Ten Ways to get a Quicker Mortgage Deal
1. Choosing the mortgage lender
Choose your mortgage lender with care. The time it takes to deal with a mortgage application varies considerably from one lender to another. The quickest can give you a mortgage offer in ten days. The slowest often take four to six weeks. Check with your mortgage broker how long the mortgage offer is likely to take. If you are arranging a mortgage direct with the lender, ask them what their average turn-around is before you commit yourself.
2. Applying for a mortgage in principle
If you know which mortgage lender you wish to use you can often apply for a mortgage in principle before you find a property to buy. This means that the mortgage lender will take up employment and financial references and give you a certificate to say that they will lend you up to £X,000 subject to a satisfactory valuation on the property that you are buying. This can save seven to 14 days once you find a property (NB not all lenders offer a mortgage in principle).
3. Asking for the survey to be done first
Most mortgage lenders will not instruct the surveyor to carry out a mortgage valuation until they have obtained satisfactory financial and employment references. The reason for this is that they want to avoid wasting your survey fee if you are not creditworthy. The price, however, is a delay of seven to ten days. The way to avoid this is to instruct the mortgage lender to proceed with the survey before obtaining references.
4. Informing your employer
Mortgage applications are often delayed because employers are slow to respond, or respond to a reference request incorrectly. Find out which person in your organisation will be dealing with the reference and ensure that the lender sends it addressed to them by name. Go and see this person, and ask them to look out for the reference and return it immediately. Also make sure that they complete the mortgage lender's official reference request form. Most lenders will not accept the information in letter form.
5. Checking the lender's lending criteria
Many mortgages are turned down because the property does not meet the lender's criteria. If you are applying directly to the lender, or if your broker is not a mortgage specialist, ask for a copy of the lender's lending criteria and check that the property you are buying falls within them.
6. Doing your own credit check
If there is any possibility that you have a County Court Judgement for debt, ask your mortgage broker to do a credit check on you. If there is a problem, you can save the time that would be wasted if your loan application was refused and apply in the first case to a more appropriate mortgage lender.
7. Choosing the right surveyor
Before instructing a surveyor make sure that you ask how quickly they can get the report to you. Sometimes a surveyor will agree to do a report for you quickly in return for a higher fee.
8. Stressing the urgency
Mortgage lenders have been known to deal with applications within 48 hours. If you tell everyone that you are in a hurry, you might be surprised at what they can do to help.
9. Checking if a medical report is required
Most people who are arranging a mortgage will be applying for some sort of life assurance policy to cover the loan. If the loan is a large one (about £100,000 plus), or if you have ever had any medical problems, the insurance company might ask for a medical report. This could cause one to two week's delay. If there is any possibility that your insurer may require a medical report, ring their underwriting department and explain your circumstances. If a report is required, it can be arranged immediately. If you are arranging your loan through brokers they will usually do this for you.
10. Hassling people
If promised deadlines are not met, don't be frightened to complain loudly.
