Saving/Applying for a mortgage 2015/16/17/18/19

Blanco100 · 18-09-2019 6:13pm

Can anyone give ballpark timeline of how long it takes for contracts to be drawn up by vendors solicitor?

There is no chain either side, house we are buying is vacant, we are not selling and seller isnt buying if that makes sense.

Solicitor will obviously let us know but wont be carrying out required searches etc.. until contracts are at hand

ChewBerecca · 18-09-2019 7:09pm

Blanco100 wrote: »

Can anyone give ballpark timeline of how long it takes for contracts to be drawn up by vendors solicitor?

There is no chain either side, house we are buying is vacant, we are not selling and seller isnt buying if that makes sense.

Solicitor will obviously let us know but wont be carrying out required searches etc.. until contracts are at hand

If everything is in order, should be done within a day. But this never happens. Either the solicitor is busy/on leave/or trying to locate a missing document.

The actual contracts for the house we were buying were only a few pages, mostly half empty boxes, and the planning maps etc as appendices.

We're in the same situation as you, no chain. Contracts took close to 5 weeks to reach our solicitor. I'd say I could retype the same contracts in an afternoon if not sooner.

It's the deeds, planning etc which can hold everything up.

Blanco100 · 18-09-2019 7:15pm

ChewBerecca wrote: »

If everything is in order, should be done within a day. But this never happens. Either the solicitor is busy/on leave/or trying to locate a missing document.

The actual contracts for the house we were buying were only a few pages, mostly half empty boxes, and the planning maps etc as appendices.

We're in the same situation as you, no chain. Contracts took close to 5 weeks to reach our solicitor. I'd say I could retype the same contracts in an afternoon if not sooner.

It's the deeds, planning etc which can hold everything up.

Dont think our solicitor is looking into the planning searches or deeds or title until contracts are at hand.

Could be a while yet so

Then another wait after that for drawdown I suppose. its a frustrating wait

Musefan · 19-09-2019 4:00pm

Bank valuation complete. Rebuild cost is 35k more than the house which was a surprise.

awec · 19-09-2019 7:21pm

Musefan wrote: »

Bank valuation complete. Rebuild cost is 35k more than the house which was a surprise.

That seems... weird.

ChewBerecca · 19-09-2019 10:24pm

Drawdown request going in first thing tomorrow morning. End is now in sight

Musefan · 19-09-2019 10:43pm

awec wrote: »

That seems... weird.

Thought that too but it’s in a rural location, built by a builder for people who had a few punt to spare with some custom features. Just goes to show you would be hard pushed to recoup the cost of certain custom things like unique stone facades etc if building yourself!

Lux23 · 20-09-2019 9:43am

So when you put in a bid, do you black out all the numbers in Approval in Principle letter or do you get something else from the bank?

wally79 · 20-09-2019 5:21pm

Lux23 wrote: »

So when you put in a bid, do you black out all the numbers in Approval in Principle letter or do you get something else from the bank?

Black it out

NearlyForty · 21-09-2019 4:41am

Guys, when saving for a mortgage, what do banks look at in terms of ability to save..? ie..we’re saving e1200 a month and hoping to be ready to apply by February, some weeks it could be e100 that goes in and other weeks it could be e500, depending on when we both get paid but we always aim to save the same amount each month.. Will the bank wonder why if differs on a weekly basis or are they more interested in the total amount by the month..? Hope I’m making sense! Thanks

Corruptedmorals · 21-09-2019 8:32am

Banks are interested in ability to pay the mortgage. If your savings plus rent or savings by themselves are more than what your repayment would be that's what they care about. Obviously savings matter in terms of deposit or cash on top of mortgage but in terms of amount of savings per month that's what they're looking for.

el Fenomeno · 21-09-2019 10:14am

Silly question - can you start getting things like flooring, tiling etc. done as soon as it's ready for snagging, or only after snagging has been completed and you get keys at drawdown?

NearlyForty · 21-09-2019 10:22am

Corruptedmorals wrote: »

Banks are interested in ability to pay the mortgage. If your savings plus rent or savings by themselves are more than what your repayment would be that's what they care about. Obviously savings matter in terms of deposit or cash on top of mortgage but in terms of amount of savings per month that's what they're looking for.

