Share the things you wish you’d known before getting a mortgage with Habito - £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

Whether you’re buying for the first time, moving house or remortgaging, getting or changing a mortgage can be a daunting, time-consuming and confusing experience. Online mortgage broker Habito would like you to share the things that – with hindsight – you wish you’d known before getting a mortgage.

Here’s what Habito have to say: “Habito is the world’s first digital mortgage broker. It searches the entire market and enables you to apply online for a mortgage or remortgage quickly all online without any cost”

So, if there’s anything you wish that you’d known before you decided to take the plunge and get a mortgage, share this below.

Also, if you’re considering getting a mortgage or remortgaging, feel free to head over to Habito and see if they could help.

All those who post a comment on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher for a store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks, and good luck!

MNHQ

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Definitely overpaying, and also being able to change mortgages partway through the term - I had no idea that you could re-mortgage if you weren't moving house.

I always seem to end up with a rubbish deal! Rather than shopping around we've just stayed with the same lender. I've been kicking myself about our fixed rate deal the last few years and wish we'd taken professional advice before 'remortgaging last time!

I wish I'd known to research the many mortgage providers available, instead of just picking one and going with them! I was a very naive 18yro and my dp (now dh) a very impulsive 21yro when we bought our first house. We are now in our 30s and have just over 10yrs left of our mortgage. We only recently swapped to a new provider, who is saving us a fortune in interest. Just wished that we had done it years ago!

That you also need to factor in the cost of the life/health insurance policies that you need.
That not all lenders are going to be on a brokers panel so it's worth doing a comprehensive check yourself of which brokers to use.
To keep a file of all your financial documents that you'll need to give so you aren't rooting around for bits of paper at the last minute.
To make sure you really get the best mortgage offer for you, not just borrowing the most money but check which interest rates suit you and how long you want to fix the term for.

I wished we had taken independent advice and I had been more involved rather than DH (not so good at maths and just agrees) rather than giving into pregnancy brain

I don't really have any wish-I'd-knowns. I'm not particularly finance-savvy, but I had good advice from my dad (who is). I've always saved, ever since my first job at 14, and had a good credit rating. I took my time buying, was willing to compromise (so bought with my head and not my heart), and prioritised mortgage repayments above fun.

Wish I'd had a crystal ball to see how much more complicated to get a mortgage it would become over the last 10 years!

I wish I'd had someone exerting a note of caution to us - it was all about the maximum we could get for our wages as opposed to what we could afford and we used and IFA.

I wish I'd known that it isn't as intimidating and complicated as it all may seem, and that it is important to realise this and to feel comfortable asking questions about any part of the process you may be uncertain about so that you feel fully informed throughout

We were ao desperate to move out and buy somewhere together - not rent- that we put the minimum we needed on the credit card!!!!!! I wish someone has sat us down and explained excatly what it all means, how much we would pay at the end of the term etc . But most of all i wish we had got an offset mortgage earlier - we paid off 10k in 10 years on our first property , now weve paid off 23k in 5 years here. I wish id realised how important it is to get the right deal - Most people have a mortgage - and i think you get de- sensitised to it - everyone pays out massive amounts each month so i becomes the norm - but this thing has to stay with you for around 25 years - you have to get it right!!!!

Your first mortgage is daunting but after that it's really easy to sort out a new one for yourself.
Don't buy somewhere thinking 'this will do for 2/3 years'. Moving is stressful and expensive. It doesn't have to be your forever home but it's not as easy to switch as you might think.
Over payments make a huge difference even if it's just £10 a month. We bought our first home and apart from the first 6 months when we were furnishing it we've always paid something extra every month. We've moved since and due to the overpayments we had a good deposit for a much larger house in a better area. We're overpaying again and should be done by the time our first dc goes to uni.

I wish I had overpaid when I could and I wish I had known endowments were crap. I needed to ask more questions.

I wish I'd thought about the really long term expense of buying- renting is difficult, but a mortgage actually costs so much that you end up paying so much more than you borrowed!!

