Mortgage Broker for First Time Buyers in Wirral & Liverpool

A decision in principle is an indication from a mortgage lender that they will be willing to lend you the money and how much they may be willing to lend. Now this doesn't mean they will lend you the money as a full mortgage application will still be necessary, where by the lender will complete a full underwriting of your application and they will also complete a valuation on the property. You will provide your decision in principle to the estate agents when you make an offer on a property. It provides some indication that you have the means to purchase the property. A decision in principle does involve a credit check. Some lenders will use a 'hard' search and others will use a 'soft' search. As your mortgage broker, we will use a lender that uses a 'soft search' thus having no impact on your credit score.

A mortgage is essentially a loan secured against a property. Due to the high cost of a property most people will use a mortgage to buy their home. With a mortgage you will make monthly repayments back to the mortgage lender. With a repayment mortgage, you will repay towards the property and the interest. So at the end of the mortgage term, you will own the property outright. With an interest only mortgage, you will make monthly repayments but these will only be repaying the interest on the mortgage. The loan amount for the property will still be outstanding at the end of the mortgage term.

We recommend speaking to a mortgage broker at the beginning, when you first think about buying your first home. We'll be able to tell you what you can afford to borrow so you know what kind of property value to look for and we'll also be able to provide you with a decision in principle. You'll need a decision in principle when you make an offer on a property.

Absolutely not! This happens far too often and is in fact illegal for the estate agents to force you to use their mortgage broker. Also, it is illegal for an estate agent to put any conditions on your mortgage offer, for example, 'we will only put your offer forward if you use our broker'. If this ever happens, let us know and we will ensure that we provide them with all the necessary information they need. We've even had many instances were clients have approached us after being let down by an estate agents mortgage broker. Often they may not have access to a wide range of mortgage lenders, or simply they don't have the expertise to understand the more complex circumstances. Who's interest do they really have at heart when they're selling the property?

After your initial deal ends, whether it be a fixed term, tracker rate or discounted rate, then your rate will move onto the lenders standard variable rate which will often be a higher rate therefore your monthly repayments will go up. However, as you will no longer be in the initial deal, no early repayment charge will apply so you'll be free to secure a new deal. Therefore keeping your monthly repayments lower. Your current lender will probably get in touch prior to your deal ending, however, as your mortgage broker we will also get in touch with you to look at your circumstances again. We ALWAYS recommend using a broker, (and we're not just saying that) as your current lender will only offer you their rates, whereas using a broker you'll be able to see what the cheapest deal across the whole market would be. You could often save on your monthly repayments.

Typically most first time buyers will have a 10% deposit towards the purchase of their first home. However, there are lenders who will accept a deposit as low as 5% of the purchase price. The bigger the deposit you have, the better as this reduces the lenders risk. You may get access to lower mortgage rates.

There are several types of mortgages to consider. Below are some of the more common types of mortgage products. As a mortgage broker we listen to your needs and give advice on which mortgage product would be best suited for your own personal circumstances. Fixed rate - This is where the rate is fixed for a number of years, at a cheaper deal than the standard variable rate. Typically fixed rate are for 2, 3 or 5 years but can even go to 10 or even for the duration of the mortgage. With a fixed rate often comes early repayment charges during the fixed rate period. Tracker rate - This is where the mortgage rate is linked to an external rate, such as the base rate. Therefore if the base rate goes up or down, your monthly repayments would reflect this and go up or down. There is often an early repayment charge during the tracker rate period. Discounted rate - This is where the rate is discounted from the lenders standard variable rate. Again, similar to a tracker rate, if the interest rates rise and fall, your monthly repayments would reflect this. Again, there is likely to be an early repayment charge if you redeem the mortgage within the discounted rate period. There may be some products available without an early repayment charge though, therefore benefiting you if you require short term flexibility.

As a rule of thumb you can typically borrow 4.5 times your annual income. However, there are lenders that can go up to 6 times your annual income. There are also many different types of income that can be considered for affordability. The lenders will assess your incomings and outgoings to ensure the monthly repayments are affordable for the duration of the mortgage.