Reply to: Mortgages and contracting: hiding the truth

[Ivor1]

Advice : DONT GET MARRIED!, if you do HIDE YA MONEY, if you dont and it goes belly up THE TAXMAN WILL BE THE LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES

Aint that the truth .......... Equal rights for men, Equal rights for men

[css_jay99]

bcos the Ex has got me by the balls.

I am also having to raise £60K of equity to pay her off. so you see in the short term (2yrs), interest only is the only way i can keep myself above water till the dust settles. Having to pay an additional £1000 a month for support does not make life any easier.

I have got to keep all my costs down untill I can build up some reserves again.

Advice : DONT GET MARRIED!, if you do HIDE YA MONEY, if you dont and it goes belly up THE TAXMAN WILL BE THE LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES

[MarillionFan]

Why interest only?

[css_jay99]

I got in touch with contractmoney and they had a deal from clydesdale bank for a 5.04 % 2yr Flexi tracker. I was going to do this as interest only

Is this a good deal ?

Not sure how much extra they will charge though for their part

css_jay99

[WageSlave]

Thanks for the tips.

After unsuccessfully dealing with the high street lenders I've decided to go with a specialist broker recommended by a work colleague.

[DaveB]

And you called me a luny?

I just grinned at them with my chameleon circuit switched off & they gave me £250k.

Should have turned it on, they'd have given you half a mil

[MarillionFan]

I walked in to Lloyds off the street with £20 in my wallet and a shotgun. Within minutes Lloyds staff had filled my rucksack with £70000 in bank notes which was enough to buy my first house. They also put the alarms on to welcome me. Nice.

[ChimpMaster]

As we all know, these banks can't shift mortgages quick enough nowadays ... any tomdickharry can get a mortgage just so that the banks can show that their lending is increasing and they're making x% more profit this year etc.

So I wouldn't expect you to have any problems, especially if, as a contractor, you have a reasonable sum of money to invest into the house to start off with.

[swamp]

Ditto, but not with contractor money. I found them too expensive. I have a (competetive) high street mortgage instead.

[kramer]

Got a mortgage after 6 months of contracting with http://www.contractormoney.com/

Didn't need years of 2 accounts. The whole process was relatively painless.

ditto

[Ivor1]

I used contractorfinancials, thought I would have a mare getting my morg but they sorted it. Plus there female staff sound tasty and they even sent me a card signed by their office when I completed ahhhhhh

But serioulsy they were good, defo would use them again

[Ardesco]

I don't do insurance. If i die i really don't care if the bank gets it's money back or not (which is what the majority of these things are for, no matter how they spin it)

[Epiphone]

How have you found the rate for repayment cover or critical illness cover? About the same as normal rates or do lenders gouge you on that aspect being a contractor?

[triboix]

Esteemed Gentlemen of the Forum,

Having finally worked my way out of pikeydom and saved enough money to make the local pizza delivery boy green with envy, the time has come for WS to consider leaving the bushes and buying a house like a normal person.

Given this momentous moment, I’d greatly value any stories or tips from other contractors in how they managed to convince a company to lend them a mortgage. Obviously contractors, despite earning vast sums of money and being considerably more employable than the average permie lackey, are considered scum by high street lenders. I’m not keen on paying a premium for self-cert or a specialist lender, and in a foolish attempt to con the lender I’ve switched to a managed service in order to say that I’m technically an employee rather than self-employed (quickly to be dumped after grabbing the money!). Wife has just become a permie, so I’m hoping that helps.

Any tips, advice or useful anecdotes?

Thanks.

I would advise you to go through a mortgage broker. Ex: contractormoney.
Banks (or more exaclty bank employees) are usually useless when it comes to deal outside a standard frame (ie: when you are employed). Specialized mortgage brokers will help you best.

[Ardesco]

Intelligent Finance seem to be not too worried about contractors. Theyu gave me a form to get my accountant to fill in which said my LTD Co brought in X amount of money per year and in my accountants opinion there was no reason why this should stop.

Probably the quickest mortgage i've ever set up, we completed in 2 months


Overall I think the big banks are starting to realise that contractors are a good market and are starting to get thier act together a bit.