Saving/Applying for a mortgage 2020-22 Edition

Pivot Eoin · 11-04-2020 8:21am

Wonder if somebody could give some tips as to Applying for a Mortgage without knowing the exact house you want yet?

- We know roughly what area we want.
- We know we're generally open to anything from 380k-500k depending on the house/area (predominately looking in South Dublin)
- Looking for a relatively turn key 3Bed with a Big Attic or a 4bed (our budget prob wont get us turnkey)
- We'll have 100k saved up by time we're buying (Potentially going to hang onto 20-30k of this incase of loss of earnings)

zuhuraswa · 11-04-2020 2:27pm

Pivot Eoin wrote:

Wonder if somebody could give some tips as to Applying for a Mortgage without knowing the exact house you want yet?

Just apply for the maximum amount you can get. You don't have to drawdown that amount in the end.
That's what I did and know my maximum limit based on the amount I was approved by a couple of banks.
Also if you can get a broker, the better. They'll apply to different banks, all which usually have different approval criteria e.g. some add bonuses to salary, some don't etc

IanVW · 11-04-2020 3:00pm

Can anyone give me some advice on the following. Me and my partner applied for a mortage in january and got approval and paid a deposit on a house in a new development. The house was due to be ready in May so that would have been within bank of Irelands 6 month from the approval date of Januaey this year. Now with construction sites closed its unlikely to be finnished before the June cut off so we wont get the valuation done in time as its not finnished. Is this something they would extend for another 6 months?

lomb · 11-04-2020 4:52pm

IanVW wrote: »

Can anyone give me some advice on the following. Me and my partner applied for a mortage in january and got approval and paid a deposit on a house in a new development. The house was due to be ready in May so that would have been within bank of Irelands 6 month from the approval date of Januaey this year. Now with construction sites closed its unlikely to be finnished before the June cut off so we wont get the valuation done in time as its not finnished. Is this something they would extend for another 6 months?

Likely but they will probablyask for proof of current earnings.

guyfawkes5 · 11-04-2020 5:20pm

IanVW wrote: »

Can anyone give me some advice on the following. Me and my partner applied for a mortage in january and got approval and paid a deposit on a house in a new development. The house was due to be ready in May so that would have been within bank of Irelands 6 month from the approval date of Januaey this year. Now with construction sites closed its unlikely to be finnished before the June cut off so we wont get the valuation done in time as its not finnished. Is this something they would extend for another 6 months?

I'm going through something similar at the moment. You will have to resubmit some fresh account statements and documentation, but it's not a problem to do this.

IanVW · 11-04-2020 7:15pm

guyfawkes5 wrote: »

I'm going through something similar at the moment. You will have to resubmit some fresh account statements and documentation, but it's not a problem to do this.

Ok thanks ill get onto them next week and resubmit them

The Phantom Jipper · 11-04-2020 7:43pm

This query has probably been done to death, but I was curious if anyone has any insights into what a bank's tolerance is of applicants having betting accounts?

I have years of evidence of regular, decent savings, but my bank statements would have a lot of online bookie transactions going through them. The bets are profitable, and in a niche area of interest. Does any of that matter or is the existence of betting accounts an automatic red flag?

PCeeeee · 11-04-2020 7:49pm

The Phantom Jipper wrote: »

This query has probably been done to death, but I was curious if anyone has any insights into what a bank's tolerance is of applicants having betting accounts?

I have years of evidence of regular, decent savings, but my bank statements would have a lot of online bookie transactions going through them. The bets are profitable, and in a niche area of interest. Does any of that matter or is the existence of betting accounts an automatic red flag?

Im not sure how I would quantify their tolerance. 'A lot' of transactions is going to be an issue. Also anecdotally, whether you're in profit or not is immaterial.

iQuestion · 11-04-2020 9:58pm

I am slightly confused, I am a first time buyer - do I need 20% deposit for 2 bed apartment or 10% or what is the story with this.

lir6777 · 11-04-2020 10:18pm

iQuestion wrote: »

I am slightly confused, I am a first time buyer - do I need 20% deposit for 2 bed apartment or 10% or what is the story with this.

