- 6 Wakefield Road London N11 2SU
- david@londonmortgageadvice.co.uk
- 020 8802 9030
Home – Services
We are a London mortgage broker, untied to any lender, offering advice and an application service to first time buyers, next time buyers, re mortgages, buy to lets and commercial mortgages.
With many mortgage options available, it can be overwhelming to choose the right one. We can help by explaining each loan type and how it fits your needs and preferences.
They might be paying the lender’s standard variable mortgage rate, but lower rates are available elsewhere. Be cautious of high fees that could nullify any savings from a lower interest rate.
Buying your first property can be overwhelming with numerous lenders and mortgage options. Expert advice can save you money, time, and simplify the home buying process.
A buy to let mortgage specialist helps you buy a property to rent out. It’s a popular long-term investment option with many competitive schemes available.
We offer a range of services to help you, including basic credit score checks, guarantor mortgages and more. We’ll work with you to find the best solution!
We offer mortgage advice free of cost, suggesting the lowest cost deal to suit your personal circumstances and then arrange the London mortgage services for you.
We ensure our communications with our customers are clear, fair and not misleading.
Home – Single Service
With a wide range of options to choose from, it can be overwhelming to decide the right mortgage for you. As a London Mortgage Advisor, we can help! Not tied to any lender, we will explain to you each type of loan and how it may relate to your particular needs and preferences. As a non-aligned, impartial, and one of the best mortgage advisors in London, we can search from the whole marketplace, enabling you to land on the best deal, one that matches your circumstances and needs.
We know it’s not easy for first-time buyers in prevailing London’s real estate (particularly in London!!) and the free mortgage advisors team is here to help. We are proud to be able to facilitate the initial steps of many first-time buyers through the property ladder. With so many different mortgage packages out there, it can be overwhelming to compare and contrast them. However, a knowledgeable mortgage advisor in London service can help search the market to find the perfect deal for you.
Many London homeowners could save thousands of pounds every month by remortgaging through closing a better mortgage deal. London Mortgage Advice has access to a wide range of mortgage products, from specialist companies to high-street lenders. After just a brief assessment of your finances, our mortgage advisor can begin searching for the finest deal to suit your circumstances. Leave all the leg work to our experienced mortgage advisors who will work untiringly to find you the perfect mortgage!
With property prices on a continued rise in London, there is an ever-growing demand for rental properties in the area. There are still abundantly available areas in London which provide good potential for investment. As with any buy to let investment, make sure you do plenty of research when picking a buy to let property in London. Areas with excellent transport links into the city center, with neighboring amenities such as leisure facilities and shops as well as with good schools, will always be popular.
Whether you already have a portfolio of properties or are a first-time investor, there is a lot to think about when buying a buy-to-let property, so when it comes to your buy-to-let mortgage, why not take away some of the stress by letting a best mortgage advisors from London Mortgage Advice do the work for you?
Hunting down the right mortgage with the lowest rate is a minefield even more so for self-employed individuals. Not all lenders’ have the same criteria for self-employed mortgages. For instance, one might ask you to come up with three years of accounts before they even look through your application, while another might be willing to accept just two or even less. That’s where the capability of a mortgage broker can certainly make a difference to whether you get rejected or approved.
We can help you navigate the range of options out there.
A standard variable rate mortgage is based on the individual lender’s own base rate. This rate is the one that customers revert back to at the end of a fixed, tracker, capped or discount period. This is currently much higher than the Bank of England base lending rate.
With a fixed rate mortgage your monthly payment will not alter for the period of the fixed rate.
If you are the kind of person that likes the reassurance of knowing exactly what your monthly payments will be, then a fixed rate may be the most suitable mortgage for you.
A fixed rate has the advantage also of potentially saving you money if interest rates generally move higher during the fixed rate term. On the other hand if interest rates move downwards you might be regretting having tied yourself into a fixed rate term.
