In this article we have put together a comprehensive list of the 10 steps involved in the mortgage process for first time buyers in Doncaster, allowing for you to be as prepared as possible heading into your oncoming mortgage journey.
The 10 steps to the process of home buying and obtaining a mortgage are as follows;
- Free Mortgage Consultation
- Mortgage Affordability Assessment
- Agreement in Principle
- Find A Solicitor
- Make an Offer
- Submit Your Documents
- Formal Mortgage Application
- Valuation/Survey
- Mortgage Offer
- Completion
First Step: Get in Touch for Your Free Mortgage Consultation
So, you’ve decided to purchase your first home and obtain a mortgage as a First-Time Buyer in Doncaster. Without a doubt going to be one of the biggest financial commitments you make throughout your life. Once you realise this, the notion can be a little jarring, especially when you have no experience in the property market.
Once you’ve reached this point, a dedicated mortgage broker in Doncaster will be able to step in and help you along your mortgage process. It is our goal to reduce your stress and work hard to ensure you come out the other side with a mortgage and your first home, happy and with a deal that benefits you.
When you get in touch with us, we’ll get you booked in for a free initial mortgage consultation with an experienced mortgage advisor in Doncaster. Here we’ll take some information for you and look at what you’re planning to do, prior to starting your process.
Second Step: Mortgage Affordability Assessment – How are you doing Financially?
One thing your dedicated mortgage advisor will be able to run through in your free mortgage consultation, is a Mortgage Affordability Assessment. This is where they will run through your monthly income and regular expenditures (the things you spend your money on), to determine whether or not you are able to afford the monthly repayments of the amount you are looking to borrow from the lender for a mortgage.
The importance of this comes from us needing to be absolutely confident that you can afford your repayments with the lender. This will hopefully help avoid arrears and potential future repossession, something the lender will desperately try to avoid.
A Mortgage Affordability Assessment is something the lender will usually do their own checks on, so our initial check will help save the time of the lender, ourselves and more importantly you, from an application that you may find being declined on due to failed affordability.
Third Step: Obtaining a Mortgage Agreement in Principle
The following step in your consultation will be the process of obtaining a Mortgage Agreement in Principle. If you’ve been reading up on mortgages prior to getting in touch for first time buyer mortgage advice in Doncaster, it is likely you will have noticed this is a polyonymous term, also found under various similar names. These names often include ‘Decision in Principle’, ‘Mortgage in Principle’, as well as the abbreviations ‘DIP’ & ‘AIP’. There isn’t any difference between these besides this, they are all the same thing.
The intended purpose of a mortgage agreement in principle is to document that you have passed the initial credit scoring system of a lender, either via a hard credit search (which can leave a credit footprint) or a soft search (which usually will not leave a credit footprint).
Obtaining this does not guarantee you will be accepted on a mortgage, but is something you must do on your way to the final goal. One of the other benefits of getting this document, is that it will show the seller of a property that you are very serious about purchasing the property, possibly creating room for price negotiations.
A typical Agreement in Principle will usually last somewhere between 30-90 days, and if it is not used before you make an offer on a property, it can easily be renewed once expired. Our team of dedicated mortgage advisors can usually get one of these turned around for you within 24 hours of your first appointment.
Fourth Step: Finding the Right Solicitor
After you have gotten your Agreement in Principle, you will need to look at finding yourself a Conveyancing Solicitor (also known simply as a Conveyancer) to provide assistance to you with the legal proceedings of the homebuying process. The term Conveyancing is used to describe process of transferring legal ownership of a property between parties, for both the buyer or seller.
Your Conveyancing Solicitor will be able to handle contracts, provide you with any legal advice that you may need, conduct local council/authority searches, help sort things out with Land Registry and lastly process the transfer of the funds that you have acquired in order to pay for your new home. You must choose carefully as this is a very important part of your process.
It’s also key to remember that Licensed Conveyancers are property specialists and therefore cannot deal with complex legal issues, whereas more general Solicitors offer a full range of services so can often seem more costly. Whilst we do not offer these services ourselves in-house, we have collated an internal list of companies we trust, that your dedicated Mortgage Advisor in Doncaster is able to refer you to.
