Will you qualify for a mortgage?
Our responsibility as mortgage advisers is to act in the best interests of you,our customer.
Our role includes advising you in the following areas:
- Mortgage affordability
- Presentation of applications and arranging approval
- Choosing the best rates
- Selecting between variable and fixed rates
- Selecting mortgage terms
- Choosing a lender
- Selecting appropriate insurance products
Our standard mortgage advice and administration fee is €499. Between now and the end September 2010 we are offering a €200 euro discount on this fee.
The fee is fully refundable to you if you are not approved in principle by a lender.The fee covers advice and all administration work to completion of the mortgage transaction.
Current lending criteria notes are set out below. .
1.Minimum Income levels
In practice it is very difficult to arrange a mortgage where income is below the following levels :
- Single applicant €30k
- Joint Application €45k
This is not set in stone but we find that lenders will not favorably consider applications with income below these levels unless there are significant savings and a low mortgage requirement.
2. Deposit requirements
The maximum mortgage available is 92%.For most lenders the maximum facility is 90% of the purchase price,
- Your deposit should usually be sourced through savings although it is acceptable to have a certain element of your deposit funded by way of a gift.
- If you own a site and wish to build your own home ,100% of the building and development costs are available. However lenders like to see a proven capacity to save.
3. Proven ability to repay
- As a rough guide every €100,000 borrowed could cost €550 per month . (200k could costs €1100.etc ) Cheaper rates are available at present but lenders assess an application assumimg rates rise by a further 2.25% over current levels.
- You need to be comfortablethat your regular savings and / rent payments equal the proposed repayments?
- Consider how your bank accounts would look your if a mortgage payment was applied each month ?
4. Financial Management
- Well managed current accounts evidenced through 6 months of statements
- A good consistent record of regular savings
- Avoid overdraft facilities, but if you have one, please ensure that it moves to a regular credit balance.
- Prudent spending habits.
- Regular clearance of credit card bills.
- A minimum of personal loans.
5. Income and Employment
- Employment should be full time and permanent..
- Employees in certain sectors are experiencing difficulty in securing mortgages, (e.g. construction).
- Focus is on basic income as opposed to bonus, overtime or commission.
- Contract employees will not currently get mortgage approval unless it can be demonstrated that it is a contract with a state body considered a contract of indefinite duration.
6. Credit history
- Unnecessary or large credit card balances will work against you.
- Personal loan repayments may severely limit borrowing capacity.
- It is very important to have no payment arrears.
- Lenders will not consider applications where there are unpaid direct debits.
7. Life Style issues - living within your means
- Lenders look closely at your current account statements.
- It is no harm to live frugally prior to a mortgage application.
- Avoid on-line gambling at all costs.
- Keep your accounts in credit to display your money management ability.
- Your accounts should be able to demonstrate that they can take a mortgage payment (replacing savings or rent).
What documents do I need?
- Document checklist
- Salary certificate for completion by employer.
- Accountants report if self employed
We recommend that you download and print the above documents to get you started .
What if you don't meet the above requirements?
- Don't panic. It may be a long road but you will get there.
- Write down the areas where you are falling short on a piece of paper and make a plan to rectify the position..
- If it is a lack of savings - start saving and cut back on spending.
- If you have loans or credit card debt, get rid of these first.
- If you are not in permanent employment talk to your employer about your circumstances
- If you are in the way of obtaining a gift, find out for certain if one is available and for how much.
- Consider moving back home if renting in order to save a deposit.