Reply to: Buying a house - concerned

[northernladuk]

Will keep that in mind for future when I will be looking to re-mortgage. I guess I won't be needing that though? How does re-mortgaging work for us?

I could be wrong but I am not really seeing the them and us situation. The bank needs to see evidence of income. Some people show it by sticking a permie doc in, others by accountants doing it. They just then proceed on that value. Just because it is delivered slightly differently I don't see the problem. At the end of the day I have a demonstrable income just as a permie. Maybe I just got lucky with the providors I spoke to, Halifax was one and London & something the other I seem to remember. Wasn't recent either so might have changed but bearing in mind contractors prop most of the organisations up I would be very surprised if they will view us in a different risk catagory.

[lukemg]

I used a broker too, not sure which one but one of them slipped in a 500 quid charge to me at completion. At which point I switched to the one that didn't. They are getting paid by the lender anyway, think CUK or PCG membership can get you charges dropped too.

[SimonMac]

Yep thats right but that isn't a stopper, they send a form to your accountant who does it for you, or they did for me.

Hmmm I do my own books, I wonder how that is going to work!

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Yep thats right but that isn't a stopper, they send a form to your accountant who does it for you, or they did for me.

Will keep that in mind for future when I will be looking to re-mortgage. I guess I won't be needing that though? How does re-mortgaging work for us?

[northernladuk]

I am only speaking from personal experience - perhaps there are better deals out there. Whenever I tried to go through a bank/building society they asked for Accounts as opposed to daily rate.

Yep thats right but that isn't a stopper, they send a form to your accountant who does it for you, or they did for me.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

I can't believe this is true. Many lenders are quite happy to consult with your accountant for proof of income. When I spoke to a few lenders they had a standard process to do it and some even consider your contract rate as opposed to your wage. I have had two offers in principle doing this over the last few years. Didn't blink an eye when I mentioned my situation, even when I didn't have 2 years accounts.

Who can get you the best rate right now I don't know though.

I am only speaking from personal experience - perhaps there are better deals out there. Whenever I tried to go through a bank/building society they asked for Accounts as opposed to daily rate.

[northernladuk]

Contractor Broker - the only way to get a house at that cost "officially earning" less than 42k

I can't believe this is true. Many lenders are quite happy to consult with your accountant for proof of income. When I spoke to a few lenders they had a standard process to do it and some even consider your contract rate as opposed to your wage. I have had two offers in principle doing this over the last few years. Didn't blink an eye when I mentioned my situation, even when I didn't have 2 years accounts.

Who can get you the best rate right now I don't know though.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Would you recommend? I need to remortgage my house but its not going to be simple

There are a few brokers out there but the company I found to be the best by a long way is contractor financials. Really helpful bunch of people, I can't recommend them enough. I initially tried Contractor Mortgages but they just put me off.

[SimonMac]

Contractor Broker - the only way to get a house at that cost "officially earning" less than 42k

Would you recommend? I need to remortgage my house but its not going to be simple

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Did you find the mortgage yourself or through a broker that knows how to work with contractors?

Contractor Broker - the only way to get a house at that cost "officially earning" less than 42k

[SimonMac]

Reviving this thread just to update everybody who might be interested.

Got offered 4.5% rate for 15% deposit. I managed to scrape another 5% and this reduced the rate down to 3.89% fixed for 2 years. Not that bad really.....

Did you find the mortgage yourself or through a broker that knows how to work with contractors?

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Reviving this thread just to update everybody who might be interested.

Got offered 4.5% rate for 15% deposit. I managed to scrape another 5% and this reduced the rate down to 3.89% fixed for 2 years. Not that bad really.....

[BrilloPad]

Recently put an offer on a house in the region of 300,000 with a 15% deposit in place. It has been accepted and we really like the house. After the offer the following things happened:
- Double Dip recession
- New Greek/Euro banking crisis
- Unemployment is predicted to get worse for the next 5 years
- Contract market suddenly looking a lot weaker again

My mortgage will be in the region of £1,200/month and that is well affordable if I can continue contracting.... I am however feeling a little nervous about the future following all of these crises. Should I just crack on ahead or consider withdrawing the offer?

If it is to live in then buy it.
If it is an investment with cash or low mortgage then buy it.
If it is an investment with high mortgage then walk.

HTH

[saptastic]

Also if you read any forecasts they say IR will stay the same for at least 12-18 months.

[saptastic]

The trend for next two years is for prices to come down by about 20%.

Depends where you are buying. In London there is still a housing shortage. In London where I am buying -a new 3 bed came on the market, 20 viewings at the weekend, 4 offers. And its not a giveaway.

If its a long term family home you are unlikely to lose out.
You only lose if you sell in the short term potentially. Get the mortgage deals whilst you can.

Not sure where is the forecast of a 20% fall published ????