Advice for getting a mortgage

Greetings all - I'm a USC and DH is a UKC (in the UK for the first couple years together & in the US for the last 8 years). We had a our first child last year & are planning to move back to the UK in the next 2 years. 
We have looked a properties in the area we want to move to for the past 6 months or so to get an idea of what we want/what we can afford.  So of course we find this property we absolutely love...even if we see it in person and decide against it - is there a way we can get pre-approved for a mortgage while still in the states?  We don't have a property to sell here & would qualify for that amount in dollars.  Also DH has property in the UK already (w family as an investment) & we both have bank accounts - anyone know of banks that will consider this (buying a home before we are moved?) Any advice is appreciated as we don't want to potentially loose a dream home in the desired catchment area....

Some people have difficulty getting a mortgage before ILR, so prior to being in country would certainly be tricky. The best thing to do is probably speak to your bank, it will have to help that you have history with them. Good luck!

Okay thanks.... So they won't consider my income, only his?  Hmmm, okay, that may change things...I guess we will try calling HSBC where DH has a bank account & see if they have any advice...

My wife (UKC) and I (USC) went looking for mortgages in the UK a couple of years ago before I had ILR, and as missjoules says, nobody would give us one with me included on it, nor would they consider my income.  We tried banks and mortgage brokers, and the story was the same at all of them.

Once I had ILR, they were happy to deal with me just like anyone else.  In my experience, UK banks really like lending to people who have lived in the same house for their entire lives, and still work at the same company where they got their first job.  The farther you get away from that, the more uncomfortable they get.  With that in mind, I'd be impressed if they gave you a mortgage before you actually lived in the UK, and before you had ILR.

Sorry I don't have a more positive answer.

That's okay - it gives us some things to think about - appreciate both your replies!

Sorry to threadjack but just curious where you are from, dtowngirl? Just that where I grew up in PA is shortened to dtown by the locals and neighbors

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Funny - small world - Doylestown by any chance?

Yes!! Oh my gosh!! My family live near West

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I wish I had some advice re mortgages... we stopped into our Natwest branch just to have a chat with the guy but he knew we were not actually looking for a mortgage - this was just over two years ago, he never did mention whether I would need to have ILR. I know that on my side, the assumption was that I'd probably have ILR before getting a mortgage anyway as we weren't nearly ready for one, I didn't have a job and our savings needed padding.

As you suggested I'd get on the phone with your husband's HSBC branch and see if they can give you something more concrete. Good luck to you.

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Hi,

Unfortunately it's not going to be quite difficult for you to obtain a 'typical' mortgage here in the UK from the information you've provided so far. The only way I can see you could progress at this stage would be to put down a substantial deposit - I'd estimate 30-40% or more. That way, you'll make the lender feel better in lending you funds. Also, you've not said which part of the UK you would most likely wish or want to purchase and the type of property. Prices can and do vary by quite a lot depending on where you go and the South East is immensely expensive and places like rural shropshire mean you get a lot more property for the same price level, eg 2 and 3 bedroom houses for sale in Market Drayton, Shropshire for £95,000. You can't really purchase anything at all in London for that price.

I'd tend to disagree with the post from Comoscato in that lenders nowadays prefer someone who has lived in the same address/house for years to lend funds. There's much more volatility nowadays with job security, the economy, property sizes and those wanting to upgrade etc and things like your credit rating, income levels & sustainable income as well as what should have been done years ago like the Canadian system - an analysis of your costs/outgoings for 'affordability' evaluations are now commonplace. I've just released some equity in my property, and what a bunch of hoops to jump through to secure just £15K out of equity of £70K ! - in one way it's good in that all that irresponsible borrowing gets cut out from the start and the banks/lenders are being cautious etc, but on the other hand, those of us who do have excellent financial understanding have to go through all that because of the bad state of the UK's economy partially caused by many people who borrowed way beyond their means over the last decade or so.

Once you are here, begin to speak to mortgage brokers and the banks/building societies etc and put together as much of a deposit as you can. Look into, double and triple check any government guarantee schemes to help buyers get on the ladder and perhaps seek independent financial, legal and tax advice as well.

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

because of the bad state of the UK's economy partially caused by many people who borrowed way beyond their means over the last decade or so.

caused by predatory sub-prime US loans being repackaged into complex investment instruments which were subsequently rubber stamped AAA by credit agencies and sold on to short-sighted investment firms and banks worldwide (including the UK).

c'mon Dennis.....you give such wonderful advice....why try and sneak that in?

Hi Son of Sailor,

Read carefully, I did say 'partially' caused!

