The Lemon Fool

My son has found his first house to buy (sale price circa £160,000) in the Midlands. He has saved about 15% of this amount in a Nationwide Help to Buy ISA and before he started looking he had a 'mortgage offer in principal' from Nationwide Building Society' . He has been employed for two years in a permanent job and earns approx £36K pa.

He needs to start the process and apply for a mortgage.

Should he just go to Nationwide and book an appointment to apply for mortgage or should he see a 'Mortgage Broker' first.

Is he likely to get a better mortgage deal elsewhere or by looking on the internet.

JNC

If I were him I'd have a look at what Nationwide were offering but then consult a mortgage broker to see if they could get a better deal.

There's some useful advice about using a broker here - https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortg ... s-cashback

JNC3 wrote:Is he likely to get a better mortgage deal elsewhere or by looking on the internet.

JNC

He should use an internet comparison site to arm himself with knowledge before getting into the grip of Nationwide/other advisers/brokers etc. The estate agency will have a go at getting him to use their broker I expect. Nationwide's offers for the mortgage don't look anything special to me.

JNC3 wrote:My son has found his first house to buy (sale price circa £160,000) in the Midlands. He has saved about 15% of this amount in a Nationwide Help to Buy ISA ...

JNC

Bit puzzled - how did he get £24k in a HTB ISA ?
I thought they started in late 2015 and were limited to £2,400 pa + £1k initial lump sum

AleisterCrowley wrote: Bit puzzled - how did he get £24k in a HTB ISA ?
I thought they started in late 2015 and were limited to £2,400 pa + £1k initial lump sum

It's a Nationwide "Split" Help to Buy / Cash ISA. Only part of the £15k will count for the HtB bonus.

Ah, that would explain it.
Thought i'd missed a trick...

Clitheroekid wrote:If I were him I'd have a look at what Nationwide were offering but then consult a mortgage broker to see if they could get a better deal.

Indeed. I was stunned with the mortgage deals my sons got when they applied via a broker. The older one got a loan of seven times annual income, and the younger one got a loan of six times annual income. And at decent rates too.

Now, we can debate what is a prudent multiple. But when starting out it's always a stretch. And the extra loan enabled them both to buy 4-bedroom places as a starter home, meaning that they could both rent out 3 bedrooms each, easily covering the extra mortgage cost. The younger one (28) is collecting two grand a month in rent, in London.