What spurred on my mortgage decision?

For some people, choosing a mortgage can be a daunting thought, but it may not be as difficult as some would think. Find out more about the following customers experience.

What spurred on my mortgage decision? 

Reeds Rains York customer commented:
“For some time, I was led to believe that using the so called ‘online mortgage calculators’ would give me a true reflection of what I could borrow to buy my first home.  But, what you might not know is that the average calculator doesn’t take into account all the Government schemes that are there to help first time buyers and those wanting to move up the property ladder as well. I had been looking at properties within the price range of what I thought I could afford, whilst saving for my initial deposit, and not really finding anything that was exciting me, to want to proceed with and buy.  

The difficulty I had is that I was renting such a lovely flat and was comparing it to what I thought I could afford to buy – and the two just didn’t align.

It was at that point that I realised an ‘initial mortgage consultation’ (with Reeds Rains, please check with other providers) was free, and so I thought to myself, what have I got to lose? So, I went ahead and booked my appointment with my local Reeds Rains branch. I was a little nervous beforehand and had certain thoughts that I should imagine are quite common, like ‘will they look at my spending last weekend, and I booked a holiday – will that make a difference, as should I be saving the money?’ But, in all honesty all of those thoughts were wasted. The Mortgage Advisor put me at ease straight away, I had all the documentation with me that I had been informed to bring, and steadily we went through it all, cutting out all the jargon along the way and considering what I could realistically afford.

Much to my delight at the initial appointment (subject to a full and thorough check of my finances by the mortgage lender) I was told I was able to borrow what I thought, plus a little more through the Help to Buy scheme, and that ‘in principle’ my dream home was in fact becoming a reality!

Well that was last August, and I am now just weeks away from moving into my new build home! My advice to anyone out there who hasn’t had their initial appointment with a mortgage advisor, is just book it today you have nothing to lose."


I was genuinely surprised when I was told how much I could borrow

Reeds Rains York Customer - Commented:
"It all happened so quickly for me. I hadn’t even thought about saving or buying my first home, I was living with my parents and was very happy for all the obvious reasons such as not having to do my own washing and ironing for one! I briefly moved out a couple of years ago and was renting a shared property but that wasn’t for me so a few months later I returned to my parent’s house, who funnily enough had downsized during that period of time! A lot of my friends were students and also living at home so I was throwing money away left, right and centre on nights out, clothes and meals out and all the usual things like trips to the cinema. I hold my hand up and say I was rubbish at saving and had no idea where my money was going each month. I also had a car on finance and some money on a credit card from holidays, a laptop and other things I had deemed necessary at the time (but probably weren’t..)

Anyway, in September after my brother finished University I was given some money, I hadn’t gone to university but my parents had decided that it was only fair that I got what my brother had during his three years at university in London. Initially I used this money to pay off my credit card and my car finance but my Mum had mentioned using this as a house deposit, I laughed at her telling her there was no way I would be able to get a mortgage, I was only 22 years old and home ownership hadn’t really crossed my mind. All the online calculators I had used in the past had told me that I couldn’t borrow enough to purchase anything in the local area and I didn’t want to move 20+ miles away just to be a homeowner. In September 2015 I went to visit a Mortgage Advisor, I took along all my paperwork and we went through my monthly outgoings and looked at how much I could afford to borrow. I was genuinely surprised when I was told how much I could borrow and booked two viewings on two apartments, the first was around 30 years old and needed quite a bit of work doing and the second was brand new. Whilst there were elements of the first one I preferred it seemed a no brainer to go for the one that needed nothing doing to it…so I put in my offer.

So, that’s what spurred on my mortgage decision – from initial thought, appointment to getting my offer accepted, all within 7 days and I moved into my first home in December and I am loving it. So if you’re a first time buyer I would recommend booking an appointment today and see how much you could borrow, you never know, in a few weeks’ time you could have made your very first offer!”