My mortgage application process

MANUTD99 · 23-05-2014 5:30pm #1

Hi All,

So my wife and I have been dealing with AIB regarding our mortgage application for about 1.5 weeks, getting all the payslips, statemnets etc.
My wife has mostly been dealing with the lady in AIB as its right beside her job.

We got an email today to say she has submitted our application and should hear back in 1 week hopefully.

What does that mean? What has the lady being doing so far on our applicaiton? Has she done the credit checks etc? What does the next person do on our application?

Thanks all for any feedback.

preytec · 23-05-2014 5:39pm

Hi there, well done getting a point where you're buying your own home. When I was getting mine I gave up on the banks and went a broker.I found the banks very hard to deal with. Some of my neighbours that went with the banks almost lost their homes waiting to get cleared by the banks.
Why not apply to a broker as well?

MANUTD99 · 23-05-2014 5:48pm

preytec wrote: »

Hi there, well done getting a point where you're buying your own home. When I was getting mine I gave up on the banks and went a broker.I found the banks very hard to deal with. Some of my neighbours that went with the banks almost lost their homes waiting to get cleared by the banks.
Why not apply to a broker as well?

Its all a bit unknown territory for us to be honest so we just applied to the bank direct. To be fair the the lady at the bank has been quite helpful but I'm just wondering what prep work she has done to our application and what the next person does!

Trying not to get stressed out by it all but easier said than done!

simpson80 · 23-05-2014 6:01pm

Hey. Currently at the same stage, it is with the underwriters that go through everything submitted and make a decision from there. We a broker though and it has all gone fairly smooth. Ye will be doing well to get an answer in a week though, there's been a surge in applications so the wait is painful, will be 3 weeks Monday!! Best of luck to ye both and hope it works out.

MANUTD99 · 23-05-2014 6:04pm

simpson80 wrote: »

Hey. Currently at the same stage, it is with the underwriters that go through everything submitted and make a decision from there. We a broker though and it has all gone fairly smooth. Ye will be doing well to get an answer in a week though, there's been a surge in applications so the wait is painful, will be 3 weeks Monday!! Best of luck to ye both and hope it works out.

Thanks for that. Whats an underwriter? Is that what the lady we have been dealing with is?

Diane Selwyn · 23-05-2014 6:05pm

I'd say it has to be 'centrally' underwritten - I don't think the branch managers have that kind of power/discretion anymore but at the same time I would imagine they would have a good idea of your chances of success so hopefully you should get a good result - good luck with it!

simpson80 · 23-05-2014 6:08pm

MANUTD99 wrote: »

Thanks for that. Whats an underwriter? Is that what the lady we have been dealing with is?

As Diane said. I don't think they have that power in branch but they wouldn't be really wasting their time if they didn't think you had a reasonable chance. It's tough to get it out of your mind when it's with them but be patient and hopefully the result is good news!

alibab · 23-05-2014 7:57pm

I have recently through it with Aib and approved. I enquired on a Friday had all my paperwork in on the Monday etc . About 6 working days later I got the news I had been approved. It was very straightforward and painless . Came back looking for one piece of paperwork but overall was very quick . Guy in bank would not give any indication either way

simpson80 · 23-05-2014 8:29pm

alibab wrote: »

I have recently through it with Aib and approved. I enquired on a Friday had all my paperwork in on the Monday etc . About 6 working days later I got the news I had been approved. It was very straightforward and painless . Came back looking for one piece of paperwork but overall was very quick . Guy in bank would not give any indication either way

God that was awful quick!! Hopefully our wait is worth it!! Best of luck house hunting

MANUTD99 · 24-05-2014 10:01am

simpson80 wrote: »

As Diane said. I don't think they have that power in branch but they wouldn't be really wasting their time if they didn't think you had a reasonable chance. It's tough to get it out of your mind when it's with them but be patient and hopefully the result is good news!

Would they have done all the credit back round checks etc then before submitted application centrally?

alibab · 24-05-2014 1:24pm

MANUTD99 wrote: »

Would they have done all the credit back round checks etc then before submitted application centrally?

Also before they even looked for any bank statements etc on the Friday there was a very in depth chat re wages outgoings etc and they said once I could back up with paperwork etc what I was saying then there should be no issue . I got the impression that if they thought that I was delusional or there was no hope that they would not have wasted there time submitting a application. I am single applicant divorced with 2 kids so not even straight forward.

