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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Don't be intimidated when you take out your first mortgage - the amounts of money seem terrifying, but it will be ok.

Stretch yourself a little - it's surprising how quickly it gets easier.

Use a financial advisor to get the best deals.

Thanks to this thread I've just started to overpay for the first time. It'll be lovely to see the balance going down that bit faster.

How much to budget for the 'little things' when buying a new house

I waited until I had a 10% deposit as prices were going up and up and up. I wish I'd bitten the bullet earlier and got a higher LTV because my salary has increased by more than enough to cover repayments.

My boss told me to get on the ladder with a studio flat but I wanted a 2 bed to rent out the spare room. So hard to find 2 decent sized bedrooms so should have listened to her and got a mortgage on a smaller property!

I wish I had known not to get an endowment mortgage which was not worth the paper it was written on.

I wish I'd realised how much other cost is incurred in house buying. It's not just the monthly mortgage repayments its the life insurance and buildings insurance that adds up too.

I wish I'd known that the interest was going to be cut! I wish I have known that it was going to be so expensive so I might have started saving more when I was younger.

Don't accept everything your estate agent tells you is truthful, I ended up with an endowment mortgage that was recommended to me and ended up having to change to repayment. Was determined to have my mortgage cleared by the time I was 40 and I did it!

I wish I had known that the endowment mortgage that we took out didn't guarantee it would pay off the mortgage in full, we had a huge shortfall.

I wish I had gotten advice first!

I wish we'd known the mortgage company can change their mind!! We had a promise but then they reduced it following the valuation and we had to stump up extra few grand. Lucky we could else we'd ha e wasted everyone's time.

I wish someone would give me an idiots guide to mortgages! I don't understand the different types and feel quite intimidated when we see a mortgage advisor as we frankly don't know what we are doing (except trying to do out best)!
This guide would of been helpful when I was still at school, so I would of come out of education and known to save a good deposit and known to keep my credit rating good!

I wish I'd known how interest rates would fall. Mortgage is much less costly now than when I took it out.

That it's completely worth the hassle for the security of owning your own home.

I wish we'd known that we could start overpaying from day 1. Instead of 3 years later.

I wish I'd have known that we didn't have to use the estate agent's mortgage broker who didn't get us the best deal - however we were buying a repossessed house and were so desperate to not lose it that we didn't feel we had a choice at the time.

I also wish I had pushed for a 5 year fixed rate at the start. Mortgage arrangement type fees are massive and make a huge difference when you are having to pay them every 2 years.

I don't regret getting a mortgage but I wish I'd not rushed into it so much. It's not the end of the world to rent and travel- not for everyone but maybe for a few :)

I wish I'd been told more about how the help to buy scheme works. I'vebought a house using help to buy, but I don't know who to contact to pay it back.

I wish I'd known about all the little tricks sellers use to hide problems which the survey never picked up. A few weeks after moving we notice cracks that had been filled and painted over coming back and damp and mold which had been hidden under new wallpaper.

I wish I had known that they reckon you need to spend 1% of the property's value every single year to keep it up together.

after few months we took mortgage the interest rate as well as house prices went down-so annoying

That surveys aren't worth the paper they are written on!

After taking advice from friends and those "in the know." we opted for an endowment mortgage whihc cost us around £12,000 more than we were led to believe. In future, we make decisions that are entirely our own.

I just wish we had bought a house sooner, when it was much easier to get a mortgage and house prices were lower. But i expect a lot of people feel that way. I wish I hadnt wasted thousands on rubbish when I was in my twenties. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Wish I hadn't remortgaged and taken equity out of the house so early on. I wish I'd known how valuable overpayments can be to reduce your term.

Having to pay to maintain/improve your home on top of the mortgage payments!