At the end of the fixed rate period you will revert to the standard variable rate or another rate that that will last for the remainder of the mortgage term.
Usually there will be a penalty charge covering the fixed rate period during which you will pay a charge for redeeming the loan.
There are some fixed rate deals without redemption penalties.
At the end of a fixed rate term, assuming there is no tie in period or penalty for going elsewhere it may be beneficial to re-mortgage to another lender.
These are a type of variable rate mortgage, but with a big difference. They have an ceiling, or cap, beyond which your payments can’t rise.
Just like any other fixed or tracker rate a capped rate is normally only for an introductory period – this can typically be anything from two to five years.
They guarantee that your mortgage payment won’t go above a certain level, but because they are a kind of variable rate, they also let you benefit from lower payments when rates go down.
Capped rate mortgages do tend to offer a higher variable rate than the best tracker rates and discounted rates available, as you pay for the security that the interest cap provides.
Once the introductory capped rate period comes to an end, your mortgage will go onto a lender’s Standard Variable Rate or a tracker rate for the remaining term although you can remortgage to a new deal if you wish.
You will need to make sure you can comfortably afford the maximum payment with a capped rate mortgage, as well as having the flexibility in your budget if your mortgage payment fluctuates.
A discount rate mortgage offers a percentage discount off the lender’s standard variable rate. The level of discount is usually fixed for the period of the discount, anything from 6 months to 5 years.
At the end of the discounted rate period you will revert to the standard variable rate or another rate that that will last for the remainder of the mortgage term.
Usually there will be a penalty charge covering the discounted rate period during which you will pay a charge for redeeming the loan.
There are some discounted rate deals without redemption penalties.
At the end of a discounted rate term, assuming there is no tie in period or penalty for going elsewhere it may be beneficial to re-mortgage to another lender.
With a base rate tracker mortgage the rate of interest is tied to the base rate set by the Bank of England.
It is really a discount mortgage, see above, provided in a different format. The rate you pay is given as a percentage margin that can be above or even below the Bank of England base rate and this margin is usually fixed for a period, anything from 6 months to five years.
At the end of the tracker rate period you will revert to the standard variable rate or another rate that that will last for the remainder of the mortgage term.
Usually there will be a penalty charge covering the tracker rate period during which you will pay a charge for redeeming the loan.
There are some tracker rate deals without redemption penalties.
At the end of a tracker rate term, assuming there is no tie in period or penalty for going elsewhere it may be beneficial to re-mortgage to another lender.
Cash-back mortgages are often aimed at first time buyers and the mortgage lender will offer a lump sum of cash at the start or sometimes at an agreed point during the term of the mortgage.
Usually the cash-back is offered as a package of benefits (e.g. linked with a discount) but pure cash-back mortgages are not uncommon.
Mortgage lenders may offer a sum of money towards the cost of legal fees or survey charges. This could be, for example, £200 to £1000 as a flat amount, or a percentage of the mortgage loan.
Buy-to-let mortgages are for investment properties.
They are available with the same rate types as for residential mortgages as described above. The rates, however tend generally to be higher.
The amount that a lender will offer to lend will depend most commonly on the amount of rent that the property will command as assessed by the valuer appointed by the lender. However, there are lenders who, where there is a shortfall in the rental income, will allow this to be made up from regular income, as long a there is a sufficient amount spare after taking into account existing credit commitments.
You will have to put down a minimum of 15% deposit although, currently there is only one lender available at 15% deposit. There are some 20% deposit schemes but more commonly a 25% deposit will be required. It is important to discuss your buy to let requirements with a broker who is best placed to let you know what your options are.
Each lender has its own formula for working out how much you can borrow so you should consult an adviser who will have each lender’s criteria available.
It is very important to know that not all lenders will lend on all types properties and that the property needs to be in a ‘lettable’ condition for the lender to consider advancing a loan.
100% Mortgages are not available at present.