The government, the banking industry and a significant proportion of the ordinary population are all to blame for the mire the UK finds itself in financially. I base my opinion there from dealing with lots of the ordinary people with their tax and financial affairs and being astonished several times a day at the frankly horrifying levels of borrowing & spending I'd see compared to their salary/wage levels. I'd also have the similar thing when dealing with small and medium sized businesses. When it came to the biggest corporates out there I didn't have quite as much insight into daily financial requirements and spend they'd be doing, but looking at their performance figures on the FTSE etc, you could see which big corporates were/are in trouble etc.

So, there's no one single 'element' that's to blame entirely - the 'sub prime' thing came about due to manipulation of the rules and laws setup by the government, promoted by the banks and sold to many people. No one held a gun to the head of many people to say they must borrow EIGHT times their salary or spend as though they earned £75K when in reality earned £22K.

I know from previous posts you like to place most or all of the blame on various people within the banking sector for the financial mess experienced in the USA/UK (and other countries) and that is your opinion of course I have a feeling you might change your view somewhat if/when you meet those people I'd often speak to and, for every one of them, there'd be perhaps 500 others who weren't bothered/interested in sorting out their financial messes. There again, you might not and continue to place the blame on the single element you mention !

So no, I don't think I sneakily put that in, it just so happens to be a significant element of the overall cause and the resulting effect of it all now the UK has/is having it's wings clipped is that lending for mortgages and small businesses is very difficult overall.

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Denis perhaps your "opinions" are based on your dealings with individuals and their finances. It is hard for someone not to take daily experience and use that in "opinion" forming. It's called anecdotal evidence.  A lot of times it backs up things like "common sense". But we have to be careful about things like that because a lot of times we see what we expect, and a lot of times this sort of "evidence" is actually not what it seems.

I could tell you about property flipping in Miami for instance. About how developers were pre-selling units before a spade was turned, and how these units were passed upwards and upwards, selling at higher and higher prices perhaps several times in just one year - pre-development. These weren't poor people. They were not people at all. But that is not the full story.

The thing is is that if poor people bought houses under lending conditions that were less than solid mechanisms exist to make sure that any danger is walled off from the larger economy. These mechanisms failed. It is apparent to experts (not me) that these mechanisms were circumvented.

These aren't my opinions. If you read any legitimate study this is what you'll find. This blaming the poor...this misguided focus on austerity....these things are  smokescreens. We are still to this day funneling money to these banks. We have to as the economy would collapse if we cut them off. But they are not using this money to loosen credit, they are sticking it in their socks.
 

Hi Sonofsailor,

I agree, that 'anecdotal evidence' is part of my opinion, however, it's also more 'solid' than much of the stuff talked about by many people. In order to gain as best, or as balanced view as you can, you need to look, read and understand many aspects for whatever the subject is. I 'try' to do that, I don't know 'exactly' how all those mechanisms in the monetary and financial systems all were supposed to work and also how the 'insider' dealing things went on, which we now know due to whistle blowing and invesigations, actually happened at banks and financial institutions (LIBOR scandal for one!).

So yes, I don't know 100% the exact or entire picture, and neither does anyone else. As I say, my view is that many members of the population over borrowed on loans, credit cards and mortgages and forgot to pay it back, the banks had all this insider dealing and shadiness and monetary systems/mechanisms in place designed to make money where it was based on a house of cards, and the government had various laws which were manipulated by the banks and people/population and which suited them as well. The very fact that self cerification 125% mortgages were available and mortgages offering eight times salary multipliers sent alarm bells ringing in my mind when I was buying property and I steered WELL clear. Other people, actually, MANY other people didn't think as much and jumped on those products and found themselves in the thick brown stuff later when they didn't have their jobs anymore etc. Various people in the banks and financial institutions were 'found out' and have thus been charged/fired etc when various secret scams were discovered and finally, government ministers were found to be fiddling expenses etc.

All of those and more examples within each have been shown on the news, in various legitmate and high quality reports and statistics etc. So I don't think you can 'single' out any one group for 'all' the blame or, say that any one element were 'not' to blame. However, if your opinion is that many of the population and the less well off segment of them shouldn't be blamed, that's of course fine.. till you do see many thousands of people in that segment who DID over borrow/spend

Shall we agree to disagree and leave it there? the OP for this thread is asking about getting a mortgage in the UK etc so perhaps stick with that! Perhaps there's new 'schemes' out there to try help, do you have any suggestions etc?

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

(Please don't take offense if I ignore you two  )...

To the OP: I would also think that since you and your spouse have not been living in the UK for 8 years, your credit is not going to be pretty. Yours will be nonexistent and his may be a bit better if he has a mortgage on his property. You may both need to wait 2 years before purchasing anyway to build your credit back up. And this may not be a bad thing as you can continue to save for a super large down payment.

Something to keep in mind!