Thanks! I thought as much. It’s always good to clarify

wally79 · 21-09-2019 10:30am

Well more than the stretch repayment. So they will estimate what your repayment will be if interest rates go up.

Also I think it is good to have a regular monthly amount even if it varies weekly and to not dip into savings. It shows you have that same extra repayment capacity each month.

Ghetofarmulous · 21-09-2019 11:03pm

Ghetofarmulous wrote: »

Hi all,

I am in the process of applying for Mortgages and I thought that some might find this handy. Rather than using the Mortgage calculator every time I search I just enter the latest interest and she auto calculates.

These should be the most recent interest rates on the market as of this week.

The first table is interest rates per fixed term
The second table is the monthly repayments for the same Mortgage of 198000 Eur as an example.
The third table shows the cheapest option however, there are some loyalty rates that for example UB and KBC offer which are not included.

I thought I had uploaded this already. My apologies.

The first table is the interest rates per fixed term. I sourced the information from Bonkers.ie and plugged the rates into the corresponding bank row and Fixed rate year Column. The rest should auto calculate and show the cheapest option down at the bottom. Interest rates may have changed since I updated on Monday.

The second table shows the monthly repayment for the corresponding Interest rate. This may change at the end of the term. None of this takes into account offers with some mortgages (cash back etc..) but this may be accounted for in the the column on the right. One may add any cash intensives to the savings box on yellow.

Change the yellow boxes to suit your own situation. Hope it is helpful. The figures in the attached are not reflective of my situation and are purely fictional. Please let me know if you have any questions on the attached. Its fairly simple.

I myself and about to make an offer on a property next week but I dont know how much I should offer. I dont believe the Guide price of 280,000 is fair when comparing to other houses in the area. Seems to high to me.

Slight change to sheet

Ghetofarmulous · 21-09-2019 11:11pm

averagejoe123 wrote: »

Fair play on doing up the table. What term are you looking at for these calculations?

Sorry Joe I was Away from Keyboard for a while there. I just uploaded a spreadsheet.

r93kaey5p2izun · 22-09-2019 12:05am

Does anyone have any experience of buying a house in probate? I know to expect long delays so I'm prepared for that. But do I just sit tight in the dark about it, or should I be following up with someone to ensure it's being dealt with as quickly as possible?

My solicitor just said she would let me know when she received contracts, and that was nearly 4 weeks ago. I suppose she won't receive them until probate is granted though. The estate agent said probate had only been applied for 2 weeks before the sale was agreed, and was talking about it being expedited due to being sale agreed. But I'm aware this practice isn't being carried out any more by the probate office. Should I be asking the EA for any update on expected timeline? Or does my solicitor look for information? Or is it just a case of sit and wait in the dark about it for 4-6 months?

Dolbhad · 22-09-2019 7:21am

Amber Round Eyelid wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience of buying a house in probate? I know to expect long delays so I'm prepared for that. But do I just sit tight in the dark about it, or should I be following up with someone to ensure it's being dealt with as quickly as possible?

My solicitor just said she would let me know when she received contracts, and that was nearly 4 weeks ago. I suppose she won't receive them until probate is granted though. The estate agent said probate had only been applied for 2 weeks before the sale was agreed, and was talking about it being expedited due to being sale agreed. But I'm aware this practice isn't being carried out any more by the probate office. Should I be asking the EA for any update on expected timeline? Or does my solicitor look for information? Or is it just a case of sit and wait in the dark about it for 4-6 months?

Contracts can take some time anyway to issue depending on the house - when the family is selling, they may have limited info on things like extensions etc as family may not know and extra info is needed and requested. However if it’s an house in an estate I would think that’s straightforward.

Most applications in probate office are because family are selling a house so application won’t go faster if it’s highlighted as everyone is in same boat. There isn’t anything you can do or need to do.