Previously 100% loans covered the full value of the property, so no deposit was needed.
These was popular among first time buyers who otherwise would not have been able to get a mortgage even though they may have had sufficient income.
These mortgages were normally more costly because the lender was taking a greater risk.
Some lenders were even able to lend more than the purchase price if there was enough income and this extra borrowing was used to pay for the costs associated with the mortgage and to pay for extra things like home improvements or household goods.
The 100% mortgage was not suitable for everybody’s needs and in a falling property market you could have ended up owing more than your house was worth – ‘Negative Equity’. You should always seek professional advice before deciding on which type of mortgage is most suitable for your needs.
These days there are schemes available such as the Government’s Help to Buy schemes that require only a 5% deposit. Please ask us for more details.
There are many varying degrees of flexibility. But for a mortgage to be truly flexible it needs to allow the borrower to do the following;
Overpay
Underpay
Take payment holidays
Borrow back overpayments
Draw-down prearranged additional monies
Carry no redemption penalties
Calculate interest daily.
By overpaying, your mortgage will finish before the original mortgage term, thus saving you thousands of pounds in interest payments. Even small regular overpayments can make a big difference to the overall interest that you will pay, so it is very worthwhile considering this option. You will find that the interest saved in overpaying into the mortgage is greater than the interest gained in holding the money in a bank or building society savings account. And the interest saved is done so without being taxed.
Once you have built up an amount of overpayments you can ask the lender to allow you to underpay up to the amount that you have previously overpayed. This can be handy for the odd month when finances are short.
Some lenders will allow you to take a payment holiday i.e. a complete break from making mortgage payments. Of course you have to have built up sufficient overpayments to cover the period you take off and the length of term allowed will vary from lender to lender. This facility could be useful when planning a family.
Whilst overpaying regularly or in lump sums is a great way of saving money, this overpayment can also provide a source for cash for you in the event of any unforeseen circumstance or if you want to buy something expensive. The overpayments are regarded as your money and therefore you can borrow them back.
Some flexible deals carry no redemption penalties. These are normally term flexible variable rates that last for the whole of the mortgage term. But recently, some lenders have introduced short term fixed, discount and tracker schemes that have redemption penalties that cover the scheme period. At the end of the scheme period the rate reverts to the term flexible variable rate. The term flexible variable rates on flexible deals are usually very much below the lenders usual standard variable rate.
Interest is calculated daily which means that any payments and overpayment are credited to the mortgage account as soon as they are paid, so you are immediately paying interest on a smaller amount of debt. This saves you money in interest charges that would otherwise add up to a significant sum over a number of years. Traditionally, mortgage interest was calculated and applied annually in arrears, so you would be paying interest on the same amount of debt all year, even though you had been gradually decreasing it during that time.
Repayment, interest-only
A repayment mortgage guarantees you loan is paid off in full at the end of the agreed term.
With a repayment mortgage you make monthly payments that cover both the interest on the loan and the repayment of the loan itself.
This brings the peace of mind of knowing that you are reducing your debt every month.
A repayment mortgage offers the reassurance that once the final payment has been made you will have paid off the mortgage in full ( providing all the repayments have been made)
Interest-Only mortgage
With an interest-only mortgage you only pay-off the interest on the loan and none of the outstanding debt until the end of the mortgage term.
So in order to pay off the mortgage at the end of the term you have 2 options:
1) Use an investment plan that is designed to pay off the loan at the end of the mortgage term. There is no guarantee that the investment you choose will generate sufficient capital to pay off the outstanding debt at the end of the mortgage term.
2) Rely on the sale of the property to do this. This is a pure interest-only loan. Many lenders will not allow a pure interest loan unless the amount you are borrowing is less than 75% of the value of the property. Paying only interest without an additional investment vehicle means that your monthly payments will be considerably less that for a repayment loan.
