To wonder why i am so bloody clueless about mortgages etc?

[malificent7]

I wasn't even aware of mortgages really until i had dd. Had loads of mh issues in my 20s so was in no position to work or buy.
How did you all get educated about them? I now have enough for a deposit but need to qualify in my current role before i can go for it. Baffled!

Martin Lewis is your new best friend! Download his guides to mortgages from the money saving expert website. and then use a broker who will sort all the complicated stuff and answer your questions. IME it's a learn as you go thing, bit of research helps otherwise you learn things everyday and people give lots of advice. Friends who have bought are very useful for giving info and advice. I'm clueless about this sort of thing but it's not as complicated as it seems once you're exploring options. Good luck :-)

I just read online really. I wouldn't particularly call myself 'educated' or an expert but I know enough to have got myself one

I would look at moneysavingexpert and moneyadviceservice as a starting point, when the time comes to apply you can always use a broker who will help navigate you through the whole process... some charge nothing e.g. London and County and others will make their money from the bank so no charge to you...

Speak to a mortgage broker. It’s their job to guide you through it.

I bought my first house pre internet so no researching online, just went into a mortgage advisor and asked. Also spoke to friends who had mortgages.

Not sure, my parents are pretty financially aware and we were told about these things, mum was a compliance officer so knew all the pitfalls! I bought young, 21 (fortunate property price crash and redundancy windfall buy got replacement job starting the next day) and throughout my subsequent marriage I handled all the finances, h hasn't a clue and despite him wanting to divorce.

The key thing is to read the small print however boring and tedious, if you don't understand a term, ask the broker or bank helpline. The other thing is to ignore what they say is affordable and work out what you need as disposable income after bills, I borrowed half what they were offering last time and still it's tough to make the payments sometimes.

I spoke to a mortgage advisor and also asked my dad lots of questions, including "what should I ask the mortgage advisor?" He's one of those people that has a lot of knowledge about 'stuff' so logical/general knowledge that wouldn't be classed as common sense he's really good with.

I think if you're in a situation where it doesn't effect you, you wouldn't necessarily know because it's not something you'd even learn at school etc.
I would compare it to something like employment laws, unless I had to seek advise, I don't really know much about my rights.