What You Need To Know ...

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At Rivington Mortgages we have a wealth of experience in negotiating the pitfalls in getting a mortgage. Here are some of the things we think you should know:

 

Mortgage Advisers

One thing that many people don’t realise is that there are basically three types of adviser.

• Banks and Building Societies and other lenders have their own advisers - they will only ever be able to offer you their own mortgage products.

• Then there are ‘panel advisers’. They offer products from a range of lenders on a pre-set ‘panel’ of perhaps 12 to 15 lenders.

• None of these can offer the complete range of products and lenders that an adviser such as Rivington Mortgages can offer though. 

 

We are what is known as a ‘whole of market’ adviser.

 

Mortgage Products

There are a whole range of mortgage products and deals that lenders offer for you to choose from, including:

• Fixed Rate

• Discounted Rate

• Tracker

• Capped & Collar

 

A good adviser will explain the differences and recommend which best suits your circumstances.

 

LTV and Rates

Most lenders structure their products according to the Loan To Value (LTV) of the property in question. They offer mortgages at a range of rates according to which LTV bracket - usually at 5% intervals - they fall into. Within that, lenders typically offer lower rates if you pay a fee.

 

We can advise as to whether that’s cost effective or not.

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Surveys and valuations

Before a lender will offer you a mortgage they will insist on carrying out a valuation survey on the property. 

 

This is a Level 1 Survey, the most basic type, and is carried out by their valuer and the report sent straight to the lender only.

 

If you want your own report on the state of the property (called a Home Buyer’s Report

or a Level 2 Survey) which we’d normally recommend for purchases, you’ll need to

arrange that separately which we can help with.

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The third type is a Full Structural Survey (a Level 3 Survey) which you probably only need

if you have some suspicion about the structural integrity of the building or the area.

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Talk to us about this and we can advise.