disclose any commission being paid to them by the lender, as well as all other costs including the broker fee. The two key regulatory requirements a broker must meet to be allowed to call themselves independent are that they must offer whole of market advice and they must give you the option to pay for their services by way of a fee, although other options can be available as well, such as part commission and part fee.
The commission (also known as a procuration fee) and broker fee will be shown on the key facts illustration (KFI), which you must be given before committing to a mortgage.
Categories: The application process explained
Posted on 02/05/2008
We have our house on the market and are looking to move into a bigger house which of course will costs us more money. What do we need to do in terms of our mortgage. We are with Alliance & Leicester and our current deal runs out in November this year.
Do I contact A&L and ask for more money? Kellie
Categories: The application process explained
Posted on 25/02/2008
Hi Katie, I currently have a mortgage on my residential home. I am looking at buying a second property with a friend of mine to refurbish and sell on. There are a couple of things I am not sure of, the first being, can I secure a second mortgage to buy the proposed new property which will probably be a repossession? Also, what happens in regards to buying and selling future property if the venture is successful?
Categories: The application process explained
Posted on 18/01/2008
I currently own a home worth £171K and have a mortgage of £60K left to pay off. I am looking to buy another property on a buy to let. My Salary is 38K but I would need to borrow £170K to buy the house. All the mortgage calculators I've seen take into account salary and mortgage without taking into account equity I have in my current house. Is a bank likely to loan me the money? Many thanks for any help you can provide
Categories: Buy-to-let, The application process explained
Posted on 19/12/2007
Hi, Is there anyway you can work out for me what the interest would be on £103,000 mortgage? Sally
Categories: First-time buyer, The application process explained
Posted on 17/12/2007
Hi Katie, I have a mortgage of £50,000 I need to borrow £25,000 more. How much would a £75,000 mortgage cost me?
Categories: The application process explained
Posted on 16/12/2007
Hi Katie, I heard there are 8500 mortgage products out there. How different can they really be? - grateful for your insight. Thanks, Clive.
Categories: First-time buyer, The application process explained
Posted on 08/11/2007
Hi katie, I would like to buy a pub, but don't know the best way to go around it. The tenant at the moment would like £25,000 and there is 7 years left on the lease. I live in private rented accommodation,and my credit rating is poor i have 1 CCJ but have never really had any credit before. Also i have no saving to put towards this. Please help.
Categories: Bad credit, First-time buyer, The application process explained
Posted on 05/10/2007
My partner and i want to buy soon. We are first time buyers. My salary is £14000 and his is £16500. we are both set to have pay rises of approx £1500 each by July 2007. we have seen a property we are very interested in but are unsure re the monthly repayments, it is £15000. How much would we be looking at for the monthly repayments? Thank you
Categories: First-time buyer, The application process explained
Posted on 01/10/2007
Please can you give me some info on Mortgages for the Self Employed, my husband has recently set up his own business, 9 months ago and we currently have a mortgage that was secured with his previous job, if we were to move in the future how long would he have to have been self employed for before we'd be considered and what rates/ratios would we be looking at for borrowing. We currently own two thirds of our home and would probably be looking at a similar figure. I also work part time and earn around £12000 pa, any info would be appreciated.
Categories: Self-certification, The application process explained
Posted on 16/09/2007
I really need your impartial advice, First National Home Finance via Pink Home Lenders have agreed to provide me 3 year fixed rate mortgage @ 6.14% (re-mortgage). I believe when I initially applied the rate was only 5.5% and in short time this had jumped to 6.14% which is very bizarre to say the least. And I am in danger of the rates going up again if i don't submit my declaration before 28 September 2007. The mortgage is free fees everything taken care of etc. Please could you tell me if I'm making the right choice? I have gone through a reputable finance broker and he did secure 4.9% 2 fixed rate on my first mortgage, which was a good deal at the time. I would greatly appreciate your prompt response regarding this matter.
Categories: Fixed or Variable?, The application process explained
Answers provided in response to Ask the experts are based on the information provided and do not constitute advice under the Financial Services & Markets Act. They reflect the personal views of the authors and do not neccessarily represent the views, positions, strategies or opinions of John Charcol. All comments are made in good faith, and John Charcol will not accept liability for them.
We recommend you seek professional advice with regard to any of these topics where appropriate.