I had spent 6 months previous making sure all was in tip top order proving capacity to pay with rent and direct debit savings etc and had all my paperwork ready to go .

MANUTD99 · 06-06-2014 7:16pm

Just an update on myself. We got our mortgage approved today. We have to prove that a gift of €2000 when we got married was not a loan and the bank will give us the official approval letter (or so they say).

Can people advise me now on the next step. We are ready to look at properties but I have no idea about going about it other than contacting the agents for a viewing.

Do I need to bring anything to show an estate agent? If we find a nice home and put a bid in what do we do. I've so many questions, my head is exploding!

Diane Selwyn · 06-06-2014 7:36pm

That's it exactly - contact the agents and arrange to view properties you are interested in. I never had to show anything in terms of ID or proof of funds in order to make a bid - only once I had gone sale agreed. However I've heard other people say they've encountered agents that want proof of funds before they will accept a bid. Wait until you are asked anyway - put your bids in writing and never let on what your maximum available funds are. I wasn't really expecting to buy the first place I saw but its good to get a feel for what's out there in your price range and what's going on really - i.e. are there bids on every property that are over the advertised asking price (probably if you are looking in Dublin!). Good luck with it!

MANUTD99 · 10-06-2014 6:59pm

I've decided to keep this thread going as a way of showing my progress to others in the same situation as me and also pick up a few tips.

So things I've learned since Friday: There is a lot of houses still up for sale on Daft which are actually already sold or sale agreed.

Is this normal? I've rang a few estate agents to declare an interest in viewing a property. They took my number and haven't called me back

Is a BER E2 a really bad rating?

Should I play it cool with estate agents or let them know of the bat that we are interested?

If we bid on a house and it accepted, what is the next step?

Thanks

trifde · 10-06-2014 9:03pm

Hi we had to provide our letter of approval to the estate agent before they would accept our bid. We crossed out the amount for which we had approval though. We went through AIB, but not through the branch. The next step is when you go sale agreed to notify AIB of the property and the amount you wish to draw down. When you state how much you want to draw down you also decide on the term and the interest rate type (variable v fixed), this was the next form we got. After that we were required to get a valuation done by an AIB approved valuer. this costs about 150. We have just submitted this valuation, at which point I also rang and was able to change the interest rate type. I am told this is the last step in process the before they issue the loan offer letter which enables the solicitor to proceed. This has taken about 2-3 weeks.

hope this helps and best of luck.

TheDriver · 10-06-2014 10:47pm

trifde: does the LTV get calculated on the purchase price or the valuers price??

trifde · 11-06-2014 7:54am

The form asking for how much you want to draw down came before valuation. So for example house cost 250 and we want to draw down 200. Once aib received this then they requested valuation. I see this as quite a pointless exercise. The form is a tick box exercise and the valuer only does a quick review. They state size, number of rooms, essential work required, proposed work, mandatory market value and insurance reinstatement value and a list of similar properties which sold to support value. Our valuer quoted the Market value as what we paid for it. I would imagine that it would be quite difficult to seriously reduce the value. In our case the property went marginally under asking but was more than other houses in a similar estate. The only issue we had is that if the valuer marks any essential costs, like in our case a new kitchen valued a t 5k then aib hold this back. They will only give us 195 and will release the 5 when we have the new kitchen. This means another 5k from our savings. So really to answer question I would say that ltv is calculated on valuation but the current market value is the price someone is willing to pay and you are willing to pay at that price.

OREGATO · 11-06-2014 8:04am

Best of luck with the purchase - just some things we found helpful during our hunt:

