As cheesy as it sounds, there is no such thing as a stupid question.
Clients often say I have a stupid question but in all honesty, most of them are questions we have been asked many times before. So you are probably not alone.
Some examples of questions we have received are below…
- Now that I have my Mortgage offer, can I take out a credit card to get some furniture?
- The answer to that is that it will vary from client to client. However my general answer is to hold fire if possible. More credit checks and finance can affect an already offered application. So to ensure you do not end up with a lovely new sofa but no new home to put it in, it is best to hold fire until completion.
- After my fixed period has finished, will there be any early repayment charges if I move to a new lender?
- There are some lenders who do have early repayment charges which extend beyond the initial tie in period, however these are very few and far between.
- If my partner is a first time buyer and I already own a home, are we classed as first time buyers?
- Not quite a straightforward answer. Some lenders say neither applicants can have owned a property, others say none in the last x years. In either instance it does not make a huge difference in the products available so its not something to get overly concerned with.
- If I have a large deposit, can I get a larger Mortgage?
- In general the answer to this is no. Your income will support a Mortgage of £x. Having a larger deposit whilst may entitle you to lower rates will still only support a Mortgage of £x. The reason for that is most lenders assess the amount you can lend on a nominal rate (at the time or writing this, that is around 6%). There are exceptions with some of the smaller lenders where they may be prepared to take a little extra risk if everything else is good on the case. However we are not talking tens of thousands just a small amount of extra borrowing if it is tight.
None of those questions have a straight yes or no and the answers can vary from person to person.
Our advice, ask the question. The only stupid questions are the ones that do not get asked.