We love a mortgage challenge and pride ourselves on being able to secure mortgages for people with less-than-ideal circumstances! To demonstrate our success, we thought we’d share two recent examples where we managed to deliver for our clients even though the odds were against them.
New business owner
Our client came to The Mortgage Quarter having been declined a mortgage by a large high-street lender. She is the co-director of a new limited company with one year of trading accounts.
Her issue was that most lenders only consider dividends and the director’s salary when assessing affordability. However, she needed to use the net profit of the business and her director’s salary to maximise the amount she could borrow.
We approached the Bank of Ireland bespoke mortgage team and their BDM, Emma Higginson. Emma ran a series of pre-application checks and saw that our client had a solid employment history with substantial PAYE income before setting up the business. Our director, James, worked closely with our client’s accountant to develop a strong case to put forward to the lender.
Thanks to the combined input of Emma and James, within just two weeks of submitting the application, our client received the mortgage offer she needed!
High unsecured debt
Our clients wanted to move home but were struggling to get a mortgage agreement in principle (AIP) due to high debt levels.
Our clients had built up £68,000 of unsecured debt on credit cards and loans from extending and improving their current home. The works exceeded budget due to spiralling costs on labour and materials during Covid. The couple was also paying school fees and working fewer hours due to the pandemic, earning less money.
Another issue was that some lenders wouldn’t consider 100% of shift allowance and overtime when assessing affordability, so our clients couldn’t access the funds they needed.
We approached Newcastle Building Society, who’d previously declined to offer our clients an AIP. However, we’d been working with a BDM there and knew there was an appeal process. We presented their case and appealed the decision. Within three hours, the decision was overturned by the mortgage underwriting team.
Our clients can now find their dream home in the budget they hoped for.
Securing a new mortgage can be tricky if your circumstances aren’t straightforward. However, knowing the right people to approach and the best way to present an application can make all the difference. If you’d like help to nail your all-important mortgage application, please get in touch.