Mortgage Advisors - contactor/limited company

[Soapboxqueen]

Hi,

I'm looking for advice about using a mortgage advisor. My dh works overseas, has a contract with that company but is paid via his own UK company which he is the director of.

Is there anything I should be looking for in particular? Is a small local advisor better than a national one? Is there any benefit to being able to talk face to face etc? Do I need an advisor that specialises?

TIA

I am a broker and have been for 16 years

I may be biased but this is definitely not one for a factory line company (e.g London and country) as there are two different complications here - foreign income and contractor.

Most contractor incomes will take the day rate x either 46 or 48 weeks depending on lender. They will be interested in how long he has been contracting (will likely need 12 months minimum) how long he has left on the current contract (typically 6 month remaining or a confirmed renewal)

The lenders who do foreign income will mainly be interested in which income he is paid in - some only do certain currencies. Some need him to be back in the UK a certain amount of time a year.

A complicated case but likely to be options depending on the finer details.

Hiya, thanks for replying. He's paid in sterling and he's contracted to be abroad 4.5 months per year with the rest working from home.

He's currently on a three year contract which is up soon but expected to be renewed.

I figured the main brokers would be a no go after an independent advisor told us it would be too difficult and just to beg our bank for a mortgage 🤣

There were two on martin money man that are national brokers but I thought might be OK charcoal or cmme but do you think a local smaller broker might be better?

The large conveyor brokers are only interested in quick wins. They tend to employ new brokers to the industry who won't know what to do with complicated cases. Self employed brokers will have normally learned the ropes at large companies before striking out on their own so will have more experience.

You definitely want an independent who has the time to help you.

Being paid in sterling is a good thing as the lenders who will consider foreign incomes will normally deduct a percentage for fluctuating currency

If you were a client of mine I would advise you to get a letter from the employer confirming expected contract renewal if it is up within the next 6 months

Lots of positives- paid in sterling, in UK for more than 6 months of the year, history of contracting so I would fancy being able to place this but as I say you should probably get confirmation contract will be extended if it is up soon.

Thank you 👍🏻

Unlike most on MN I wasn't particularly impressed with one of the big brokers (can't remember which one) when I used them, so I wouldn't worry too much about missing out.

They completely ignored what I asked for (a lifetime base rate tracker), recommended a short term discount off the SVR and were quite rude when I explained why I wouldn't be taking up their product. I got what I wanted direct from the lender and still have it 15 years later as we've paid less than 1% annual interest for much of that time.

But we did have a very good experience with a small local broker when we were very adverse credit about 20 years ago (remortgage to pay off an IVA). The interest rate was only about 0.5% above the best standard rates.

Maybe @forgotmyusername1 can help you remotely, or the suggestion to talk to your bank might not be a bad one. After all, if you've had a good relationship with them for some time and they've seen your DH income coming in and good account management, some of them might actually take that into account. Plus if you have a decent deposit, there's not much of a risk to them, because if you don't pay, they can just repossess and get their money back that way.

thank you @BarbaraofSeville Happy to chat if wanted but will leave it to the op to decide