Whether you’re a first-time buyer, building a home, moving home or buying a rental property the mortgage process can seem daunting. All the paperwork and parties involved such as estate agents, valuers and solicitors it can become a full-time job managing the requirements for each stage to ensure a smooth journey to drawing down your mortgage.
Your Mortgage Broker will help make the process from application to closing hassle free. Below are the 5 stages of a typical mortgage journey:
1 Mortgage Enquiry
Speak with an Independent Mortgage Broker to go through your current financial and personal situation and check if you qualify for a mortgage now, if not this meeting is still important as it will help map out what is required from you in order to qualify in the future. If ready to proceed now, the advisor will outline the required documents to get an application submitted for review by a lender.
2 Application to lender
Once all required documents have been received by the advisor, they will carry out a thorough review to ensure you meet mortgage qualification requirements. Once satisfied, the advisor will look at the lender options available and talk you through their lender recommendations and reasons why such as interest rate, offers, ease of process etc. They will then submit the mortgage application to the chosen lender & advise you on current turnaround times for a response.
3 Approval in Principle
If the lender is satisfied with the application and supporting documents, they will issue an Approval in Principle which is generally valid for 6 months. Once a property is secured and deposit paid to the estate agent, you must then inform the advisor of the address, purchase price, estate agent or seller details and pay the valuation fee in order for the advisor to instruct the lender to carry out the valuation. Advisor and lender now wait for the valuer to complete the report and send it back for review. It is at this point you will be required to provide details of what solicitor you are working with to complete the purchase.
4 Full Loan Offer
If the lender is satisfied with the valuation, they will then issue a Full Loan Offer to both your solicitor and the advisor, most Loan Offer’s are valid for a further 6 months. The Loan Offer will outline the terms of the loan such as amount, interest rate and term and will also list the requirements needed in order to close the mortgage. It is at this point your solicitor will allow you to sign contracts (once satisfactory) which usually means the initial deposit paid to secure the property is no longer refundable. You will also meet with your advisor to discuss & arrange a few final items the lender require before closing the mortgage, these include (but are not limited to):
· Life Assurance
· House Insurance
5 Closing / Drawdown / Cheque Issue
Once the lender has received and are satisfied with all required documents outlined on the Full Loan Offer, they will release the mortgage funds to the solicitor. It can take 1-2 business days for these to arrive and when received the solicitor will send onto the seller’s solicitor along with your deposit / contribution. Once the seller’s solicitor is satisfied with the funds they have received they will give the estate agent or person in charge of the keys the nod to hand them over. From here you will receive welcome information from your lender within a few weeks outlining the details of your direct debit etc & contact details for them moving forward as you are now an official mortgage holder.