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Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 8:38 pm
by Irishrams
Hi All,
Just wanted to post up that after my IVA fell off my record about a month ago of serving the 6 years I have now had a Mortgage in Principal accepted.
It is on the Help to Buy scheme which I believe is harder to obtain than the normal route so was very surprised as most people told me I would definitely not qualify for the Help to Buy.
The Mortgage is with my partner and her Credit was not much better than mine as still has 2 defaults on here file which are settled and 4 years old.
So just want to thank all the people that helped me out replying to my topics over the years and have just one more question as still surprised I got one in Principal.
Anyway my question is what exactly is a Mortgage in Principal. The reason I ask is I want to confirm that it is basically almost a guarantee of a Mortgage providing we have not lied about anything we have told them in regards to wages, credit history etc. If so then I will be happy as Nat West who gave us the Mortgage in Principal did run a credit check which took 24hrs and came back accepting us. But I just want to check I am not missing anything else that might trip us up
Thanks in advance
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 8:43 pm
by luluj
Great news for you .... my understanding is that a mortgage in principle is not a guaranteed mortgage until contracts are signed / exchanged ... might be wrong though.... sure google would explain the terminology better though !
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:06 pm
by Irishrams
font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by luluj
Great news for you .... my understanding is that a mortgage in principle is not a guaranteed mortgage until contracts are signed / exchanged ... might be wrong though.... sure google would explain the terminology better though !
Thanks luluj
My understanding was I thought it was just a soft agreement that on paper you look like you can afford a Mortgage. However now I know the Lender has actually done a credit check it is a bit more than that. However my full understanding is I have been told as long as you can evidence everything we have told them then there would be no more problems in getting the Full signed Mortgage
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:13 pm
by ginger323232
A principle offer - does Not commit the lender or the customer to anything legal - it is base on the information they have at the time.It may be THAT THEY HAVE UNDERTAKEN A "SOFT CREDIT CHECK" WHICH MAY NOT SHOW DEFAULTS. However the application has to be underwritten, once this is agreed then they will issue the offical offer for you to sign
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:27 pm
by Irishrams
font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by ginger323232
a principle offer - does Not commit the lender or the customer to anything legal - it is base on the information they have at the time. However the application has to be underwritten, once this is agreed then they will issue the offical offer for you to sign
Thanks ginger323232,
Does this mean if once we find somewhere and want to go to the next step of confirming the Mortgage then a full credit check and everything will be done again.
Also when we come to getting the Mortgage agreed if our circumstances are exactly the same as when the Principal was offered is it likely we would have no problems in it all going through?
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:36 pm
by ginger323232
IF THEY HAVE DONE A SOFT CHECK - then this will be looked at more closely as will all the information you supply. So unfortunately nothing is binding, as the lender is free to withdraw the offer if new information comes to light or it decides you dont meet their lending criteria.
May be worth speaking to a broker and let them do all the leg work and worry - use the two experts that post on here
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:50 pm
by Irishrams
font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by ginger323232
IF THEY HAVE DONE A SOFT CHECK - then this will be looked at more closely as will all the information you supply. So unfortunately nothing is binding, as the lender is free to withdraw the offer if new information comes to light or it decides you dont meet their lending criteria.
May be worth speaking to a broker and let them do all the leg work and worry - use the two experts that post on here
I thought this but directly after the credit check was done a search showed up on my GF credit file but have yet to check mine so seems like they did a full check.
I understand from a lender point of view they could pull out and so could we but if the lender is accepting the same criteria in say a couple of months and our credit and evidence we advised them of has not changed then I presume we are in a good position.
Hopefully one of the experts will have a look and give advice also
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 10:49 pm
by MelanieGiles
The offer is made to you on the basis that any further investigations they may seek to undertake do not throw up anything more adverse about your circumstances than those which are already known.
Best of luck and hope it all works out for you.
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 4:06 am
by luluj
If in doubt use the services of a mortgage broker, such as Ryan or Shaun, as they will have knowledge of what is required and which lenders will help etc. Contact details on the left under ask the experts a question.
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 8:44 am
by Nutkins
All the best in your mortgage application! We are currently in the process of finding a mortgage! We went to the nationwide (our current banker) and they have advised that we apply next month once the new rules come into force! They have told us how much we can borrow but just need to press the button to say yes or no! We completed 2 years ago and have a good deposit! They also upgraded our account offering us a £2000 overdraft (we politely declined) but did say this was a good sign that they will lend!! On another note though we did ask a mortgage broker who contacted Nat West (as they have good deals) and were told they do not lend to those who have ever been in an Iva so I would check that they know this before you go any further! Please do share how you get on #128515;
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 6:34 pm
by Irishrams
font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by Nutkins
All the best in your mortgage application! We are currently in the process of finding a mortgage! We went to the nationwide (our current banker) and they have advised that we apply next month once the new rules come into force! They have told us how much we can borrow but just need to press the button to say yes or no! We completed 2 years ago and have a good deposit! They also upgraded our account offering us a £2000 overdraft (we politely declined) but did say this was a good sign that they will lend!! On another note though we did ask a mortgage broker who contacted Nat West (as they have good deals) and were told they do not lend to those who have ever been in an Iva so I would check that they know this before you go any further! Please do share how you get on #128515;
Nice to know.
I spoke to the Mortgage Advisor today who got the agreement through Nat West and checked everything with him and like MelanieGiles advised the Mortgage in Principal is more or less okay as long as when we complete the final checks it does not show up anything we have not mentioned.
I have noticed however our credit scores have gone down a bit since the Mortgage searches and not sure if this would go against us as after all it was the Mortgage in Principal that put those searches there.
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 6:41 pm
by ginger323232
Oh well done - at least it will set you mind a rest, hopefully you can leave the stress for the house move

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 6:45 pm
by Foggy
Credit scores do tend to drop when a search is carried out. If you fail the check the score drops because you appear to be a risk to a creditor. If you pass the check the score drops because of the potential liability you are entering (the more you owe the higher risk you are). After a few months regular payments on time the score will recover.
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 6:45 pm
by Nutkins
Sounds fab! Please let us know how you get on! Why did mortgage broker tell us nat west was a no go?? Oh well!!
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 7:10 pm
by Foggy
Nutkins -- we quite often see ( and it might or might not apply here) that the automated systems some creditors use will say "No", but human intervention will give a different result.
Unfortunately many banking minions are ruled by the computer, rather than the machine being the servant!