Mortgage - Issues, Solutions, Advice

[AV04]

Hi all,

I ask, especially, those of you experienced ones about the Mortgage problems you've faced in the buying process and possible way around issues. A bit about me:

Going to get a place of my own soon next year. (Buying would be an investment as opposed to renting)
First time buyer
I estimate (LTV) of my mortgage will be 64% with my current deposit.

Went to a broker today for free advice. It was helpful, but, I was told that options are limited in terms of lenders available. But, having a good deposit was a plus point. I was told since my job is more like a contractual type typical mortgage products from those limited small lenders would come with 7% interest rate. Seriously!!!!

Other Problems:
Proof of income in the normal fashion, i.e., Contract based employment and not salaried: I work on company X ships (country 1), but get paid from Y (employer in country 2) via Z services (payroll service in country 3), and contract shows address of Z. But we sort of established from P60s that we'll take Y as my employer.

If it takes me time to get my head around it.....then the lenders.....moving on!

Proof of residence is an issue too. I went from paper to online statements a while back. Most lenders will not accept copies of online statements. I just changed the preferences back to paper addressed copies - easy fix.

For those of you who have crossed these hurdles please share your experiences to instil some confidence. I would appreciate it if you'd mention Insurance companies, lenders, brokers, etc. (IF YOU CAN). I ask of details so this thread can help others as well. Thanks all.

[ETwhat?]

you are right in who to treat as your employer the crewing agent is only acting on their behalf. Do you have a seafarers employment agreement (SEA)? they are part of MLC and may help with proving the security of your employment which is really the biggest concern to the bank and effects the interest rate.

other than that no useful ideas get as much paper and documentary evidence as you can and go and see indivual banks

[jordanj1993]

I was also in this position with contractual employment, albeit with the same employer, paid in USD. In the UK the only lenders available were HSBC and Santander (interest rates 2% with 85% LTV) who would accept a USD income. I used my SEA as proof of income/employment and luckily my agent was accommodating and provided a company issued letter to confirm my next contract and rate of pay (maybe this is something you could ask for) which the bank accepted. Hope this helps!

[NT Dee]

Have you tried your own bank? I had only just moved companies about 18 months earlier and all my wage slips were just print outs of a PDF from a company in Hong Kong. I was USD salaried so the amount varied every month. The bank could see that the money going in every month was matching the wage slips and I had a copy of my Hong Kong company contract. I had a 25% deposit and took a 5 year mortgage which was fixed for 2 years at 3.64%. When this period was up the LTV was just under 40% so I got a new fixed rate of 1.99% for 2 years. I maybe could have got a slightly better deal elsewhere but it was so straightforward going with my own bank as I had a good relationship with the people in the branch.

[Polaris]

Forget about a mortgage broker unless you are paid in a foreign currency, just use comparison websites, he'll be doing more or less the same things.

Your best option is to go to your bank. Speak to them, they already know you.

I recently made an application for a second mortgage, with what seem to be the same contractual terms as yourself, it was approved without any problems but I am paid in GBP.

Good luck.