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

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

I wish I'd taken out a graduate mortgage in 2003....still renting now and much harder to get one.
I tell myself I'm lucky I'm not in negative equity but it's so hard to save when renting.

I wish I'd known how to negotiate better! We were very naive so we offered around £5000 more than the house was probably worth. Next time, we'll start low and work upwards!

Like many others, I wish I'd saved a significantly larger deposit, even if it would have involved waiting. It is a consideration which in my opinion is worth the wait.

I wish I'd known that the interest rate would drop- we didn't think it would get any lower and opted for a 10 year fixed rate. It cost us a lot.

I wish I had another child instead of a mortgage.

I wish I'd known that it's best to save money each month towards any problems that arise or things that need fixing.

My credit card can attest to this!!

I wish I'd know that new sources of convenient information such as Habito existed! Would have made it all a lot less hassle.

I wish I'd known not to take out a mortgage with the dishonest, disreputable Halifax. I'd urge anyone to avoid if you want to be treated honestly and not have your personal financial details given to a mate of an employee and then be ripped off by it costing you more to re mortgage with a reputable company in the process.

I wish we'd considered different financial situations such as maternity leave more than we did when applying for the mortgage.

I wish I'd taken a three year rather than five year fixed rate in 2001, as they took a nosedive and we could have saved a lot of money each month. Ah for a crystal ball!

Things are the other way around now of course, I'm super keen to lock that nice low interest rate in!

I wish I'd known that they were telling big fat lies when they sold me an endowment mortgage.

I wish I'd known from day 1 how much of an impact overpaying would have on the whole term.

We took out our mortgage in January and as we thought interest rates couldn't get much lower we went for a fixed interest rate. A crystal ball would have been a wonderful thing!

Wish I had known about tracker and offset mortgages. I overpay on my current mortgage but I am a mortgage prisoner as new mortgage rules mean that I can't move to a cheaper mortgage which is £300 (£650 if Include overpayments) per month less than current payments for the same time scale! The rules say this would be unaffordable!!!

I wish I'd researched the value of overpayments at the time- I didn't realise the potential benefits and was never explained this fully.

That the interest rate would drop. :/

The importance of a good mortgage advisor you trust.

The first one I saw, with the market leader for best rates, was a devil to get an appointment (two were required before an offer might be made) and yet despite great credit rating, decent salary, high deposit they seemed unable to deal with the idea of me still having a student loan - computer said no. Was going to be more hoops and a hard hit on the credit file to have a real person review my case.

Compare to the next one, very similar rates, and happened to be the one I banked with. Friendly and knowledgeable advisor who explained things in layman's terms and always willing to go out of her way to fit me in same-day/next day at work-friendly times. Hardly any paperwork needed, unlike the first who were asking for documents that literally didn't exist (as confirmed by the agency that was supposedly able to issue that particular document!) Made stressful times (several purchases fell through) less bad.

I wish I'd know how amazing it would feel to finally open the door to our own home.
After years of renting and never feeling truly settled it was the best feeling. Should have done it years ago.

I wish I'd known that the market was just about to crash...and didn't trust my solicitor that the lease was "long enough"...

I wish I'd know that you can instruct online solicitors rather than needing to do everything in person or via the post. Soooo much easier in the digital day and age!

Definitely that you can overpay on your mortgage and that it could be better than having savings.

Wish I'd known to start seriously saving every available penny the day I started my first job.

I wish I'd known at the beginning of the process about the first payment being huge. It would have been nice not to have such a shock after all the other expenses involved in buying a house!

wishing i could have seen how much worse my future was to become and gone lived in a badger set instead where id lay on a bed of leaves and people would never hurt me again.
go compare

I wish I had known more about the property market before buying my first house. And sometimes you can end up in negative equity if your not careful. Think long term and not just what you can afford at that particular time. It's better to wait than to get stuck.