Going for your first mortgage appointment is daunting, there’s no doubt about it. So we wanted to share with you what you should expect from your first meeting so that hopefully you feel a bit less apprehensive when the time comes.
First, it’s all about you!
We will start by asking all about you. We want to know what your goals are and what your property needs are. How much do you have to put down as a deposit? Are you looking for a forever home? Do you want a bit of a renovation project to do up and sell on? The more we know the better! We will need to know the details of your income and expenditure. After booking your appointment, you’ll be asked to bring along recent payslips if you’re employed, or recent Tax Calculations and Overviews if self-employed. We’ll also ask you to bring a full credit report. Lenders will want to know your financial commitments when you eventually apply, and for us, knowing about those commitments up front may help us to decide specifically which lenders to look at.
Affordability
Once we have all of this information, we will calculate what you can afford to borrow. Combine that with what you have in place for a deposit, and we can decide what your maximum property budget is. If your affordability isn’t quite high enough for what you want or need to buy, then we will be able to suggest ways to increase that figure, whether it be increasing your monthly income somehow or saving more for a deposit. This number will give you a really good idea of what kind of position you’re in.
Finding the best deal
Once we know your affordability, we will search our lenders for the best deals available to you. Here we will discuss what kind of monthly budget you have so that we can find a deal that works for you. It may be that we go for a longer mortgage term to reduce the monthly payments, or vice versa. Now is the time to play around with the numbers and find you the perfect deal!
What happens next?
That is everything covered!
Now, if you are happy with everything that you have discussed and we have all of the necessary documentation, we will get you a Mortgage in Principle and you can start seriously house-hunting with the confidence that you are looking at properties you can afford and that you’ll be ready to put in an offer when you find the perfect place.
If we have decided that you’re not quite ready yet, we will come up with a plan to get you to where you want to be. Even if you know you aren’t ready, having a meeting with an advisor and discussing all of these things will give you a really good idea of what position you’re in and what you can do to improve that position. So it is never too early to have that first chat!