10% for first time buyer

Dunston · 11-04-2020 10:27pm

The Phantom Jipper wrote: »

This query has probably been done to death, but I was curious if anyone has any insights into what a bank's tolerance is of applicants having betting accounts?

I have years of evidence of regular, decent savings, but my bank statements would have a lot of online bookie transactions going through them. The bets are profitable, and in a niche area of interest. Does any of that matter or is the existence of betting accounts an automatic red flag?

No it doesn't cause automatic red flags unless the transactions are detrimental to your savings.

Looptheloop30 · 15-04-2020 1:07pm

Dunston wrote: »

No it doesn't cause automatic red flags unless the transactions are detrimental to your savings.

Just on this, I took a conscious decision to clean my accounts of online betting a few months ago just for fear....

I've nearly hit the 6months mark. With regular savings and a deposit in place and ready to go, I'm trying to get my ducks in a row.

Should I plough on and begin the process to get approval as soon as I pass that 6month mark or should I hold out a little longer with this whole Corona situation?

I'm looking at changing jobs when things go back to normal, provided they still exist, so that's also a concern.

15-04-2020 1:20pm

Looptheloop30 wrote: »

Just on this, I took a conscious decision to clean my accounts of online betting a few months ago just for fear....

I've nearly hit the 6months mark. With regular savings and a deposit in place and ready to go, I'm trying to get my ducks in a row.

Should I plough on and begin the process to get approval as soon as I pass that 6month mark or should I hold out a little longer with this whole Corona situation?

I'm looking at changing jobs when things go back to normal, provided they still exist, so that's also a concern.

There isn't really a 'should' to it, but I'd hold off. Benefit of starting now is that if you come across a place you'll have all your ducks in a row. Benefit of holding off is that things are very up in the air at the moment - I'm sale agreed myself and we're very unsure of how things will progress. The later you get approved, the longer your loan offer will last, whereas if you're approved now and not able to view for the next couple months, you've less time on the offer.

tomgaa · 15-04-2020 8:30pm

Hi,

Me and my wife are looking to buying our first house this year if possible, but we are caught in between 2 minds as to which is the best approach.

1. Buy between €200 - 300k hopefully have paid off mortgage in 7 years. Then buy dream home of upward €500k with already having one house paid off for, and having some additional monies from rent.

2. Buy dream home now, with a potential downturn in housing market. Then buy second, cheaper home within the next 10 years, but be stuck with paying off 2 mortgages, but hopefully cheaper home would pay for itself with rent.

We have about €100k deposit at our disposal hence why we could potentially pay off option 1 sooner.

Could be much of a muchness but it is just appealing to have a house paid off for or nearly when buying the second one.

Just wondering if there are any on here with some previous experience on either approach.

Graham · 15-04-2020 8:41pm

Mod

Threads Merged

CIP4 · 15-04-2020 9:22pm

Still in the early stages of applying have given the bank a lot of documents at this stage. But latest stumbling block was they wanted a letter from my employer stating the actual Annual Bonus I received for the last 3 years. My mortgage advisor said best case they would allow have the average over 3 years as earnings. Also have to get details on my overtime in a letter from my employer as well as actual overtime received over the last two years.

So I have got all that now and sent it onto them hopefully they will just proceed with the and tell me if I am approved and for how much. I still don’t see why the above was required when it’s all stated on my payslips as proof.

Pivot Eoin · 16-04-2020 7:48am

CIP4 wrote: »

Still in the early stages of applying have given the bank a lot of documents at this stage. But latest stumbling block was they wanted a letter from my employer stating the actual Annual Bonus I received for the last 3 years. My mortgage advisor said best case they would allow have the average over 3 years as earnings. Also have to get details on my overtime in a letter from my employer as well as actual overtime received over the last two years.

So I have got all that now and sent it onto them hopefully they will just proceed with the and tell me if I am approved and for how much. I still don’t see why the above was required when it’s all stated on my payslips as proof.

They do this with any bonus/commissions as they know it's not always guaranteed. They apply the same rationale with Self Employed knowing they can have good and bad years so they average it out.

It's definitely tough on people who haven't been in same job for 3 years - which is a shedload of people within the FTB market.