Fifth Step: Making an Offer on a Property
Now you’ve taken that step of getting in touch with a Mortgage Broker in Doncaster, passed the Mortgage Affordability Assessment, gotten yourself an Agreement in Principle and found yourself a Conveyancing Solicitor to deal with the legal element. You’re halfway through the process now and your next course of action is to make an offer on a property that you have your eye and heart on.
As touched upon earlier in this informational guide, by having an Agreement in Principle you will be in a much better place to negotiate on price with the seller. You have to find the balance of going low, but not to low as to offend the seller and create tensions, whilst still asking for a lower price. The seller will be more likely to sell to you than someone who is willing to pay the asking price but is unprepared, if you have an Agreement in Principle with you.
The worst-case scenario is that the seller will not accept your offer, but it’s at that point you can work out a more reasonable offer for both of you or walk away and find somewhere else that you’d like to live. Once your offer has been accepted, it’s back to your mortgage advisor and onto the last steps of your mortgage journey.
Sixth Step: Submit Your Documents
Now heading back to the mortgage side of things and a cardinal next step; you need to submit the required documents. As can probably be expected when such a large amount of money is involved, a mortgage lender will not just lend to any person.
Your lender will in fact need you to provide various documentation to prove that you are who you say you are, the income you earn from your job, where you are currently living and how well you conduct your finances. If you’re obtaining a joint mortgage, this documentation will be required from both parties individually.
The documents you will need to submit to the lender, include; proof of ID, proof of address, the last 3 months’ pay slips and latest P60 (employed), the last 3 years’ proof of earnings and Tax Year Overviews (self-employed in Doncaster), proof of any other income like state benefits or maintenance, proof of deposit and the last 90 days worth of your bank statements.
Seventh Step: We’ll Progress Your Mortgage Application
With your mortgage agreed in principle, and your offer accepted, we are now able to go forth and submit your full mortgage application. With all the things you needed to prepare now ready and checked by your dedicated Mortgage Advisor in Doncaster & their hard working team of Mortgage Administrators, we are ready to submit an application to the lender for your future mortgage.
Your advisor will send off all the collected documentation you have provided for evidence in order to achieve this, and then it’s just a matter of waiting for them to respond with whether or not your mortgage application has been accepted or declined. Whilst there is no specific time frame in which this can come back, our Mortgage Administration team will be able to chase the lender to find out the answer on your behalf.
Eighth Step: Property Valuation/Survey
In-between your mortgage application and being offered a mortgage, the lender will require your property to have a valuation survey. These surveys are usually carried out by accredited companies nominated by the lender, as they will have a list of companies they trust.
The purpose of such a task is to understand how much a property is truly worth, against what you’ve agreed to pay for it. If you’re paying above its actual market value, it’s more likely that the lender will not want to lend you the funds you wish to borrow, as in the event of arrears, they will most likely be out of pocket and unable to make back the full borrowed amount. This is something that is known as a ‘Down Valuation’.
There are various types available when it comes to surveys, with different prices for each of these. Some will just want to check the properties worth, whereas some will also give you any necessary information on any structural concerns as well as possible repairs that may need your attention in the future. Your Mortgage Advisor in Doncaster will be able to help you find the right survey for you and your property.
Ninth Step: Receiving Your Mortgage Offer
Almost there now, as finally, we’re reaching the moment you’ve been waiting for. Once your lender has analysed your case and assessed all the evidencing documentation, you will be presented with your Mortgage Offer.
With this point now upon us, our team of friendly Mortgage Advisors and Administrators in Doncaster, that you’ve become friendly with over the course of your process, will be able to review the offer for you to ensure everything is correct and suitable for you. Once your mortgage offer has been received, it’s then down to your Conveyancing Solicitor to take your purchase from your offer, through to completion.
Tenth Step: Completing The Process
Congratulations, you have now officially transitioned from first time buyer in Doncaster to a First-Time Homeowner in Doncaster. With any prior anxieties now firmly in the rear view mirror, we hope you’re happy and ready to begin your new life, in that new home you are the proud new owner of.
The final little steps are simply to go get the keys and move in! We hope you had a a fast & friendly Mortgage Advice service in Doncaster with our dedicated team. If you have chosen a fixed rate mortgage, at the end of your term, we will get in touch with you once again to offer our assistance with your Remortgage!
Date Last Edited: December 6, 2023
