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1st time mortgage advice

9 replies

jobhunter7 · 12/12/2018 20:03

I was interested in buying my 1st place. If I went to see one with the idea of a prospective place, would they help me to work out what was possible. On Zoopla it posts estimates outgoings (not sure how accurate they are) - energy, water, home insurance, council tax. I know there are ground rent and service charges as well. I believe some mortgage advisers offer free advice. Will some of them talk to you online perhaps? Just trying to get idea how to start.

Thank you

OP posts:
Springmachine · 12/12/2018 20:12

Online you can do a quick affordability calculator (I find Halifax easy to use and quite accurate) and that will show your options and amount of mortgage they may be willing to lend.

If you have any loans or debts or childcare costs this would reduce slightly.

Working out your own budget it totally up to you and can vary depending on so many factors.
The money advice service has an online questionnaire which can help as it makes you think about costs that you might not consider initially.

Zoopla house running costs do not seem accurate in the slightest.

Gas and electric vary far too much and mortgages vary depending on deposit, age, circumstances, interest rates and overall term.

For example my mortgage of which I owe £260k, could cost me as little as £770 per month if I took it out on a 38 year term of £1200 if I took it out over 25

jobhunter7 · 13/12/2018 22:36

I know there's other figures that Zoopla sometimes ignores:

  • Income protection insurance (for the mortgage)
  • Broadband/phone/Tv (all optional)
  • Water
  • Service charge
  • TV licence (optional)

Just trying to figure out how much things will cost.

OP posts:
jobhunter7 · 13/12/2018 22:37

I will investigate the money advice service too. Thanks

OP posts:
gpbrs · 14/12/2018 15:20

I am a mortgage broker and whilst we consider all your outgoings a lot of mortgage lenders use stats from the office of national statistics to calculate borrowing.

The main expenditure lenders look at are travel costs, utilities, council tax, social spending and any debt repayments. These bills will obviously vary from location.
Just remember ground rent and service charges are generally only applicable to leasehold properties (mainly flats) if you buy a house its unlikely you will have these costs, unless you are in a parish village which may charge a small 'pepper corn' rent per year.

Happy to answer any further questions you may have

jobhunter7 · 15/12/2018 11:28

The main expenditure lenders look at are travel costs, utilities, council tax, social spending and any debt repayments. These bills will obviously vary from location.

Just not sure where to start really...

I guess if somebody advises on this all day every day, they may at least have some idea so I can try at work out a budget...

OP posts:
AwkwardPaws27 · 15/12/2018 15:03

You should know what your usual outgoings in terms of food, travel, socialising etc are; if you are saving for a deposit you might want to cut back on some things, like switching to shopping at Aldi, taking a packed lunch or setting a monthly limit on socialising.

You can find out council tax costs from your local council website. Council tax varies by area.

Service charges only apply if you buy a leasehold property (usually a flat), and vary depending what's included. A luxury block with a concierge will probably be higher than a more basic one that just covers building insurance and maintaining the communal hallway.

Utilities will vary - if you have the heating on 24/7, buy an old house with poor insulation or run lots of appliances, then your bills will be higher. Other people can't really advise you on this, but many energy providers can give you a rough estimate based on number of occupants and property size.
For example, my house costs about £80 a month for gas and electric, but if we were home during the day, had more people living in it or had an older boiler, it would probably cost more.

Halifax mortgage calculator is pretty accurate to see roughly how much you could borrow. It's better to see a broker to get a mortgage in principle though; ours didn't really take into account things like socialising etc, just fixed outgoings, so we were able to borrow more than if we went directly to a bank. They will "stress-test" the affordability eg give you an idea of repayments if/when interest rates rise.

jobhunter7 · 20/12/2018 23:22

Thanks. This is very helpful. Does it cost to see a broker?

OP posts:
AwkwardPaws27 · 20/12/2018 23:32

Ours was £199. We probably saved that on the mortgage over a few months as he got us a lower interest rate.

AwkwardPaws27 · 20/12/2018 23:33

There is a free broker called London & Country too

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