Duke of Url · 18-04-2020 10:06am

Hi all.

Myself and Partner are first time buyers in the early stages of applying for a mortgage together.

We had a meeting with our boi mortgage adviser to start the process .

Went though our wages and calculated we could apply for a 350K mortgage.

Step. 1 - we opened a mortgage savers account for our deposit 10% and setup DD of 800 a month.

Step 2 - was to apply for the help to buy on the Revenue site . We did this jointly. This is now completed.

Step 3 - we did a cash dump of 18K onto the mortgage savers account so currently with 18.800 on it.

the house we are looking at is a new build A3 rating around the 339K Price range.

We have been renting the same house for the past 4 years paying 1400 a month.

Are joint salaries are around 90k gross a year.

That’s where we are so far.

cant26 · 18-04-2020 12:18pm

Duke of Url wrote: »

Hi all.

Myself and Partner are first time buyers in the early stages of applying for a mortgage together.

We had a meeting with our boi mortgage adviser to start the process .

Went though our wages and calculated we could apply for a 350K mortgage.

Step. 1 - we opened a mortgage savers account for our deposit 10% and setup DD of 800 a month.

Step 2 - was to apply for the help to buy on the Revenue site . We did this jointly. This is now completed.

Step 3 - we did a cash dump of 18K onto the mortgage savers account so currently with 18.800 on it.

the house we are looking at is a new build A3 rating around the 339K Price range.

We have been renting the same house for the past 4 years paying 1400 a month.

Are joint salaries are around 90k gross a year.

That’s where we are so far.

Do you mind me asking was it the BOI advisor that gave you the 350k figure? Due to me taking a pay cut we’ve dropped to 95k joint salary so with the 3.5 rules that would give us 332500 of a mortgage. Would be hoping to get a slight exemption to get to the 350 mark so just wondering if ye got a verbal exemption or how does it work?

fifth · 18-04-2020 12:24pm

cant26 wrote: »

Do you mind me asking was it the BOI advisor that gave you the 350k figure? Due to me taking a pay cut we’ve dropped to 95k joint salary so with the 3.5 rules that would give us 332500 of a mortgage. Would be hoping to get a slight exemption to get to the 350 mark so just wondering if ye got a verbal exemption or how does it work?

For what it's worth, I asked BOI for a small exemption back in February and they declined, because it wasn't worth their while for such a small amount. (Around 20k). So I was approved for 3.5x

And this was pre-covid..

Rock77 · 18-04-2020 12:26pm

Duke of Url wrote: »

Hi all.

Myself and Partner are first time buyers in the early stages of applying for a mortgage together.

We had a meeting with our boi mortgage adviser to start the process .

Went though our wages and calculated we could apply for a 350K mortgage.

Step. 1 - we opened a mortgage savers account for our deposit 10% and setup DD of 800 a month.

Step 2 - was to apply for the help to buy on the Revenue site . We did this jointly. This is now completed.

Step 3 - we did a cash dump of 18K onto the mortgage savers account so currently with 18.800 on it.

the house we are looking at is a new build A3 rating around the 339K Price range.

We have been renting the same house for the past 4 years paying 1400 a month.

Are joint salaries are around 90k gross a year.

That’s where we are so far.

Where are the new builds if u don’t mind me asking?

Duke of Url · 18-04-2020 1:22pm

Rock77 wrote: »

Where are the new builds if u don’t mind me asking?

Many in Kildare

Duke of Url · 18-04-2020 1:24pm

cant26 wrote: »

Do you mind me asking was it the BOI advisor that gave you the 350k figure? Due to me taking a pay cut we’ve dropped to 95k joint salary so with the 3.5 rules that would give us 332500 of a mortgage. Would be hoping to get a slight exemption to get to the 350 mark so just wondering if ye got a verbal exemption or how does it work?

Yes. It was our BOI adviser in our bank who we are both with.

squinty · 18-04-2020 1:59pm

Apologies if this has been posted before but can I apply for a mortgage when separated from partner or does it have to be divorce? I haven't had my name on a mortgage before.
Thank you.

