As a mortgage broker, it is never easy giving somebody the bad news that they can’t get the mortgage they need. Recently I had the most difficult client to get a mortgage for, and the one that upset me the most when I couldn’t help.
Apparently he had already met me many times before, but I couldn’t remember seeing him. He began with saying how he knew how much times had changed since he got his very first mortgage and he didn’t feel hopeful. He knew his main problem was that he didn’t have any employment income. For many, many years he had been able to obtain borrowings through a self-cert mortgage, but now they are no longer available, it is nearly impossible for him. I became aware that things were much harder than that after a discussion. His age was against him, because even the most flexible of lenders have a maximum age of 80 by the end of the term. Then I found the property was a lender’s nightmare, not only was it built of non-standard construction, but it was outside the UK and was a big insurance risk due to it’s location.
I tried speaking to lenders to see what I could do, but it doesn’t matter how trustworthy he is and what a good man I thought my client was, it seemed nobody wanted to help. The final nail in the coffin was the admission that in recent years, every December he took out a big payday loan to get him through the Christmas period, which had affected his credit score badly. In the end I had to turn to him and say, ‘Santa Claus, I’m sorry there is nothing I can do to help’.
Ok, so maybe this isn’t the best example of day to day problems we all face, nobody else in the world are thousands of years old. The point is, we are all different and we all face different challenges when we are looking to obtain a mortgage. Sometimes it is possible, if there are one or two bits of your profile that don’t quite meet the standard mortgage criteria, but the more severe and the more varied your issues are, the harder it gets.
You shouldn’t be deterred from trying to buy a house because you are worried about being turned down. Unfortunately, there are some things which you can’t get around, but there are some which, with help, you can. Even if you are not successful this time, at least you have tried and you can begin to put right the issues you have come up against. Then you can start to tackle them, so with patience and a long term view, one day you can get into the position you need to be in.
Unfortunately for Santa, he has too many problems, which he doesn’t look like he will be resolving. I couldn’t convince him to buy a house in the UK, nor apply for any full time jobs, so for now let’s all just leave a tip out for him with his milk and cookies each year.
Kieron Bassett Financial Services has two Independent Financial Advisers who specialise in mortgages and investment advice. Contact us on (01524) 832057, via e-mail, info@kieronbassett.com, or visit www.kieronbassett.com.
Jason Hinde DipPFS
28th November 2013
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