My last mortgage deal, taken out when we moved to Orpington, comes to an end in December.
About a month ago I started looking around. Following the download of a document from the Money Saving Expert website, I decided to use London & Country, a fee-free mortgage broker; they are full market, and advise on specific mortgages.
I had two requirements for a fixed mortgage: low rate (HA!), and being able to offset my savings against the debt.
The first deal they came up with was with Scottish Widows. On the surface was a great deal, fixed at 1.39% above the Scottish Widows Base Rate (which at the time was the same as the BoE rate) for the term of the mortgage and no arrangement fee; they’d also refund the valuation fee. Despite passing the preliminaries, they said I failed the credit score and the maximum they’d lend was £35k less than I was asking for. Enquiries against my credit score showed they were lying; my score is almost perfect (999/1000). When pressed on that point they changed their story and said I failed for other reasons, which they wouldn’t disclose. I won’t be dealing with them again.
Moving swiftly on, the next best offer was from Intelligent Finance. Fixed at 1.59% above the BoE rate for the life of the mortgage, it looked like a good deal. The biggest downside was the £430 valuation fee and the £1000 arrangement fee., though given the current with deals disappearing by the day, not a deal breaker.
Within a week the valuer had been round, and the news was good. A week later, despite saying I wanted to complete in January, I received a call from the conveyencer saying we could complete yesterday – just two weeks after first contacting them. The fee to terminate my previous agreement early was tiny, I said we should go ahead.
I’ve just spoken to IF and, indeed, it has completed. I’m stunned. It has been, apart from the arrangement and valuation fees, painless.
My timing was excellent: since the rate cut last week, IF have pulled all their trackers off the market. As it’s a rate fixed for the term, I’m likely not to need to remortgage again. I am a very happy bunny.
A+++++ transaction, would do business again.
November 11th, 2008 20:48
Excellent. That is weird that the first one would not tell you why they would not approve you.
November 12th, 2008 10:59
I would guess the reason they didn’t approve you would have been down to affordability. Apart from income multiples, most lenders will look at affordability as well and this can push you out of their criteria.
A good independent Mortgage broker is the best way forward here, especially if you have particular quirky requirements from your mortgage.
It’s nice to see some positive stories on mortgages for a change.