how does this work with 'mortgage in principal agreed'?

[MousyMouse]

have deposit in place.
chain free.
are viewing.

we have talked to a mortgage brooker and figured out what our budget could be.
estage agent told us it would be better to have a 'mortgage in principal agreed' status to proceed quicker and not to lose out on the property we decide to buy. the brooker never mentioned this?

The 'mortgage in principal agreed' means that you've had a chat with your lender, that they've run the credit checks, seen payslips, etc. and agreed how much they would lend to you and provided a certificate to this effect. It means that once you've made an offer that you can have a very short meeting to sign the mortgage agreement and it can be processed very quickly by the lender.

Some people view properties having gone to a lender website, put in a few numbers and been given an idea of roughly how much they can borrow, without going throug the details with the lender.

so, I will call the brooker again.
can I have this with more than one bank to view the best deal/option?
does this have any effect on our credit rating?

The credit searches will show up but that shouldn't affect your credit rating if they're being done for a reason.

I don't know if you can have it with more than one bank - I don't see why not as you're not agreeing to go ahead, just getting everything in place ready to go. You may be better spending a couple of hours looking around for a deal that suits your circumstances.

You don't really need to get it with more than one bank - since it's really just to show the estate agent you will be able to afford the house you are offering on.

An offer in principle doesn't tie you in to using that bank when you do go ahead with a mortgage, you can always go somewhere else (though it might take a bit longer). Similarly, it doesn't tie the bank into giving you any particular deal I believe. You will only be able to fix a deal once you apply for the proper mortgage.

Credit searches will show up - in theory this shouldn't affect your rating as world says, but on the other hand we were advised not to get too many for this reason, so maybe it does affect your credit "image" in some way.

I would only get one, I think it can influence your credit rating and as others have said you only need it to prove to the estate agent you are likely to get a mortgage.

Beware though, once you actually apply for your mortgage they can still say no based on details that didn't come up initially. We nearly got caught out on the finer detail, you don't know you can definitely get the mortgage until you've signed the paperwork based on a specific house you are offering on.

Good luck!

thank you all for your help!