How to Improve Your Chances of Getting a Mortgage 

Getting approved for a mortgage can be an exciting yet nerve-wracking time. This allows you to progress your search for a new home to own, whether it’s your first or a step up the ladder, yet it also means that you might be ready for a brand-new commitment in your life. Unfortunately, getting to this stage can be a real challenge for many people, and there are many factors involved in this challenge. Of course, there is the initial problem of sourcing a deposit for your new property, which is often about 10% of the property value for most mortgages, although there are some ways to pay a smaller deposit of 5% and even 0%. However, this will mean that your monthly payments will be higher too. On the flip side, you can also pay a higher deposit and then lower monthly payments instead. Other than your deposit, there are a few other things to worry about when applying and to help, we’ve listed some useful ways to improve your chances of getting accepted for a mortgage.

Speak To Multiple Lenders

It’s important to remember that not every lender is going to have the same reaction to your application or even make the same offer as each other. While they will all take similar things into account when deciding on whether to make you an offer or not, some may be more lenient than others, and some may also make you a better offer in regard to rates and the amount they’ll offer you, for example. A mortgage advisor will likely spend a lot of time trying to figure out the best deal for you, but it may be worth searching for yourself at the same time, as these expert advisors aren’t infallible, regardless of their experience. It’s important to find the right deal for you, and shopping around for the best offer can get you a much better deal when buying your next property. 

Check Your Credit Score

Before you get started applying for mortgages, it might be worth ensuring that your credit score is adequate first. Your credit score can be your worst enemy when trying to secure a mortgage, as this essentially implies whether you are trustworthy or not when it comes to making repayments. Everything from phone contracts to rent can impact your credit score. Late or failed payments will be noted and will drag your score down. It’s worth checking your score before lenders do, as they tend to prefer lending to those with good scores. If you start approaching banks for a mortgage with poor credit, they will have to conduct a hard credit check involving an in-depth search into your credit history. This will show them all your failed payments or things like debt collection over the past few years. 

Improve Your Score As Much As Possible

To counteract this problem, you’ll need to find ways to improve your credit score. Unfortunately, it’s not always that person’s fault when their credit score drops. Many things can happen throughout our lives that can put us into financial trouble, and these instances don’t always represent our ability to manage our money today. It is possible to find a lender that will offer you a bad credit mortgage via a broker such as Money Nest. Remember, though, that you should ensure that you’ll be able to handle all repayments, when possible, to avoid getting into financial trouble in the future. Other than this, it’s always important to find ways to improve your credit score where possible. Make payments on time and avoid entering unarranged overdrafts, for example, to slowly help that credit score to rise. 

Avoid New Credit

It’s important to remember that new credit, while it can give you the option to show that you’re able to make repayments, can impact your chances of getting a mortgage, especially if it’s a large loan. You should try to avoid taking out any new credit before applying for your mortgage or during the process. Just because you have a mortgage in principle, for example, doesn’t mean that the lender cannot withdraw that offer if you were to take out a large loan on a new car or a renovation project. Try to keep your finances in order and not make any additions to your monthly outgoings if possible. Your lender will spot this, and it might make them rethink the offer if they believe that you can no longer afford the mortgage.

Register To Vote

Yes, really. There are many reasons to register to vote. In this case, it will have a huge impact on whether or not you’re going to get accepted for a mortgage. This is because many lenders use the electoral roll data when identifying people. If they cannot identify you with full certainty and confirm that you live where you say that you do, then your chances of getting a mortgage may be impossible. You can check to see if you’re registered to vote via your local council and if not, then registering is very straightforward and also free. Unless you aren’t eligible to vote, and in that case, there are other methods of proving your identity, there really is no reason not to be registered on the electoral register. 

Sophia Anderson

Sophia Anderson is a blogger and a freelance writer. She is passionate about covering topics on money, business, careers, self-improvement, motivation and others. She believes in the driving force of positive attitude and constant development.