However depends on where the probate has been submitted. Cork is around 9 months at the moment. Anyone can submit to Dublin office and Dublin office and they have had some increases in staff so takes around 4-5 months if probate office have no queries. Other counties may be quicker (as less busy) so really depends on where it was submitted.

If it is Dublin and your curious on timeline, Dublin office is great cause you can actually ring up probate office and they have a recorded message that lets you know what month they are in relation to dealings submitted. We had to do a probate for family member last year and did the application ourselves as there wasn’t a house involved. I was able to keep track on when I could expect the probate or queries by ringing up and checking the recoded message. If you goggle it, phone number will be courts website.

Dolbhad · 22-09-2019 7:24am

Ghetofarmulous wrote: »

I thought I had uploaded this already. My apologies.

The first table is the interest rates per fixed term. I sourced the information from Bonkers.ie and plugged the rates into the corresponding bank row and Fixed rate year Column. The rest should auto calculate and show the cheapest option down at the bottom. Interest rates may have changed since I updated on Monday.

The second table shows the monthly repayment for the corresponding Interest rate. This may change at the end of the term. None of this takes into account offers with some mortgages (cash back etc..) but this may be accounted for in the the column on the right. One may add any cash intensives to the savings box on yellow.

Change the yellow boxes to suit your own situation. Hope it is helpful. The figures in the attached are not reflective of my situation and are purely fictional. Please let me know if you have any questions on the attached. Its fairly simple.

I myself and about to make an offer on a property next week but I dont know how much I should offer. I dont believe the Guide price of 280,000 is fair when comparing to other houses in the area. Seems to high to me.

Slight change to sheet

Thanks so much for sharing. Comparing rates can be a headache at moment!

myshirt · 22-09-2019 7:46am

el Fenomeno wrote: »

Silly question - can you start getting things like flooring, tiling etc. done as soon as it's ready for snagging, or only after snagging has been completed and you get keys at drawdown?

There are no silly questions.

Flooring etc is after snagging. Snagging is when the builder is saying the house is ready, and you come in and point out the last bits and bobs that they missed or you are not happy about. You then give them a few weeks to sort them out, come back, have a second look, hopefully all is grand, you sign it off, give the thumbs up, and then get your keys.

After that you can get the flooring in.

ChewBerecca · 22-09-2019 12:16pm

Amber Round Eyelid wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience of buying a house in probate? I know to expect long delays so I'm prepared for that. But do I just sit tight in the dark about it, or should I be following up with someone to ensure it's being dealt with as quickly as possible?

My solicitor just said she would let me know when she received contracts, and that was nearly 4 weeks ago. I suppose she won't receive them until probate is granted though. The estate agent said probate had only been applied for 2 weeks before the sale was agreed, and was talking about it being expedited due to being sale agreed. But I'm aware this practice isn't being carried out any more by the probate office. Should I be asking the EA for any update on expected timeline? Or does my solicitor look for information? Or is it just a case of sit and wait in the dark about it for 4-6 months?

We got gazzumped on a house in March that was a probate sale.

It's still sale agreed.

Back in April/May, we were in the area so decided to drive past and could see the family in the house, moving furniture out, touching up the outside, clearly getting it ready for handover. But theres been no movement since.

Speaking to a friend of the agent, everyone thought it would be quick enough sale, but there's apparently a few issues (house was built on the land several decades ago and the boundaries don't look in order so it appears that part of the second house's garden is actually part of the sale)

You could ask for updates, might be worth seeing if any major issues have been uncovered, but definitely expect it to take longer than you think.

cefh17 · 22-09-2019 12:18pm

wally79 wrote: »

Well more than the stretch repayment. So they will estimate what your repayment will be if interest rates go up.

Also I think it is good to have a regular monthly amount even if it varies weekly and to not dip into savings. It shows you have that same extra repayment capacity each month.

Would they take into account the likes of ESPS into it? My savings rate is quite low but I've been doing 10% gross (taken from net) since January

r93kaey5p2izun · 22-09-2019 12:50pm

Thanks for the replies Dolbhad and ChewBerecca. It's a house in an estate and everything looks to be straightforward in terms of possible planning issues etc, but you never know. It's the Dublin probate office. I phoned earlier to check for a recorded message about timelines but it just said phone lines are currently closed - maybe it only plays during opening hours. I'm ok with the delay in terms of holding on where I am and it is definitely the house I want, but it just feels weird that you go sale agreed, get everything organised in terms of survey, insurance etc and then just wait with no further info for 6 months. Hopefully it will be sorted before the loan offer expires in March.