Repayment and interest combined
With a combined mortgage a proportion of the loan is treated as an interest only mortgage and a proportion as a repayment mortgage. Therefore, you will use both repayment and interest only to pay the loan.
If you have an existing investment policy in place before seeking a mortgage you may want to consider this option.
This type of mortgage is most common with people who already have an investment product (an endowment, ISA or pension plan) prior to taking out the mortgage and want to use this to help reduce the additional cost of taking out the mortgage.
It is possible to use an investment policy to repay part of the loan, and then pay the remaining part with a repayment mortgage. For example, if you want to take out a £250,000 mortgage and already have an endowment that could pay £100,000 in a number of years time, you could consider an interest-only element to cover the first £100,000 and a repayment element for the remaining £150,000.
Home – Single Service
Many people change their mortgage provider every year, either to save money, or to raise cash.
What should you think about when changing lenders? Book a consultation with our experienced and top rated remortgage advisors.
Some estimate that over half of all borrowers are paying more than they need for their mortgage each month.
They are possibly paying the lender’s standard variable mortgage rate. There will be lower rates available from other providers. Because of the fees that lenders charge, make sure that what you gain through a lower interest rate you are not losing through higher charges.
Lenders employ advisers within the branch who usually may only be able to recommend their own products. But there are a host of impartial mortgage brokers who are free to advise you from the whole of the mortgage market. Or you could look yourself.
Check the terms and conditions of your existing mortgage as these will tell if you are tied-in to your mortgage deal or if there are any redemption penalties – sometimes phrased as early repayment charges.
If you do have penalties, you must decide if it is worth switching to a different rate or stay put until the penalties have expired. You may feel a sense of loyalty towards the company, however, most lenders do not reward this loyalty with a reduction in rates.
So, you should shop around to see if you can get a better deal.
In addition to you reducing your monthly payments, you can also use remortgaging as a way of releasing some equity that has built-up in your property’s value. It is important to be cautious if you are tempted to release equity. Although is may be much cheaper to borrow through your mortgage the debt is secured on the property which means that if you can not keep up with additional payments, you could risk losing your home.
Broadly there are five types of deal: fixed, capped, tracker, discounted and flexible.
If you want the certainly then the fixed rate is for you and is usually fixed for between 2 and 5 years.
Tracker and discounted loans offer a reduction off the standard variable rate for a set period.
If rates rise then so will yours and vice versa. A capped-rate loan will set a limit on the rate you will pay. If rates rise, your payments will not go above that level. However, if rates fall below the cap so will your repayments. Flexible mortgages allow you to overpay and underpay when you choose and without penalty. This is ideal for people who have fluctuating incomes or who want to clear their mortgage early. An increasing number of fixed, capped and discounted deals have more flexible features as well. To get to know about the best suited deals must concern with remortgage advisors who will settled all your money needs.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Home – Single Service
The following is a list of suggested questions you should ask an adviser:
Buying your first property can be a daunting prospect. There is such a wide choice of lenders and types of mortgage schemes for first time buyers.
Going to one place to get expert advice and access to the whole marketplace will save you money, save you time and simplify the home buying process.
The Mortgage Process
Initial Meeting/Agreement or Decision in Principle
At an initial meeting we will give you an Initial Disclosure Document that will confirm our status as a firm regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to give mortgage advice. You will provide us with all your financial and personal information that will enable us to recommend the most appropriate mortgage to meet your individual requirements. You will not need to bring any documentary evidence with you at this stage. At this meeting we will tell you about the different types of mortgage available, how much you can borrow, what are the monthly costs both now and in the future. You will also be informed of the period you are tied to the lender and any penalties for breaking those ties.
You will also be given a breakdown of all the costs associated with obtaining a mortgage. We will give you a Key Facts illustration for any mortgage that is recommended.