1. When a house is 'sale agreed', there is no harm asking the EA to take your name/number in case the sale falls through, there are always cases where this will happen for unforeseen circumstances and we found a few houses we were interested in, come back up in the market.
2. When we were looking, we only had about 2 call backs from EA's. From what I gather, they are getting a lot of interest so tend not to call people back, your best bet is to keep on top of them and follow up.
3. Keeping a spreadsheet of all the houses you're interested in and some brief notes help, we used Google Drive so we could share the spreadsheet, it helps to track which EA you've rang about what house and what the latest situation is.
4. We ended up buying a house with an E2 energy rating, but after seeing the BER report, we were quite pleased to see that it wouldn't cost that much to up this rating - simple things like insulation in the attic and other jobs can help bump up the rating - I wouldn't be overly concerned
5. Each EA is different, so 'playing it cool' may or may not work dependent on the EA. For us, we were just up front, we didn't want to mess around and I think this worked to our advantage on the house we purchased in the end.
6. What happens after you go sale agreed? You notify your bank and your solicitor (you should have one lined up if you don't). EA will send out sale instructions to both solicitors, your bank will send you forms to fill out.
You also need to pay a booking deposit to the EA, it tends to be a fee of around €5,000 depending on the cost of the house. This will come out of your 10% deposit you pay for the house. For example, if the house you are buying is €400,000, your deposit will typically be €40,000, the booking deposit of €5,000 will come off the €40,000 so at the start, you pay €5,000 to the EA for the booking deposit and then €35,000 to the vendors solicitor.
You can start looking at getting a survey done on the house, there are a few firms that will do the survey and evaluation (both required by the bank) for a good price so shop around or get some recommendations from people. Each bank will have their own qualified list of surveyors/valuers but most of the large firms will be on every banks list.

It's a load of stress buying a house but worth it in the end. Just try to have your ducks in a row at each stage and you'll be fine once nothing comes out of the ordinary.

Good luck

MANUTD99 · 11-06-2014 5:07pm

OREGATO wrote: »

Best of luck with the purchase - just some things we found helpful during our hunt:

1. When a house is 'sale agreed', there is no harm asking the EA to take your name/number in case the sale falls through, there are always cases where this will happen for unforeseen circumstances and we found a few houses we were interested in, come back up in the market.
2. When we were looking, we only had about 2 call backs from EA's. From what I gather, they are getting a lot of interest so tend not to call people back, your best bet is to keep on top of them and follow up.
3. Keeping a spreadsheet of all the houses you're interested in and some brief notes help, we used Google Drive so we could share the spreadsheet, it helps to track which EA you've rang about what house and what the latest situation is.
4. We ended up buying a house with an E2 energy rating, but after seeing the BER report, we were quite pleased to see that it wouldn't cost that much to up this rating - simple things like insulation in the attic and other jobs can help bump up the rating - I wouldn't be overly concerned
5. Each EA is different, so 'playing it cool' may or may not work dependent on the EA. For us, we were just up front, we didn't want to mess around and I think this worked to our advantage on the house we purchased in the end.
6. What happens after you go sale agreed? You notify your bank and your solicitor (you should have one lined up if you don't). EA will send out sale instructions to both solicitors, your bank will send you forms to fill out.
You also need to pay a booking deposit to the EA, it tends to be a fee of around €5,000 depending on the cost of the house. This will come out of your 10% deposit you pay for the house. For example, if the house you are buying is €400,000, your deposit will typically be €40,000, the booking deposit of €5,000 will come off the €40,000 so at the start, you pay €5,000 to the EA for the booking deposit and then €35,000 to the vendors solicitor.
You can start looking at getting a survey done on the house, there are a few firms that will do the survey and evaluation (both required by the bank) for a good price so shop around or get some recommendations from people. Each bank will have their own qualified list of surveyors/valuers but most of the large firms will be on every banks list.

It's a load of stress buying a house but worth it in the end. Just try to have your ducks in a row at each stage and you'll be fine once nothing comes out of the ordinary.

Good luck

A lot of great tips in there, thank you. I hadn't contacted a solicitor yet but I got the ball rolling on 1 today and have found one I think we are happy to go with

MANUTD99 · 16-06-2014 7:47pm

So we bid on some houses on the weekend. I'm a bit suspicious of the estate agent. We viewed on Sat and when I called on Monday the price had gone up 10K.

Is it possible that estate agents tell lies on current bids to try and get you to bid more.

Another question, bank says they want a valuation report done once we've found a property. How much does this generally cost?

chopper6 · 16-06-2014 8:12pm

Congratulations to all who ave been approved for a mortage..the waiting is horrific as i well remember.

Anyway,in the event you are asked to provide a Family Home Declaration do NOT run off to a solicitor to get one...i have heard of them charging up to 300 euros for this peice of paper.

I can email a copy to anybody who needs one and it's simply a matter of getting a signature at a Commisioner For Oaths...this should cost no more than a tenner.

chopper6 · 16-06-2014 8:17pm

MANUTD99 wrote: »

So we bid on some houses on the weekend. I'm a bit suspicious of the estate agent. We viewed on Sat and when I called on Monday the price had gone up 10K.

