To get first time buyers in Nottingham prepared for their upcoming mortgage journey, we compiled a 10 step guide on what gets involved during the mortgage process.
The 10 steps to the process of home buying and obtaining a mortgage are as follows;
Step One: Get in Touch for Your Free Mortgage Consultation
Here’s the scenario you have no experience in this field but took that important financial decision to purchase a place to call home. Now, you need to take out a mortgage.
It’s at this point you contact a trusted mortgage broker in Nottingham. We can step in and advise you along the process. We aim to take the stress away from you and work hard to make the right decision to ensure you come out the other side with a mortgage and your first home, smiling and with an affordable deal.
When you get in touch with us, we’ll book you in for a free mortgage consultation with one of our expert mortgage advisor in Nottingham. Here we’ll take some initial details and get a brief overview of your situation and what you’re trying to acheive.
Step Two: Free Mortgage Consultation
During your initial free mortgage consultation, your dedicated Mortgage Advisor in Nottingham will run a Mortgage Affordability Assessment to get a bigger picture of your current financial circumstance. During this assessment, your mortgage advisor in Nottingham will look over your income and expenditures to calculate how much you can borrow for a mortgage.
Once you have completed your free mortgage consultation, we can begin searching through 1000’s of mortgage products to find you the most suitable deal for your personal and financial situation.
Step Three: Obtaining a Mortgage Agreement in Principle
Once we’ve found you a suitable mortgage deal and you’re happy to proceed, we will then go away and obtain your Agreement in Principle (AIP). An AIP is a written document that a lender provides which indicates they have agreed in principle for you to borrow the loan amount requested from them. An AIP is not a guarantee; when processing through to a full application, the lender will look at your income and credit history in more detail. They will usually ask for evidential documentation to back up your application.
Having an AIP in place also shows that you are well-prepared and serious, which could possibly allow room for price negotiations. Typically, an AIP lasts around 30-90 days. If your AIP expires, it can easily be renewed; get in touch with our fantastic mortgage team in Nottingham and we will try and get you one arranged within 24-hours of your enquiry.
Step Four: Finding the Right Solicitor
After you have an Agreement in Principle, it’s now time to find yourself a conveyancing solicitor/conveyancer. Their job is to help you with the legal proceedings of the homebuying process. The term conveyancing is simply used to describe the transfer of legal ownership of a property between parties, no matter if you’re the buyer or seller.
Conveyancing solicitors will handle the contracts, give you legal advice when you need it, conduct local council/authority searches, deal with Land Registry and transfer the funds you have acquired in order to pay for your property. You must choose carefully when it comes to solicitors, as they will play a vital role in your home buying process.
As a mortgage broker in Nottingham, we cannot offer you these services in-house, however, we have a large variety of trusted companies that your dedicated Mortgage Advisor in Nottingham will be able to refer you to.
Step Five: Making an Offer on a Property
Now you’re halfway there, well done! You’ve spoken to your Mortgage Broker in Nottingham, passed the Mortgage Affordability Assessment, secured an AIP and found yourself a Conveyancing Solicitor. Step five is to make an offer on a property.
Having an AIP ready at this point may allow you to negotiate on price as it shows the seller that you’re in a position to proceed if they were to accept your offer. Buying a property is a negotiation process; if your initial offer is declined, you will be asked whether you want to increase it or not. For more information please see our how to make an offer on a property guide.
Step Six: Submit Your Documents
Now it’s time to contact your Mortgage Advisor in Nottingham and return to the mortgage process.
The next step is to submit your documents to your advisor, they will tell you exactly what they need, however, there’s nothing wrong with being prepared.
You will need to provide certain documents to prove that you are the person that you say you are, your income, where you live and how you manage your finances. If you’re obtaining a joint mortgage, they will require this documentation from both parties involved.
The types of documentation that you’ll need to evidence include:
- Photographic Identification (Driving license, Passport, etc.).
- Proof of Address (Utility bills, tax bills, credit card statements, etc.).
- Latest 3 months’ payslips & Latest P60 (employed applicants)
- Latest 2 years’ tax calculations and corresponding overviews (self-employed applicants)
- 3 months’ bank statement showing the build-up of the deposit funds together with an explanation for any large credits.
Step Seven: We’ll Progress Your Mortgage Application
Once we have all of your documents to hand, we are now ready to submit your full mortgage application. Your mortgage advisor in Nottingham will double check your documentation and make sure that it evidences what we are submitting to the lender.
Once everything has been sent off, our Mortgage Administration team will always keep in close contact with yourself and the lender to make sure that your application progresses smoothly.
Step Eight: Property Valuation / Survey
Whilst your mortgage application is with the lender, you will be required to get a property survey carried out on your property. Usually, they are carried out by accredited companies, typically ones that the lender trusts.
A property survey is carried out so that your lender can get a true value of the property, versus what you’ve agreed to pay for it. If you’re paying above its actual market value, the lender may be less willing to accept your mortgage offer. This is because, in the event of arrears, it’s likely that they’ll be out of pocket and unable to pay back the full borrowed amount. This is more formally known as a ‘Down Valuation’.
There are different types of property surveys available. Some will want to know the property’s actual worth, whereas some may look at structural concerns and possible repairs that need to be looked at in the near future. It’s your dedicated advisor’s job to help you choose the best property survey. This is something that we can help you with; another reason why you should use Nottinghammoneyman for transparent mortgage advice in Nottingham.
Step Nine: Receiving Your Mortgage Offer
Here’s the moment that we’ve all been waiting for. If everything has been done correctly and your mortgage application looks good, the lender will present you with a mortgage offer.
At this point in the process, our team of Mortgage Admin’s and Mortgage Advisors in Nottingham will just double-check that everything is good to go. We will see if things have been done correctly and that you can advance to the last stage. Once your mortgage offer has been received, it’s then down to your Conveyancing Solicitor to take your purchase through to completion.
Step Ten: Completing The Process
Well done! You’ve now moved from being a first time buyer in Nottingham to a First Time Home Owner in Nottingham. We really hope that you’ve found the process smooth and easy-going, despite everything that’s going on behind the scenes. We also hope that you love your new home and your fresh start!
All that you need to do now is go get your keys and move in!
We hope that you loved working with our team and received a fast & friendly Mortgage Advice service in Nottingham along the way. By any chance, if you’ve chosen a fixed-rate mortgage, at the end of your term, we’ll be in touch to help out once again with your Remortgage!
Date Last Edited: November 21, 2023