The Phantom Jipper · 18-04-2020 2:29pm

Looking at the different rates offered, it seems Ulster Bank and KBC are generally offering the lowest. Would anyone know from experience or anecdotally if either of these are ok to deal with?

Sparky85 · 18-04-2020 3:34pm

The Phantom Jipper wrote: »

Looking at the different rates offered, it seems Ulster Bank and KBC are generally offering the lowest. Would anyone know from experience or anecdotally if either of these are ok to deal with?

UlsterBank were excellent to deal with from my experience this year. Dealt with the local branch manger for everything, very straightforward.
Applied to KBC too but they offered us lower amount at a worse rate (under the x3.5) and the mortgage advisor was very salesmany & smarmy so that put me off too.

zuhuraswa · 18-04-2020 3:53pm

squinty wrote:

Apologies if this has been posted before but can I apply for a mortgage when separated from partner or does it have to be divorce? I haven't had my name on a mortgage before. Thank you.

You can apply if separated, and it doesn't even have to be a legal separation.
I did this and got approved by a couple of banks. They do however have a pre-condition that you have to be legally separated by drawdown date (not divorced but legally separated at a minimum)

antimatterx · 18-04-2020 4:40pm

Graham wrote: »

Mod

Threads Merged

Why are so many threads getting merged in this one? The questions get lost amongst all the chatter.

Bigmac1euro · 18-04-2020 5:57pm

The Phantom Jipper wrote: »

Looking at the different rates offered, it seems Ulster Bank and KBC are generally offering the lowest. Would anyone know from experience or anecdotally if either of these are ok to deal with?

It’s luck of the draw. I had a tough experience due to a difficult underwriter. A friend of mine works in UB and he found out who the underwriter was that was looking at my case. She’s difficult.
I got there in the end though.

Sparky85 · 18-04-2020 6:44pm

The Phantom Jipper wrote: »

Looking at the different rates offered, it seems Ulster Bank and KBC are generally offering the lowest. Would anyone know from experience or anecdotally if either of these are ok to deal with?

Apply to as many banks as possible and go with best offer, rates and best experience in getting AIP.
We applied to UB, KBC, BOI & AIB, without the need for a broker, same paperwork copied numerous times. My work gave a standard salary cert so this was easy to submit to each bank also

Nicki99 · 18-04-2020 8:47pm

Wondering if anyone can shed any light on this. We last spoke to BOI mortgage specialist 3 weeks ago when he went through our documents and we haven't heard a word since. Obviously they're up the walls with everything going on so we expect delays but he said a credit check would be done and then application sent to the underwriters.

Would a credit check take this long? Is it a bad sign that we haven't heard anything yet considering he said he would be able to view credit check...

Our credit history should be good but I'm getting paranoid now. Also I know we should just contact him but don't want to be bothering him with the current situation..

2Mad2BeMad · 18-04-2020 9:19pm

Nicki99 wrote: »

Wondering if anyone can shed any light on this. We last spoke to BOI mortgage specialist 3 weeks ago when he went through our documents and we haven't heard a word since. Obviously they're up the walls with everything going on so we expect delays but he said a credit check would be done and then application sent to the underwriters.

Would a credit check take this long? Is it a bad sign that we haven't heard anything yet considering he said he would be able to view credit check...

Our credit history should be good but I'm getting paranoid now. Also I know we should just contact him but don't want to be bothering him with the current situation..

ring them, it shouldn't take that long.
But like you said the current situation, everything is delayed.

Also you should really of gotten a credit check for yourself before applying. Its easy and free to do.

Dylan94 · 18-04-2020 9:36pm

Nicki99 wrote: »

Wondering if anyone can shed any light on this. We last spoke to BOI mortgage specialist 3 weeks ago when he went through our documents and we haven't heard a word since. Obviously they're up the walls with everything going on so we expect delays but he said a credit check would be done and then application sent to the underwriters.

Would a credit check take this long? Is it a bad sign that we haven't heard anything yet considering he said he would be able to view credit check...

Our credit history should be good but I'm getting paranoid now. Also I know we should just contact him but don't want to be bothering him with the current situation..

Out of curiosity is that for Approval in Principle? Or full approval?

If full would they not have done a credit check when you first applied for AIP?