Is it possible that estate agents tell lies on current bids to try and get you to bid more.

Without a doubt..its a common estate agents trick.

Yu have two choices...Raise the bid above the new "asking price" and potentially show the estate agent you have more money than they thought OR stick firm with your original offer. If it's a sham bid they may be hard pressed getting the price up another ten grand and may revert to you accepting your offer.

I did the latter and the estate agent rang me to say the other buyer had "pulled out" and they would accept my offer...it's a bit like a game of cards.

MANUTD99 wrote: »

Another question, bank says they want a valuation report done once we've found a property. How much does this generally cost?

It's quite a generic thing..the estate agent can do it...they literally fill out a few sheets of pre-written questions etc.

it should cost at most 150 though you should be able to haggle that down.

jackal · 18-06-2014 12:28pm

MANUTD99 wrote: »

So we bid on some houses on the weekend. I'm a bit suspicious of the estate agent. We viewed on Sat and when I called on Monday the price had gone up 10K.

Is it possible that estate agents tell lies on current bids to try and get you to bid more.

Another question, bank says they want a valuation report done once we've found a property. How much does this generally cost?

Hi, please don't take this the wrong way, it's not meant to be condescending. You sound like you are inexperienced and new to the house buying game. Do you know anyone that could help you out when going to viewings, someone that knows the right questions to ask, that can point out the flaws in a property?

It's only after going to a lot of viewings and being involved in bids that you will understand where the market is at, what is the current value/cost to buy in a particular area, and how to compare houses. Someone who has already done all this might be able to help you without you personally having to accumulate the experience to know a deal from a lemon.

Any mortgage is a vast debt to be taking on, and it sounds like you are in a hurry to buy if you are putting in bids after the first viewing, just after getting approval.

Apologies if I have picked you up wrong.

trifde · 18-06-2014 12:58pm

Valuation cost us 150 and was very generic.

When it comes to estate agents, it's hard to tell. In our case we waited until all other bidders had out bid each other and then we bid against the last bidder. This bidder could easily of thought we were phathom bidders coming in at the end. I'm not saying our approach was the best as you are reliant on EA telling you bidding has come to an end but its an example of bidder tactics and not the EA.

As jackal says this is not something to enter into lightly but in our case we are buying in our local area and know the houses we like and the ones we don't. We know the neighbors, the services and the history of the properties. Using the property price register can give you an indication of house prices.

We are now at the stage of loan letter. This was issued within 2 days of submitting the valuation report. We also got a surveyor to look at it for structural soundness but the bank were not interested in this. Currently trying to sort out life insurance and house insurance.

Best of luck with the bidding.

dar100 · 18-06-2014 1:53pm

I used the AIB email system, didnt once speak to anyone, had it all sorted within a few weeks

chopper6 · 18-06-2014 2:33pm

trifde wrote: »

We also got a surveyor to look at it for structural soundness but the bank were not interested in this..

This.

Do NOT think that scrimping on this is a good idea.

My sister bought a house riddled with pyrite because they didnt get a structural report...it cost 80k to get fixed up and they were extremely luicky it was covered by Homebond.

A friend of the same sister sold a house as soon as she found out it,too was pyrite affected...they didnt tell the new buyer and i presume the buyer didnt check as the sale went ahead.

I can no reiterate enough...whether the bank is interested or not..get a full surveyors report,it could be the best 250 you ever spent.

kellygav · 18-06-2014 3:36pm

A structural report will only show up "signs" of pyrite if there are cracks etc...

There is no way of knowing if there is pyrite unless samples are taken from the ground and a builder/seller won't let you do this.

There is a thing called a green cert which passes a house clear from pyrite as this is based off a sample of backfill.

I've been through all sorts over the past 18 months and unless you are out in the market looking at houses then you really have no idea whats going on, too many people think they know best and they simply don't !!

The EA's are doing nothing to push up prices, its a simple case of supply and demand. But I would say that EA's are really lazy at getting back to you as I'm sure their phones are ringing off the hook.

Only listen to people who have recently gone through the process or are still going through the process.

chopper6 · 20-06-2014 8:50am

kellygav wrote: »

The EA's are doing nothing to push up prices,.

No..why would they? :rolleyes:

Lucy B · 11-07-2014 8:42pm

Great reading in this thread. I have so much to learn!!

My mortgage application process

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