Getting a mortgage is a huge decision and can be overwhelming. Here are some of the most common pitfalls that people make and some advice on how to avoid them.

Applying for a mortgage used to be a (relatively) simple thing. If you were self-employed, mortgage companies would ask you to confirm your income, and allow you to “self-certify” your earnings, providing you with a mortgage with little proof of your income. Those days are long gone. In recent years, mortgage companies have ben placed under enormous pressure to ensure that you can afford the proposed loan. This leaves you, the borrower, feeling the weight of having to provide answers to wave after wave of questions, in what is already an incredibly time-pressured situation.

We can help.

There are three keys things to avoid to make this process more straightforward:

1. Going it alone – There are two people who are in a position to be an enormous help throughout the whole process of securing a mortgage offer:

• • Your Accountant – Your accountant will inevitably need to provide various documents to the lender, why not get them on board earlier? They are uniquely placed to help you present any anomalies in your account (such as a recent incorporation) in a constructive manner that the lender will understand.
  • A Mortgage Advisor – There are people out there whose job it is to make sure that your mortgage application is as smooth and painless as possible. Get one on board and let them field all of the technical questions that you just don’t have time to deal with (your accountant may have advisors that they can recommend).

2. Not being up to date – Any sets of accounts that are more than 18 months old, are not considered recent enough for your latest set of accounts. This may seem like a long time, but we frequently find that we need to complete a set of accounts in a short amount of time to satisfy lenders requirements. In some cases, if we are more than 6 months from your last year end, we will be required to produce forecasted figures for the coming year. Again, if you keep us in the loop we can advise if it looks like these will need to be produced.

3. Not thinking ahead – So much hassle can be avoided if your accountants know that you are likely to make a mortgage application in the near future. Although your accountants cannot promise to completely remove the pitfalls in the application process, we will be able to help manage your expectations on how the process will pan out.

If you are thinking about applying for a mortgage and need some help, we can recommend various mortgage advisors to suit your situation and help you with the process. Call 01872 300232 or email us at hello@hivebusiness.co.uk.