Nicki99 · 18-04-2020 9:43pm

Also you should really of gotten a credit check for yourself before applying. Its easy and free to do.[/quote]

We should have, we were going to but having applied for and receiving loans previously subject to credit check we didn't think it was really necessary.

Will contact him Monday morning. Thanks.

Nicki99 · 18-04-2020 9:48pm

Dylan94 wrote: »

Out of curiosity is that for Approval in Principle? Or full approval?

If full would they not have done a credit check when you first applied for AIP?

It's for full approval. We got AIP through the online form. Got a call back for amount we are eligible for and a list of documents to send in.

We did that and got a call to go through everything and amount was increased. Mortgage specialist said if credit check is clear it should be plain sailing with the underwriters.

2Mad2BeMad · 19-04-2020 11:54am

Nicki99 wrote: »

Also you should really of gotten a credit check for yourself before applying. Its easy and free to do.

We should have, we were going to but having applied for and receiving loans previously subject to credit check we didn't think it was really necessary.

Will contact him Monday morning. Thanks.[/quote]

I only say that because when I got a credit check done for my self it said on mine that I owed 1100 on an overdraft that was unpaid and still had 2 loans unpaid.
When in fact all of it was paid without ever missing a payment I had 0 loans out when checking also.
It was why my credit union wouldn't give me a loan but my bank could because they knew I had it all paid but if I wanted a loan with anyone besides my bank they would reject me.
It gets sorted easily enough but I was surprised by so many mistakes on it.

Duke of Url · 19-04-2020 12:09pm

I requested a credit check report from the icb site which didn’t show any score. Only shows my Credit card listed with ticks for the past 24 months.

How do you find your current score if not displayed in the letter.

2Mad2BeMad · 19-04-2020 12:28pm

Duke of Url wrote: »

I requested a credit check report from the icb site which didn’t show any score. Only shows my Credit card listed with ticks for the past 24 months.

How do you find your current score if not displayed in the letter.

There's no specific score I don't think.
Just shows your recent loans and if you have any arrears with them and how much is paid off them. Same with overdraft and debit cards. Also shows you how many times you've applied for credit by showing what institutions have checked your credit history.

Tilikum17 · 19-04-2020 12:29pm

Our mortgage runs out on the 20th. We can get a 1 month extension after that. It’s crazy they haven’t given people more time with pretty much everything on hold.

Duke of Url · 19-04-2020 12:38pm

2Mad2BeMad wrote: »

There's no specific score I don't think.
Just shows your recent loans and if you have any arrears with them and how much is paid off them. Same with overdraft and debit cards. Also shows you how many times you've applied for credit by showing what institutions have checked your credit history.

How can you tell if you have a good credit rating?

2Mad2BeMad · 19-04-2020 1:21pm

Duke of Url wrote: »

How can you tell if you have a good credit rating?

I'm not sure of the overall.
But loans and credit cards a d overdrafts are shown on it over the last 5 years? I think it is.
So it shows banks what loans you paid off and if you've ever missed a payment.

If there is a credit score system it doesn't pop up like the English one.
Basically just go through the report check your loans and make sure it reports that there is no arrears and it's paid off in full. If that's the case consider your credit to be good.
I'm not 100 percent on all of this but I can't see any numbers on the report with regarding a specific score. Best to ask them personally if there is one.

Edit. I also think banks get extra information regarding a score system when doing quick checks not sure if true or not maybe someone who runs credit checks might know

wally79 · 19-04-2020 2:26pm

Tilikum17 wrote: »

Our mortgage runs out on the 20th. We can get a 1 month extension after that. It’s crazy they haven’t given people more time with pretty much everything on hold.

Probably makes sense for the banks to have people reapply. Some people with approval may not have a job after all this

Nicki99 · 19-04-2020 4:30pm

2Mad2BeMad wrote: »

We should have, we were going to but having applied for and receiving loans previously subject to credit check we didn't think it was really necessary.

Will contact him Monday morning. Thanks.