As a first-time buyer, about a month into the process, with an offer accepted, these tips are all really helpful.

I will definitely overpay if I can but the budget is tight so I don't think I'll be able to very often.

As ReturnMeToNeverLand says - finding a good broker is essential - mine is fantastic - she has calmed me down when I have got stressed over it all and guided me through the process. She is expecting her first baby though so unfortunately for me, she is going on maternity leave around the time I complete so I am hoping the sale goes through fast before she leaves!

Don't buy unless you are 100% sure you aren't going to move in a couple of years. Learnt the hard way buying just before th crash and then decided we hated the area we bought in and ended up losing a lot of money! Think about the long term even if it's not your forever house.

what paperwork you need to keep. i remember madly running round trying to get copies of bank statements, pay slips etc

That H would be XH and having a pension linked morgage in his name, that I paid because he barely worked for the years we paid into it, was beyond foolish. Live and learn!

That I was the customer and had every right to shop around, should have understood more rather than settle for a three year 8% tie inwith upfront fees. I felt like they were doing me a favour because it was such a large sum of money.

With the benefit of hindsight I wish I'd brought a bigger first house (way back then we could have got a much bigger morgage even on a 3 + 1 graduate salaries calculator) as the property market has done so well and my starter first house was never going to be long term.

Use a broker to get the best possible rate and allows you to quickly submit a second / subsequent application if your first one is refused.
Lenders refuse for all sorts of criteria, one setback doesn't mean no mortgage. One provider turned me down as I hadn't enough debt which affected their rating system. Another friend was turned down as the property they were buying was in an eco development and therefore didn't have a parking space which they believed would affect a re-sale - hardly an issue in that type of development!
If rates come down and you can still afford your original payment still try to pay the original amount (if overpayments are allowed) - every little bit extra you are able to pay off literally takes days of the length of your mortgage.
Get your mortgage fully approved before you go hone hunting - it will let you realistically look for things you can afford and when you do find sthg you'll be in a position to proceed with the purchase.

With the overpayments, its all well and good saying 'overpay', but we stretched ourselves to the absolute max... No way we could have overpaid but I still think we did the right thing.

TBH it is crap just having to get your head down and work away and being a wage slave. BUT renting is not really any cheaper, its all part of being an adult and realising your life is more like David Brent than David Beckham. [shuffles off singing the Levellers ironically].

It's really important to consider how long you are likely to stay in the house before tying yourself into a deal that is expensive to break early.

Consider how much you are likely to need for cyclical repairs and add that to your mortgage payments when assessing affordability.

Consider how many children you might want to have and how much space you will really need. Also look at schools before deciding to buy a house as choosing in the wrong school location might mean you want to move sooner than planned.

I wish I'd known a bit more about making overpayments and how this would reduce the length of the mortgage. Even if we'd just overpaid a little each month I think it would have put us in a much stronger position now.

Oh also can I add, should have been my number one piece of advice really,

MAKE A WILL

It is really important.

Although a friend of mine was a mortgage broker. I wish I'd shopped around and looked at different places. He had a serious liking to Northern Rock and most of his clients ended up with them (I expect that they paid the best commission). As a result I expect we've paid over the odds over the years.
That although you have to take insurance for buildings and contents you didn't need it with the mortgage company. (Seeing a trend here). I was told it was easier and I'd have to pay to arrange it with someone sell, so did it with the mortgage company. After a few years I got wise and realised I was paying nearly double what normal insurance companies were charging for better cover. I paid the £25 fee to the mortgage company and have never had insurance through them ever again.

To look around and not just use my bank as it was easier.

Also how much a difference overpaying on the mortgage can be.

Finally, just because a bank is willing to lend you that much money, it doesn't mean you have to borrow that much money

Not to take add ones from lender ie income protection and their home insurance. Shop around if you want / need these. We paid a lot of extra cost with our first mortgage.