KingCong · 24-09-2019 10:09am

cefh17 wrote: »

Would they take into account the likes of ESPS into it? My savings rate is quite low but I've been doing 10% gross (taken from net) since January

You mean an ESPP? An employee stock purchase plan? That would count as savings yes, you'll just need to get a statement from E-TRADE or whatever brokerage your company uses

dmm82 · 24-09-2019 12:32pm

Hi all. Just wondering how likely it would be for someone to be approved for a mortgage at the age of 41 or 42 as a single applicant, first time buyer.
I'm late to the game I know but would have no dependents ( both children will be over 18 by the time I apply), no outstanding loans and I am aiming for a deposit of approximately €20k. My current salary is €37k.

oleard1987 · 24-09-2019 1:03pm

dmm82 wrote: »

Hi all. Just wondering how likely it would be for someone to be approved for a mortgage at the age of 41 or 42 as a single applicant, first time buyer.
I'm late to the game I know but would have no dependents ( both children will be over 18 by the time I apply), no outstanding loans and I am aiming for a deposit of approximately €20k. My current salary is €37k.

I presume it would depend on how much your looking for ,Also it would be for 23 years as opposed to normal 30-35 years

Blanco100 · 24-09-2019 1:47pm

How long does it usually take for vendors solicitor to send contracts to buyers solicitor?

waiting over 2 weeks now, no chain on either side. we will only be signing our letter of offer with our solicitor when the contracts are to hand.

Just want to get it wrapped up asap, still have mortgage protection and home insurance (sorted valuation) to get sorted but been told to wait for contracts first.

ChewBerecca · 24-09-2019 2:02pm

Blanco100 wrote: »

How long does it usually take for vendors solicitor to send contracts to buyers solicitor?

waiting over 2 weeks now, no chain on either side. we will only be signing our letter of offer with our solicitor when the contracts are to hand.

Just want to get it wrapped up asap, still have mortgage protection and home insurance (sorted valuation) to get sorted but been told to wait for contracts first.

5 weeks for our solicitor to get the contracts, no chain either.

Be prepared for the long haul just incase.

TheShow · 24-09-2019 2:15pm

dmm82 wrote: »

Hi all. Just wondering how likely it would be for someone to be approved for a mortgage at the age of 41 or 42 as a single applicant, first time buyer.
I'm late to the game I know but would have no dependents ( both children will be over 18 by the time I apply), no outstanding loans and I am aiming for a deposit of approximately €20k. My current salary is €37k.

Age would restrict the term of the mortgage, but as long as you meet all the criteria you should be fine.

Blanco100 · 24-09-2019 5:39pm

ChewBerecca wrote: »

5 weeks for our solicitor to get the contracts, no chain either.

Be prepared for the long haul just incase.

Did u wait for contracts before sorting mortgage protection?

And how many weeks (after the 5 waiting for contracts) did u have to wait before drawdown and getting the keys?

r93kaey5p2izun · 24-09-2019 5:48pm

dmm82 wrote: »

Hi all. Just wondering how likely it would be for someone to be approved for a mortgage at the age of 41 or 42 as a single applicant, first time buyer.
I'm late to the game I know but would have no dependents ( both children will be over 18 by the time I apply), no outstanding loans and I am aiming for a deposit of approximately €20k. My current salary is €37k.

