I thought this would be a great little story as it crops up a lot especially in the months after Christmas.
Over the years we have spoken to a lot of people who ask if it is possible to get a Mortgage without bank statements or if various transactions are likely to be a deal breaker.
The story
In this example, we had a client whose bank statements were a little bit quirky. There was nothing bad on there, no gambling, no missed payments, he was not living in his overdraft etc. But the way he managed his account was to run it down to zero more or less and then transfer money from his savings accounts.
It always looked like he was running out of money (in his opinion) and he was a little concerned this would result in a problem with the underwriter. I advised it would not, but not all mortgage lenders will ask for statements and we can try to find one who would not ask for statements – this was his preference.
The research
We did our research and funnily enough, the cheapest lender on the day was a lender who had a 50/50 chance of not requiring bank statements. This is great as it also meant it cost no extra in trying to follow their wishes.
Once we had completed the research we had a couple of options but it made sense to go to the cheapest first as they were as likely as anyone to not need statements.
We applied for a Decision in Principle (DIP) and this passed. It also popped up with documents we would need to send over with the application… No statements requested! Now it is important to mention that this could change at full application but it does not usually happen.
We wrote a post here a while back about what Mortgage lenders are looking for on Bank Statements where they are requested. It is still valid today.
The outcome
The full application went in just before Christmas. Everything was accepted subject to valuation and on Friday last week we received the full mortgage offer – they never asked for bank statements.
Summary
In this example, I personally had no qualms about their bank statements. There was nothing on there that was going to be a problem or could not be explained. It was a nice risk free example however of how we can tailor our research if needed to avoid having to send in bank statements. It is not a guarantee that statements will not be required however.
You may read things in the news or get told things by other people. I think it is important to always get a second opinion from someone doing the job as there are ways around lots of issues.
For example, as with this case we were able to find a lender who did not need bank statements. There are also lenders who may only need one months bank statement and this is used for the purpose of evidencing income.
But failing that, part of our job is to package your application up in a way that provides the best chance of success. In order to do that we need to review your documents. If we think there will be a problem then we can tailor our approach. We can look for an alternative.
As with this application though, it does not necessarily mean it will be more expensive.
If you would like to discuss your circumstances, get in touch. Lets see what we can do.