Mortgage concern

[Ladywithababy1]

Sorry for onslaught of information but I am getting in a panic that we won't get a mortgage.

Basically I bought a flat in central London before my husband and I met. It was bought before the credit crunch so getting a mortgage was insanely easy, hence not having a clue how it all works now.

We now want to sell the flat and buy somewhere bigger further out. The flat is rented out and we rent a house further out as we have had a baby.

My queries are - a) is it best to try and sell the flat once the tenants are out (they are nice but very messy)?

B) if we do decide to sell the flat and then look for a new property, will we be treated as first time buyers for mortgage purposes? And if so does this limit our mortgage choices (we are hoping to have a deposit of around 25-30%).

C). We are trying to tidy up our finances and have done ok but both of us are in our overdrafts still and I still have around £2k of debt on a credit card. We are looking to be in less debt by, say, April with a view to being in a new place by, say, June, but does anyone know how many months of bank statements etc they look at? And how sternly they view credit card debt and overdrafts?

Thanks, any advice will be hugely appreciated!

They'll look at 3-6 months of bank statements

The debt will be taken off what you can borrow

No idea about selling etc but I know someone whose london flat pays the mortgage on that flat (1 bed, Angel) AND pays half the mortgage on her North London house too so maybe long term you should hang on to it

Thanks wicked - do you happen to know under what circs it would be 3 months and when it would be 6 months? Would that come down to the first time buyer thing?

Also I wish we could hang on to the flat but the equity in that will be the deposit for any new place.

The 3 or 6 months of bank statement will depend on the lender you choose.

You won't be classed as first time buyers, no. You will have just sold a flat so you have obviously bought before.