Your age won't stop you getting a mortgage if you meet the other criteria. But it will be for a shorter term which will mean monthly repayments will be higher which could affect it when they stress test your repayment capacity. I'm recently mortgage approved as a single FTB in my late 30s with the mortgage to run til I'm 67. I've heard others say they only allow until you're 65, so it may depend on the bank.

oleard1987 · 24-09-2019 5:53pm

Amber Round Eyelid wrote: »

Your age won't stop you getting a mortgage if you meet the other criteria. But it will be for a shorter term which will mean monthly repayments will be higher which could affect it when they stress test your repayment capacity. I'm recently mortgage approved as a single FTB in my late 30s with the mortgage to run til I'm 67. I've heard others say they only allow until you're 65, so it may depend on the bank.

my wife and i were approved with PTSB ,She will 38 when we draw down so they gave us a 29 year mortgage so they are good for the 67

r93kaey5p2izun · 24-09-2019 6:01pm

oleard1987 wrote: »

my wife and i were approved with PTSB ,She will 38 when we draw down so they gave us a 29 year mortgage so they are good for the 67

And I'm approved with Ulster Bank, so they're ok with it too.

Corruptedmorals · 24-09-2019 7:09pm

Blanco100 wrote: »

How long does it usually take for vendors solicitor to send contracts to buyers solicitor?

waiting over 2 weeks now, no chain on either side. we will only be signing our letter of offer with our solicitor when the contracts are to hand.

Just want to get it wrapped up asap, still have mortgage protection and home insurance (sorted valuation) to get sorted but been told to wait for contracts first.

Anything up to 8 weeks is considered in a normal timeframe. Ours took 7 which was partly due to solicitor annual leave and we couldn't sign until 9 weeks. It's a pity because there's a map issue and it wasted a load of time.

Another possible delay in contracts is if the deeds are held by a non-major bank/building society they can be significantly slower to release deeds if they are not requested until sale agreed.

ChewBerecca · 24-09-2019 8:12pm

Blanco100 wrote: »

Did u wait for contracts before sorting mortgage protection?

And how many weeks (after the 5 waiting for contracts) did u have to wait before drawdown and getting the keys?

I had the insurances applied for just before we signed, policy start dates closer to the closing date. The mortgage protection insurance took a few days to be approved and then another week or two for the bank to assign the policy. Get that sorted as soon as you sign if you want to close quickly.

Our drawdown request went in yesterday, we are expecting keys before the end of the week.

Just to note, offer submitted May, sale agreed June, signed August. Hoping to be done before September ends. Solicitor holidays on both sides have been chronic.

Jurgen The German · 24-09-2019 8:38pm

Looking for some advice as im not having much luck online.

We'll be starting the process of applying again towards the end of the year (got approval last year but were unable to find somewhere suitable)

We currently have a tracker on existing property, approx €205k remaining on mortgage, comparative properties in estate sold for between €230 and €240 so there is a bit of equity. Mortgage provider agreed to port tracker over to new house + 1% and the remainder of new mortgage on standard rates.

The issue is that we have to find somewhere to buy and also find a buyer for own at the same time which is what scuppered us the last approval.

My question is, ball park, how much would the retaining the tracker save us over the life time of the mortgage vs selling up and going for full amount of new loan on standard average rates?

We have approx €50k in savings currently, combined salaries are around €155k, both permanent jobs with decent pensions.

We will have to get an exemption for the deposit. Price range of properties we will be looking at will be between €500 and €600k.

I'm not looking for absolutes or anything, more an indicator of whether it is worth engaging with a broker, eg if it was going to only cost us an extra €20 or €30k over the life of the mortgage it may be worth considering selling up and holding fire rather than trying to sell and buy at the same time.

TIA.

AppleBottle · 24-09-2019 10:44pm

Blanco100 wrote: »

How long does it usually take for vendors solicitor to send contracts to buyers solicitor?

waiting over 2 weeks now, no chain on either side. we will only be signing our letter of offer with our solicitor when the contracts are to hand.

Just want to get it wrapped up asap, still have mortgage protection and home insurance (sorted valuation) to get sorted but been told to wait for contracts first.

We were waiting 6 weeks for ours from the date we went sale agreed! It can be a long waiting game. Just ensure you continue to chase.

We got our home insurance and mortgage protection sorted during this time as we had our closing date in mind and went with that date.

Blanco100 · 25-09-2019 7:01am

AppleBottle wrote: »

We were waiting 6 weeks for ours from the date we went sale agreed! It can be a long waiting game. Just ensure you continue to chase.

