Mortgage experts

[Meade's Ball]

What a way to bore even seconds of a warm Sunday. My apologies. I am mildly bathed in uncertainty though.

So, my situation is that after living where i live for about 8 years, the landlord declares he's looking to sell the flat, and would we move out by September 1st. Plenty of notice, but the girlfriend has gone away for 10 days on the same day as i receive the cancellation of contract email. I thought i best not ruin her break, so will tell her on Tuesday. Now, i am in permanent employment, not earning an awful lot, but the girlfriend is coming to the end of a 6-month contract, with a publisher, that she wishes not to be renewed. I suppose the advice i am looking for is whether anyone thinks a joint mortgage will be given, with decent enough rates, with the girlfriend's employment issue as it is. I want to buy somewhere - to rent is about £400pm more than we pay now, the internet tells me - , and have about 25% of a deposit to hand, but i doubt it will be a nice enough place with with the amount that Santander's online mortgage calculator suggests.
Any thoughts?

 

[Pevenseagull]

Uncle Spielberg

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Uncle Spielberg

This, absolutely. He was brilliant for us, and went above and beyond the call of duty.

PM him.
[MENTION=3887]Uncle Spielberg[/MENTION]

 

[Meade's Ball]

Uncle Spielberg

I know. I haven't dissed the works of his namesake for a quite an age, so i hope our cinematic differences of opinion won't get in the way of warm advice.

 

[beorhthelm]

i would hazard a guess that your position would be a lot better if she takes the renewal so can show income, once you have the mortgage they dont come checking, she can look for something new in another six months... or more... dont assume you'll find and complete in that time, so you might want to plan for a short rent or live with family/friends or other accomodation for a couple of months. also, budget for removals or hire van and storage.

 

[Meade's Ball]

i would hazard a guess that your position would be a lot better if she takes the renewal so can show income, once you have the mortgage they dont come checking, she can look for something new in another six months... or more... dont assume you'll find and complete in that time, so you might want to plan for a short rent or live with family/friends or other accomodation for a couple of months. also, budget for removals or hire van and storage.

Thanks for the advice.
I've been thinking the first thing i ask her to do is look to see if they want to keep her on - she's covering maternity leave, so that might not be so. The only problem with that is that she has a thorough dislike for her boss and wants to be out of there as quickly as possible. How i persuade her to look to stay i haven't thought of the words for yet.

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

Thanks for the advice.
How i persuade her to look to stay i haven't thought of the words for yet.

If anyone on NSC can find the right words for something, it's you MB !

 

[Lord Bracknell]

If anyone on NSC can find the right words for something, it's you MB !

Yes ... But not necessarily in the right order.

 

[Igzilla]

Absolutely Uncle Spielberg. He will sort you out...

 

[Meade's Ball]

Yes ... But not necessarily in the right order.

*reens*

 

[Triggaaar]

I suppose the advice i am looking for is whether anyone thinks a joint mortgage will be given, with decent enough rates, with the girlfriend's employment issue as it is. I want to buy somewhere - to rent is about £400pm more than we pay now, the internet tells me - , and have about 25% of a deposit to hand, but i doubt it will be a nice enough place with with the amount that Santander's online mortgage calculator suggests.
Any thoughts?

Yes you can get a joint mortgage, but you might not be able to borrow as much as you want to. It will be worked out on affordability. They'll use your income and outgoings to work out how much you can borrow. You can get an idea by filling in an online example (I use fake details when doing that), but obviously speaking to a bank or advisor (like US) will get you the exact amount you can borrow.

Re your girlfriend - if she's self employed, has she got SA302s for the last few years? If so, that would do for many lenders. If not, what's her next plan for work?

 

[Meade's Ball]

Yes you can get a joint mortgage, but you might not be able to borrow as much as you want to. It will be worked out on affordability. They'll use your income and outgoings to work out how much you can borrow. You can get an idea by filling in an online example (I use fake details when doing that), but obviously speaking to a bank or advisor (like US) will get you the exact amount you can borrow.

Re your girlfriend - if she's self employed, has she got SA302s for the last few years? If so, that would do for many lenders. If not, what's her next plan for work?

Thanks for that.

No, not self-employed, the girlfriend. She's mostly of the media world, being a picture researcher in Spain and at the BBC, but she's gone into project management in publishing. She'll get something else without worry, with her numerous qualifications and 5 languages to speak. She has a bit more about her, jobwise, than i.
I do forget that the job before the one i've been in for the last 11 or 12 years was getting rid of nudey photos for MSN. I suppose if i applied for anything elsewhere i wouldn't mention my main skill set of that time being able to recognise the firmness or flaccidity of a male member in a still.

 

[Triggaaar]

Thanks for that.

Pleasure.

No, not self-employed, the girlfriend. She's mostly of the media world, being a picture researcher in Spain and at the BBC, but she's gone into project management in publishing. She'll get something else without worry, with her numerous qualifications and 5 languages to speak. She has a bit more about her, jobwise, than i.

Unless you earn enough for both of you, I'd guess you'll need her to have another job before you apply.

Is she's always in short term contracts and are they always PAYE (as opposed to being self-employed)? That might be ok with some lenders and not with others, I guess you need an expert to tell you.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Thanks for the kind words Gents. Triggaaar is right in what he says. If your partner is on a contract that is about to end and not be renewed no mortgage lender will take her income into the equation so they will lend on your salary only Meade and as a guide up to 4.5 x this. The best thing is for your partner to get an employed job or contract extended but some will want her to work through any probation period first before releasing the funds. I will send you a PM as this is generic advice only

 

[Perkino]

I went through the process for our first house about 2 years ago.

We were offered 5x my salary and 3x my wife's salary.

We had a deposit of £55,000 and wanted to borrow a further £165,000 but the bank wouldn't go above £155,000 despite our large deposit being 25% of the value of the property. We were helped out by relative in the end and can now easily afford the mortgage repayments.

Point being, deposit is useful but a decent salary will increase the amount that a bank will lend. Your girlfriends salary could prove invaluable to getting the loan

 

[Triggaaar]

Triggaaar is right in what he says.

Should be NSC's new tag line.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

Is "5 x one salary + 3 x the other" fairly normal these days...?

And how strict are they on making deductions for gym memberships and season tickets etc at the moment...?

 

[Springal]

Is "5 x one salary + 3 x the other" fairly normal these days...?

And how strict are they on making deductions for gym memberships and season tickets etc at the moment...?

There seem to be a few loose rule of thumbs but seems to be all calculated on affordability.

Usual outgoings seem fine and nothing of mine was questioned when we did it last summer. The only real finance was car leases so fairly simple.

All comes down to affordability, what goes in, what goes out and is what is left what they deem enough to live on.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Is "5 x one salary + 3 x the other" fairly normal these days...?

And how strict are they on making deductions for gym memberships and season tickets etc at the moment...?

5 plus 3 is definitely not normal, it is 5 x joint, absolute tops, nowadays it is getting more difficult to get that, 4.5 x joint is the guide, lenders are only allowed to lend over 4.5 x joint in 1 in 7 mortgages

 

[Moshe Gariani]

5 plus 3 is definitely not normal, it is 5 x joint, absolute tops, nowadays it is getting more difficult to get that, 4.5 x joint is the guide, lenders are only allowed to lend over 4.5 x joint in 1 in 7 mortgages

Thanks US.

4.5 x joint sounds a reasonable guide. With 65% deposit, and two public sector employments, hopefully we'll get that.

How are things with "interest only" lending at the moment? Is it a complete no-no or not too bad if that is the route you prefer (even partially)...?