We have many clients who are classed as HNW. Their requirements vary significantly. There are various types of complexities that crop up. Over the years we have come across unusual property types, from large amounts of land, outhouses, swimming pools annexes etc through to complex incomes or larger than normal income multiple requirements.
We of course have clients who are straight forward but also complex clients, clients who want a personal touch and clients who are not too worried so long as they get their mortgage.
I thought it would be good to have a look at the options.
Where does HNW begin?
In our world, HNW typically begins with applicants who have a minimum income of £70,000 and/or are looking for a Mortgage of £500,000+. However some lenders have their own views on that and so it may alter slightly depending on the lender.
How does applying for a Mortgage differ if you are HNW?
There are so many variables that you may find the difference is minimal. However lets look at some ways it can differ.
As mentioned, where HNW kicks in will differ from lender to lender. Although from an FCA perspective HNW is classed as £70k income Mortgage lenders tend to look more along the size of the mortgage.
It is quite interesting in how lenders can view HNW applicants so differently.
Dedicated Underwriter – For the lenders who will treat HNW differently, this seems to be the most common difference. We are assigned an underwriter from day 1. This can be useful as it allows consistency from start to finish. There is nothing worse than having a case handler and then an underwriter or multiple underwriters touching your application. They may all take a sightly different approach and so that can mean multiple requests for information or documents.
It is also good from a broker perspective as there is no calling a call centre, we can just go straight to the underwriter if there is a problem!
Bespoke service – Following on from the dedicated underwriter. Some lenders can look outside of their normal lending criteria. Instead of you having to fit the set criteria that the lender sets out, you may have some bits that stick out and although not a problem, they just do not fit normal criteria. We can talk to an underwriter to get them onboard with making an exception. Its a nice touch and make life easier for a tough case.
Price matching! – We recently found we had a lender who can offer price matching! I have never come across this before but after speaking with a lender who specialises in HNW recently it seems like this is something they are open to for the right applicant.
What about the downsides?
Generally speaking not really. However going back to the last point about price matching, the same lender typically wants to meet up with their prospective customers. This is fine, but may not be ideal if you are busy.
But also there are lenders who will treat you exactly the same as everyone else. They will still treat you as well as they can, but there will be no special treatment etc. This is not a bad thing, most applications are looked at within a week anyway so it is not like you will be waiting forever for a decision.
How can Mortgage Success help?
We have access to around 80 mortgage lenders. Some of them are dedicated to HNW such as Handelsbanken (who only have a small number of brokers on panel), other lenders offer dedicated HNW teams or departments to look after your application.
We have dealt with these departments and have a long history of looking after HNW clients.
If you would like to discuss your circumstances in more detail, we are happy to take a look. Please do get in touch.