If you are happy to take it to the next stage, it is a very good idea at this first meeting to then obtain from the lender an Agreement in Principle, AIP or a Decision in Principle, DIP to determine whether the lender is happy to lend and give you the amount of loan you are seeking. You will then have the confidence to go and find your new home and be able to prove to any doubting estate agent that you already have the mortgage agreed in principle. This is especially important where you are competing with others for the same property.
Second Meeting/Full Mortgage Application
Having made an offer and had it accepted you are now in a position to arrange the mortgage. We will then convert the AIP or DIP into a full application before sending to the lender. You will need to provide at this meeting some or all of the following documents; last 3 months payslips and P60 or 3 years accounts if self employed; 3 month personal bank statements; proof of identity usually a passport or driving license; proof of current address, usually a utility bill or bank/credit card statement; proof of deposit; and also a credit/debit card to pay for the valuation and any other up front fee required by the lender.
We will then send the mortgage application either electronically or as a paper application. When it is received by the lender it will be loaded on to their computer systems, given a reference number and then be appraised by an underwriter. If they are happy with the application they will issue instructions to their valuer to value/survey the property. If they require additional information they will ask us to obtain this from you.
Mortgage Offer
When the lender has received the valuation and they have all the documents from you that they need, they will produce a mortgage offer detailing the terms and conditions under which they are prepared to lend. A copy of this offer will be sent to you, ourselves and your solicitor who will be doing all the legal work associated with the purchase of the property. Once all the legal work has been carried out you will be in a position to exchange contracts.
It is advisable to find a good solicitor whilst you are looking for a property so that you are in a position to give the estate agent their name once your offer is accepted. The solicitor should give you a breakdown of their costs and if you contact more than one you can compare their charges. London Mortgage Advice will be happy to suggest some names of experienced solicitors at your request.
Exchange of contracts and Completion
You will be asked to pay your deposit on exchange of contract and this will usually be 10% of the purchase price unless you are only putting down 5% or indeed no deposit at all e.g. 100% loan. At present there are no 100% mortgages. A completion date will follow when you have the legal right to access to your new home. If you are part of a chain involving a number of properties, the completion date will be one that you will all have to agree on.
Home – Single Service
A buy to let mortgage specialist helps you to buy a property in order to rent it out for others to live in.
More and more people are taking these out as forms of long term investment and there are plenty of competitive schemes for you to choose from.
However, each lender calculates the amount they will lend to you in a different way and has different lending rules.
Things to consider.
Buy to Let Mortgage Broker “London Mortgage Advice” has many years experience in helping clients purchase investment properties. Because the requirements vary so much between lenders, it is recommended that you talk to us first about each property you are considering purchasing. In this way you will get the best deal and one that fits the situation.
Home – Single Service
We’re a friendly and professional team of brokers who are experts in the mortgage market. We don’t take credit problems lightly, and will always do everything we can to help you.
We offer a range of services to help you, including basic credit score checks, guarantor mortgages and more. We’ll work with you to find the best solution – because your finance deserves it!
Our mortgage advisors are happy to chat through what you need – whether you’re looking for a new mortgage or just want advice on how to improve your credit score. We’ll tell you what we think might work best for you, so give us a call today!
We may be able to help with you with your credit problems if you have a bad credit history.
There used to be many lenders offering attractive interest rates for those with a bad credit history. However most have now disappeared. Please discuss your situation with us and we will see if there are any lenders available to meet your requirements.
London Mortgage Advice is a broker based in north London giving free whole of market advice on purchases, remortgages and buy to lets for residential and commercial clients.
David Sellar is a free mortgage advisor in London, helping clients become homeowners, raise cash, reduce monthly payments or generate regular incomes for over 20 years.
London Mortgage Advice is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for residential mortgage business.n Advice Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial
Although London Mortgage Advice Ltd is regulated by FCA, commercial mortgages and most buy-to-let and offshore mortgages are not regulated by the FCA.
THINK CAREFULLY BEFORE SECURING OTHER DEBTS AGAINST YOUR HOME. YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.
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