We got our home insurance and mortgage protection sorted during this time as we had our closing date in mind and went with that date.

can i ask how you have closing date in mind when you didnt have contracts at hand?

We were sale agreed back in May/June but engineer issues (since resolved) means we agreed properly to comtinue with purchase about 4 or 5 weeks ago.

Paul_Mc1988 · 26-09-2019 12:24am

KingCong wrote: »

You mean an ESPP? An employee stock purchase plan? That would count as savings yes, you'll just need to get a statement from E-TRADE or whatever brokerage your company uses

Ulster bank wouldn't accept it as savings for the current 6 month period . Had to get a brokerage statement to clarify why a large amount was deposited in February this year to my personal account before it could go to the underwriter.

ELM327 · 26-09-2019 9:33am

Not accepted for me by BOI or PTSB either

Lux23 · 26-09-2019 10:32am

Paul_Mc1988 wrote: »

Ulster bank wouldn't accept it as savings for the current 6 month period . Had to get a brokerage statement to clarify why a large amount was deposited in February this year to my personal account before it could go to the underwriter.

I was telling my partner this all along, I am going to murder him! I said we were better off putting the money straight in our savings.

GingerLily · 26-09-2019 10:48am

Banks want to see consistent savings and they want you to have a deposit, I really didn't think it mattered when a lump sum was added? If your savings say 2k a month anyway etc.??

awec · 26-09-2019 10:58am

Stock will only count as savings if you sell it.

ChewBerecca · 26-09-2019 11:19am

awec wrote: »

Stock will only count as savings if you sell it.

This.

I work in funds, the price of your stock can be reduced to zero at the drop of a hat. Millions can be wiped out without warning. The banks wont care if it's been stable for x years, tomorrow it could be worthless.

nak · 26-09-2019 11:46am

ChewBerecca wrote: »

This.

I work in funds, the price of your stock can be reduced to zero at the drop of a hat. Millions can be wiped out without warning. The banks wont care if it's been stable for x years, tomorrow it could be worthless.

Yep, 20k invested in shares and didn't include it in my mortgage application. Saved me paying pretty much half of it to the revenue so even if the share price drops I should still be better off (unless my employer goes the way of Thomas Cook).

Lux23 · 26-09-2019 11:53am

awec wrote: »

Stock will only count as savings if you sell it.

We did sell it, and then put the amount in the savings account?

Paul_Mc1988 · 26-09-2019 12:01pm

Lux23 wrote: »

We did sell it, and then put the amount in the savings account?

Well then your Ok. It's only the money that is currently vested in stocks that wont count. Selling the stocks and using them as savings is fine you will just need to show the bank where the money came from.

Lux23 · 26-09-2019 12:03pm

Paul_Mc1988 wrote: »

Well then your Ok. It's only the money that is currently vested in stocks that wont count. Selling the stocks and using them as savings is fine you will just need to show the bank where the money came from.

Ah ok! Panic over then.

KingCong · 26-09-2019 2:00pm

ChewBerecca wrote: »

This.

I work in funds, the price of your stock can be reduced to zero at the drop of a hat. Millions can be wiped out without warning. The banks wont care if it's been stable for x years, tomorrow it could be worthless.

The original question related to an ESPP, where people give X percent of their salary usually for 6 month periods then get a discount(usually 15%) on the stock price to buy at the end of the period. Most people do a quick sale which instantly sells the stock when you get it, locking in your gain, which is the same as the discount minus tax and trading fees. I've done this consistently for years and never had an issue with either BOI or PTSB who both counted it as savings. If you don't sell the stock when you get it though you're taking a gamble and they likely won't count it as savings, unless you sell and cash it in before applying for mortgage. Other people's mileage may vary though, sounds like other people have had different experiences.

awec · 26-09-2019 4:10pm

An ESPP is just a slightly different process for acquiring the stock.

But at the point the bank expect you to have the necessary savings, they will want to see it as cold, hard cash, because it's only at that point that it's actually guaranteed to be worth anything.

Saving/Applying for a mortgage 2015/16/17/18/19

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