I only say that because when I got a credit check done for my self it said on mine that I owed 1100 on an overdraft that was unpaid and still had 2 loans unpaid.
When in fact all of it was paid without ever missing a payment I had 0 loans out when checking also.
It was why my credit union wouldn't give me a loan but my bank could because they knew I had it all paid but if I wanted a loan with anyone besides my bank they would reject me.
It gets sorted easily enough but I was surprised by so many mistakes on it.[/quote]"

Thanks for that, I assumed since we always paid our loans on time there wouldn't be an issue. Mistakes never occurred to me. That's actually quite shocking that happened to you, glad you could sort it

Can I ask do you know what's included in credit history report. Is it only loans or are utilities included? We've only ever had credit union loans. All paid off in full, overpaid every week so cleared early. I have an overdraft which I never use. Never had a credit card.

Eta apologies for quoting wrong again, new to this site and still trying to figure it out!!!

Tilikum17 · 20-04-2020 11:28am

wally79 wrote: »

Probably makes sense for the banks to have people reapply. Some people with approval may not have a job after all this

Just reading on the journal there, if your circumstances haven’t changed at all they will give you an extension.

ELM327 · 20-04-2020 11:45am

Duke of Url wrote: »

How can you tell if you have a good credit rating?

Get your credit report from ICB

Nicki99 · 20-04-2020 12:21pm

Just an update to say we got a call this morning to say we've been approved. The delay was because the guy we were dealing with is working from home and we will be dealing with someone else still in the office from here on out. Apparently we were approved almost immediately.

Duke of Url · 20-04-2020 2:43pm

ELM327 wrote: »

Get your credit report from ICB

I did,

Doesnt show any scores.

Just that I have a credit card and boxes ticked for the past 24months

Nothing showing in numbers like scores.

20-04-2020 8:53pm

Duke of Url wrote: »

I did,

Doesnt show any scores.

Just that I have a credit card and boxes ticked for the past 24months

Nothing showing in numbers like scores.

Yep, like others have mentioned, there shouldn't be a score.

A particular institution might implement their own scoring system that they use internally, but there's nothing that scores people on a national level. The ICB/CCR report just highlights any missed payments/arrears, the amounts outstanding on existing loans, and some identifying information like name/address.

When I told people I was applying for a mortgage, a good few people brought up the idea that I should get a credit card or a small €1k loan and pay it off, to establish my credit score. I think people picked it up from American TV. In Ireland, a blank ICB record is as good as a clean payment history.

Dylan94 · 20-04-2020 9:06pm

true-or-false wrote: »

Yep, like others have mentioned, there shouldn't be a score.

A particular institution might implement their own scoring system that they use internally, but there's nothing that scores people on a national level. The ICB/CCR report just highlights any missed payments/arrears, the amounts outstanding on existing loans, and some identifying information like name/address.

When I told people I was applying for a mortgage, a good few people brought up the idea that I should get a credit card or a small €1k loan and pay it off, to establish my credit score. I think people picked it up from American TV. In Ireland, a blank ICB record is as good as a clean payment history.

This is not true. My credit report has a score on it. In fact it has a history of different scores that were calculated by the ICB.

Frank Grimes · 21-04-2020 11:52am

true-or-false wrote: »

Yep, like others have mentioned, there shouldn't be a score.

A particular institution might implement their own scoring system that they use internally, but there's nothing that scores people on a national level. The ICB/CCR report just highlights any missed payments/arrears, the amounts outstanding on existing loans, and some identifying information like name/address.

When I told people I was applying for a mortgage, a good few people brought up the idea that I should get a credit card or a small €1k loan and pay it off, to establish my credit score. I think people picked it up from American TV. In Ireland, a blank ICB record is as good as a clean payment history.

Dylan94 wrote: »

This is not true. My credit report has a score on it. In fact it has a history of different scores that were calculated by the ICB.

From: http://www.icb.ie/credit_rating.php#q13

ICB wrote:

13. Will I always have a Credit Score?

No, not always. The Credit Score needs to be requested by the lender from ICB. If the lender has not requested it, you will not have a Credit Score. If the loan(s) has been opened very recently, or there has been no activity on the loan(s) for some time, you will not have a Credit Score either.

I have a score on my report but it was generated when I was applying for a loan and the lender did a credit check.

Saving/Applying for a mortgage 2020-22 Edition

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