Reply to: Borrow a small amount extra on my mortgage as a contractor

[clearedforlanding]

I would suggest that a personal loan maybe better in that £5-9000 will be cleared in a couple of years. If it is added to the mortgage and your term is say 25 years, you will pay a lot more interest over the life of the loan unless you are willing to make overpayments.

Out of interest, what home improvements are you planning?

This is the answer a financial advisor should be giving.

[clearedforlanding]

Hi Dani,

Apologies for the delayed response! As already mentioned below, we've been supporting contractors in similar situations to yourself for over 20 years, so we'd love the opportunity to help you with this and run through your options.

We won't look to charge you any fee for the initial consultation, that's not how we work. We will only look to charge a fee if you do progress with a full mortgage application.

It's difficult to give you advise without knowing all the details. So it would definitely be best to speak with one of our senior mortgage specialists who would be more than happy to help.

Feel free to give us a call on 0208 421 7999 or fill out an enquiry form on our website - https://www.freelancerfinancials.co.uk/get-started/

Kind regards,
The Freelancer Financials team.

As a financial advisor are you seriously considering that 9k of home repairs are added to a mortgage? FFS

[Paracelsus]

Agree with Martin, the figure doesn't make sense to add to a mortgage on the face of it. Bank loan or 0% credit card if you can. I've had upto 10k on a 0% credit card deal not too long ago (stoozing in my case) and I don't even have the best credit score.

[Martin@AS Financial]

I would suggest that a personal loan maybe better in that £5-9000 will be cleared in a couple of years. If it is added to the mortgage and your term is say 25 years, you will pay a lot more interest over the life of the loan unless you are willing to make overpayments.

Out of interest, what home improvements are you planning?

[northernladuk]

Yeah, that's fair. Just to clarify, I wasn't suggesting that Mortgage Quest are price-gouging, or anything like that. I'm just saying that a mortgage broker might not be the best choice for the OP, since they're borrowing a relatively small amount.

Agreed, wouldn't be my first choice either. I'd be surprised if you couldn't deal direct with the lender but I do know some won't speak to B2C at all. Plenty of other avenues to try before shelling that much out for sure.

[jamesbrown]

put your food down.

OP is trying, but the constant eye rolling from his wife isn't helping his gut health.

[Paddy]

Are the home improvements necessary? It’s unlikely to add value to the property. Is your wife pressurising you into this financial situation, if so put your foot down.

[hobnob]

It does seem that way but there has to be a base level where it just can't be any cheaper because of time spent etc. Still (more or less) the same paperwork and processes to fill in regardless of the amount.

Yeah, that's fair. Just to clarify, I wasn't suggesting that Mortgage Quest are price-gouging, or anything like that. I'm just saying that a mortgage broker might not be the best choice for the OP, since they're borrowing a relatively small amount.

[WTFH]

Or even (shudder) just chrome? Even on a contractor forum you can't get away from poor people.

I suspect it was her dolls house.

[northernladuk]

only silver plated fittings then????

Or even (shudder) just chrome? Even on a contractor forum you can't get away from poor people.

[northernladuk]

Thinking about the people here who've had good experiences with Freelancer Financials, has anyone else used them since the Mortgage Quest acquisition? I wonder whether that's why I had a different result.

Yup. Did a buy to let with them only last month. Swapped from Leeds back to Birmingham Midshires. As usual no issues whatsoever. Process was a little different but it's been awhile since I did my last one so I'd expect them to be a little slicker than the old days of mailing off docs and it was so no issues here.

Yeah, absolutely. If you're negotiating a £500,000 mortgage then a £199 fee is negligible, but if you just want to borrow £5,000 then it's more significant.

It does seem that way but there has to be a base level where it just can't be any cheaper because of time spent etc. Still (more or less) the same paperwork and processes to fill in regardless of the amount. When I get a bill like this I always ask myself how much time and effort would I spend for £199 and it aint a lot. Stings, totally get it, but it is what it is.

[Jason FreelancerFinancials]

I have a mortgage with Lloyds. I want to burrow a little bit extra for home improvements - between 5K and 9K. I called Lloyds and they said as a contractor, I need to have 2 years of trading history. I only just got back to contracting a month ago with a new company.

Do you think there's a mortgage contractor specialist who can help me with this? I think they are usually paid a commission by the lender, based on the mortgage size - so not interested in small sum mortgages. Also I have a 6 month contract, but no trading history.

Hi Dani,

Apologies for the delayed response! As already mentioned below, we've been supporting contractors in similar situations to yourself for over 20 years, so we'd love the opportunity to help you with this and run through your options.

We won't look to charge you any fee for the initial consultation, that's not how we work. We will only look to charge a fee if you do progress with a full mortgage application.

It's difficult to give you advise without knowing all the details. So it would definitely be best to speak with one of our senior mortgage specialists who would be more than happy to help.

Feel free to give us a call on 0208 421 7999 or fill out an enquiry form on our website - https://www.freelancerfinancials.co.uk/get-started/

Kind regards,
The Freelancer Financials team.

[WTFH]

What isn't fair or logical is paying a nearly £1000, which might be one or two months mortgaged payments, which is then often added on to the loan itself. People often take a 2 year mortgage and just throw these fees on top of their loan without thinking. You will often benefit from a paying a fee on a mortgage product with a effective lower interest rate but people are tempted by the fee-free products.

People rarely take out a 2 year mortgage.
They might take out a 25 year mortgage that has a 2 year discount or 2 year fixed rate. That is not a 2 year mortgage.

As for a mortgage where the payment is £500 a month, that would be interest only - great until there's a housing market crash.
A repayment mortgage of £500 a month would be for about £90,000, which won't get you much of a house these days.

In my opinion, you will often benefit from paying down the capital on a mortgage as quickly as possible, reducing debt and exposure, and ensuring that should anything happen to you, your family are not forced out of their home through your poor financial management.

[agentzero]

Thinking about the people here who've had good experiences with Freelancer Financials, has anyone else used them since the Mortgage Quest acquisition? I wonder whether that's why I had a different result.



Yeah, absolutely. If you're negotiating a £500,000 mortgage then a £199 fee is negligible, but if you just want to borrow £5,000 then it's more significant.

Given the complexities, up to £200 seems fair.

What isn't fair or logical is paying a nearly £1000, which might be one or two months mortgaged payments, which is then often added on to the loan itself. People often take a 2 year mortgage and just throw these fees on top of their loan without thinking. You will often benefit from a paying a fee on a mortgage product with a effective lower interest rate but people are tempted by the fee-free products.

Some mortgage broker only charge upon completion, so use two or three brokers and get the spreadsheet out. If you have a simple mortgage requirement you can often go direct via the Halifax intermediaries website or similar to gauge rates. The OP has a complex situation by default and a broker is probably the best route.

[sadkingbilly]

. My daughters kitchen (small) cost £20k and that’s doing things cheaply

only silver plated fittings then????