Who's lending atm? Are banks back in the game or are there other options? Is there a website that gives genuine independent advice?

This site seems pretty useful

we got an IFA and although it added £200 to our buying costs it was worth its weight in gold in terms of hassel reduction!!

If you have a good credit rating and wanting to buy a normal house and you are going to put a decent-sized deposit down then do it yourself, please don't pay an IFA to do it for you!

ho hum makes a fair point
We had a marginal deposit and an unusual construction property so getting them to do the legwork of finding out who would touch us was a godsend

titusrider – Member
ho hum makes a fair point
We had a marginal deposit and an unusual construction property so getting them to do the legwork of finding out who would touch us was a godsend

Agreed mate!

If you are a "standard" buyer do it yourself, if you are "non-standard" make an IFA do the work for you.

I re-mortgaged at the end of last year and a broker wanted £500 for him to do it and I ended up doing it myself. Probably about 5 hours work for me in the end!

rOcKeTdOg, based on the fact that I think you're based in the same area as me, I would suggest you have a chat with Hayburn Rock in Stourbridge. I've just bought somewhere (first time buyer, reasonable deposit, ok credit) and found the advice they gave was really useful. The guy i dealt with (Daryl Chance) seemed more than happy to talk me through the options and spend a huge amount of time going through the stupid questions I had. I got a good deal in the end and they only charged a flat fee £99 for the advice.

Having just read what i have written i realise that reads like a sales pitch, so I should say that I have no conection with them bar using them for the above.

Question – based on having an (approx) 60% deposit, what sort of multiple of joint salary could I get?

I ask because, based on current circumstances, we couldn't even (technically) borrow the amount outstanding on our mortgage (although we overpay each month and could pay more) and we are considering moving to somewhere that would mean borrowing around another £45k.

Britannia offering a 3.99% Fixed for 5 years if you've 75% equity (or I guess 25% deposit if you're from scratch), seems a good deal to me.

Leeds building society have a few good deals

What if you have a deposit (now) and an endowment that matures in say 10 years? Does that effectively mean you can add the two together and say "There, that's my deposit (deposit + endowment)"?

EDIT: I don't mean "There, that's my deposit" as in a pure deposit because naturally the endowment will take 10 years to show. What I mean is, that endowment will come off the value of the loan, even if you were to start a new mortgage with a longer term?

When I was getting my mortgage about year ago I could borrow up to 4x my income irrespective of what my deposit was. The deposit impacted the interest rate that I would get rather than amount of the loan. In the end I borrowed just over 2.5x my income with a 20% deposit.

Spacemonkey – I seriously doubt it, you either have the money now or you pay interest on the extra you've borrowed. The endowment could be used as your repayment vehicle on an interest only though.. it may not be your best choice, but you could count it in if you wanted too.

Question – based on having an (approx) 60% deposit, what sort of multiple of joint salary could I get?

I ask because, based on current circumstances, we couldn't even (technically) borrow the amount outstanding on our mortgage (although we overpay each month and could pay more) and we are considering moving to somewhere that would mean borrowing around another £45k.

We're in the same boat- 50-60% equity depending on the 'real' value of the house, money in the bank, but unable to get a mortgage due to my wife having less than two years accounts, and 9 months off last year. Couldn't even move lenders I think, but at 2.5% there's no point. Going to let the house out, and rent for a while I think. Crap really.

Doh! You're right brassneck – I forgot about the need for the loan in the first place.

With a good deposit/LTV rate go and see HSBC in the branch. Tell them what you want and be prepared to open a HSBC Advantage Account. They have some great deals and they are trying to increase the market share so you could do ok. Many of their products state a charge of £999.00 but with a bit of chit chat you might get them to reduce that to £99.00 😉

Yeah I was thinking HSBC myself – they seem to have some good deals and both my wife & I bank there as does my business.

rOcKeTdOg, ygm.

I'm a happy customer of First Direct. Offset mortgages as well as regular ones. Offsets can save you a lot of money – well worth a look.

They are also happy for you to fix half / some of the amount borrowed and have the rest on a variable etc.

smurf

I can only comment on 90% mortgages as that's all I can afford to get, so I have scoured the market and spoken to a fee free (commission based) IFA too.

To be honest I reckon high street banks are the best bet for fixed deals – as I'm looking for a bit of stability and envisage the rates rising within the next 12-18 months. So it's a gamble and might not pay off but at least I'll have a steady re-payment amount for a few years. Santander offer a 3 year deal at the rate that most do a 2 year on and it's also fee free with £250 cashback at the moment too.

As for trackers, hsbc offer the lowest by far.