When do you actually apply for the mortgage?

[CrapBag]

I have a MIP, house is sold, solicitors are instructed on the sale and purchase. When do we actually apply for the mortgage? I know the survey needs to be done and we will go with the one from the mortgage company but as the process has only just started (last week) is it too early?

Now! The process can take ages.

Apply as soon as you can. Some people delay and then it holds up things if everyone is ready. We were lucky as our survey was done two working days after we applied for the mortgage, nothing worrying came up to look into and our offer was received two weeks after applying.

Can it? I thought it would be straight forward, we don't want to borrow much, have big deposit and it is our current lender. Will get that sorted then.

Do me and DH have to be there as its in both of our names or can I just sort it out?

Do you have to get the survey done through the mortgage company?

We are just going to get a homebuyers report. Can we get this done independently or if we wanted it done by someone else, would that mean paying for one through the mortgage company and an independent one (which I won't actually do)?

To begin with we had a mortgage in principle agreed with our mortgage provider - this was so we knew what price bracket we should be looking at.

Once we had found the house we wanted and our offer was accepted, the very next thing we did was to call the mortgage provider. They then did the necessary checks (bank statements, payslips, credit score etc). At that point the provide confirmed that they would need a valuation survery (this was about 250 but we paid the extra for a homebuyers report) We could have instructed our own surveyor for the homebuyers survey but the bank would still need to have a valuation undertaken by their own surveyor - in the end it saved us money to just pay the extra for the homebuyers survey rather than paying for two.

Once the survey was done, the bank called us and confirmed everything was fine to proceed. At that point we had to pay the arrangement fee and then they sent the formal mortgage offer out to us.

Whole process from the time we found the house we wanted took 3 weeks.

Hoping to exchange contracts either this week or next!

The mortgage company usually charge you for the valuation as a minimum and you can upgrade that or get an additional independent survey.

We both needed to be there to sign the application and answer questions for the application.

Surveys were taking about 4 weeks when we applied last year.

No, you don't have to get the survey done through your mortgage company. However, you do have to pay for a valuation. Our valuation would have cost £450 on its own, but a homebuyers survey and valuation together cost £750. Phoned around for independent homebuyer survey quotes and they were coming in at approx. £500, so for us it was cheaper to get it done by building society. Check their fees before applying.

It's probably better to assume you both need to go in together. That way you both know what's been said and can make any last minute decisions together.

It can delay if everyone in the chain acts quickly with all the paperwork, or if they find something wrong with the property you weren't anticipating and this needs looking into.

Wow starfish that seems like a lot of money. I know what our current mortgage provider charges and it seems like a very good price then. Will just upgrade it to a homebuyers survey with them then.

Will phone them tomorrow when DD is at nursery so I can do it in peace.

I'd apply immediately because the criteria for mortgage lending changed about 10 days or so ago making getting a mortgage and the information you have to supply a bit harder.

If you have had an offer accepted you need to book in either a telephone or face to face appointment with your lender sooner rather than later. On the 26th April the mortgage world went mad and most lenders are still com in to terms with the additional paperwork that they now have to underwrite.

Every lender is different, so your lender may well underwrite you before spending your money on a valuation or they might book one in straight away.