Re mortgaging

[vicki2010]

Anyone have any experiences they can share on re mortgaging?

Long story short, bought a house 1 yr ago this month.

Paid off 50% of value of the house.
Would like to re mortgage to free up some of the capital to make some
Home improvements.

Reason we didn't hold back some of the money is because we were lowish earners when mortgage was taken out and we had inheritance to buy the house so it wasn't money we had 'saved' and now want back, we wouldn't have got the mortgage to begin with if we hadn't put down so much ifswim? Do you think we would easily be able to free up some of the money?

Just interested in others experiences, how easy it is to remortgage? Anyone with a bad experience? Just that really.
Thanks

It totally depends on your particular circumstances.

Lending rules got a whole lot tighter in April this year so it's by no means guaranteed you'd even get what you got ago.

If your income or house value has gone down or your outgoings have increased, particularly if you've extended your family, you may well have no option to remortgage.

Have a play around with online mortgage calculators and if it looks like a vague possibility have a chat with a broker.

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I'm not sure why you bumped this without providing any additional info OP

No one else's experiences are relevant unless they are in exactly the same financial position as you and without knowing any of your details no one can really comment.

Like others said it depends on your own circumstances. It is very easy to remortgage if your income exceeds the repayment by a lot. It is hard if it will leave you really broke. We have done it twice within the last 4 years and it's been very easy. It's with first direct and then hsbc. I just fill in an application online, they ring up for an interview, we send them copies of pay slips and bank statements, and that's it. They all have calculators online to see how much you can borrow.

I'd be a little surprised your mortgage company would release extra funds after only a year. Could be wrong though. Best to give them a call. As said above, they'll review your finances and decide what they think you can afford over and above your existing mortgage payments. Your new borrowing will be at a higher % rate than your existing mortgage. Putting down a 50% deposit means you should have got a great rate. It's unfortunately all change now.

I'd be surprised.

DH a high earner and we had to jump through hoops and justify our spending when we could more than afford what we were asking for.

They also scrutinised my spending as a 'dependant' even though I Amon may leave so actually have a job, even though I am not on the mortgage!

Thanks for the feedback. I am hoping to re mortgage next year when our two year deal ends.
Husband now earns ten thousand more per year since we first got the mortgage so that's good and I have also earned more this last year of self employment. The property has almost certainly increased in value and we can most definitely afford to pay more then 3 times we are paying now which may also go in our favour.
I know things are much harder now so won't hold my breath!

Have any of you been in the same situation as us and successfully re mortgaged this year?

Seriously OP, if you're not prepared to disclose more info than you have you cant possibly expect to compare your situation with others.

Your DH earns £10k more than last year- if he earned £15k last year- that will make a big difference- if he earned £50k then less so.

You're self employed- what do you earn? How much is it than when you got your last mortgage?

Your house is 'almost certainly increased in value'....how certain are you and how much more?

Do you have children? Do you have childcare costs?

I don't expect you to disclose these details on a public forum but use the online mortgage calculators to gauge what you might be able to borrow- they prompt you to input the necessary details and will give you a much clearer idea of what is possible.

Thanks for the input bearbehind, the fine details are irrelevant I am just generally trying to hear different peoples experiences in the current financial climate to gage a rough idea if we may struggle to re mortgage or not.
I bumped because this section isn't particularly busy.

Thanks for everyone else's info.

But what everyone is saying is right though. You simply need to just use an online calculator. Some people are going to be winners with this new rule

www.theguardian.com/money/2014/apr/12/need-mortgage-new-rules-lenders-check

This is back In April. They pointed out using some can still get 5 x salary. It all depends on your expenses.

Actually it says 7 or 8 times for some.

I would say don't get into any more debt. Instead save for the home improvements or do them yourselves. It's a slippery slope.

When you come to the end of your existing deal, you'll move onto your lender's 'standard variable rate' or SVR. Find out what this is, and compare it to the (presumably) fixed rate you are on currently. Can you afford payments at this rate?
Around 6 months before the end of your current deal, start looking around at what rates both your own and current lenders are offering, with a view to potentially remortgaging. If you used a broker to arrange your current deal, they are likely to get back in touch to offer their services again. Would you prefer to fix again? If so, for how long?
I remortgaged after 2 years and the (existing) lender just used the same valuation from the time we bought. If you move lenders they will probably want to do their own valuation.
Remortgaging for the first time is daunting but you already have 50% equity so depending how much additional borrowing you are looking for, you could get another decent deal with say a 60% mortgage.
Just remember, home improvements may not always add the additional value many tv programmes make out they will. Make your house your home and you'll be fine!

the fine details are irrelevant

Damn those pesky fine details like- how much do you earn, how much is your house worth, how many children do you have!

They're clearly not relevant to your mortgage application- in fact the lender probably won't bother asking them either as they're so irrelevant

If someone comes on here any says - yep we got our £50k remortgage approved on our £500k house with our £100k each salaries- how will that help you?

Other peoples experiences are totally irrelevant to your situation.

Thanks again for your input bearbehind, like I have previously stated I am not looking for the lovely mumsnetters for personalised advise on my situation I am simply interested in their experiences and so can gage myself what's likely to happen.
Are you a financial adviser, mortgage broker or banker? If so, I will tell you the details so you can give me spot on advise? If not, perhaps you could leave my thread and leave your ever so slightly narky comments elsewhere as I can see mumsnet is very much ready for a bunfight, perhaps you could look on aibu??

And thanks for the reply fantastic

If you knew anything about the financial service industry you would know that it is heavily regulated and even if I was a broker (I'm an accountant) I would be unable to specifically advise you on a public forum.

You can't gauge what will happen based on others experiences unless you know they are very similar to yours.

If you give some detail, people will be able to share much more relevant experiences.

You wouldn't post saying 'I'm looking for a new job- has anyone else got one recently' and expect to get advice that tells you how your job hunt will turn out would you?

If you're just looking for people to say - we remortgaged no problem and give no details either - then what's the point?

Vicki :) I will tell you my experience so you can gauge what might happen.

I wished to remortgage and had to undergo a 2 hr phone call. They wanted my last 6month pay slips, details of council tax, gas, electric, and all other regular bills. I had to list my other expenses 'out of choice' e.g. Hair, clothes so they could gauge my necessary commitments and my 'could be dropped if up against it' and also I suspect my attitude to debt. I was asked about loans, credit cards.... Lots of questions.

I got my remortgage 53% of house value and it was approx 3.5 times my wage

Front forward- just what I am looking for, general experiences! Thanks