Plan Ahead to buy Your First Property in Coventry

If you are looking at buying a property in Coventry, choosing to do so is not something you should decide in a day. It requires careful planning and preparation over time. 

You’d be surprised at the number of people we deal with regularly, who are more spontaneous in their buying habits and have therefore neglected to prepare for a mortgage.

First time buyers in Coventry have their reasons as to why they decide to jump into such a significant financial commitment, this includes:

  • Are you buying from a family member who is in the middle of moving home?
  • Has your landlord has decided to sell their property but offered you first refusal?
  • You went past a ‘for sale’ sign and are now interested in buying, despite having no intention of buying in the past.

The Drawbacks With not Planning for a Mortgage

By not preparing for a mortgage, you are leaving yourself open to potential issues with your mortgage application. Some of the standard mortgage hurdles we find customers face include:

  • Having a low deposit by not saving enough money.
  • A poor credit score.
  • In poor control of your bank account.
  • Being self employed and your recent accounts don’t look their best.

Having a Low Deposit

Saving up your deposit for a mortgage can be a challenge, especially if you are renting at the moment from the council or private landlord. 

As you have significant outgoings and essential purchases each month, limiting what you can save in-between.

Have you ever considered seeing if anyone can give you a hand with a gifted deposit? We find that this is a regular occurrence with first time buyers in Coventry, as family members or friends will try and help whenever they can. 

That said, most lenders do prefer gifted deposits from family members rather than friends. If a family member or friend is looking to help, it’s best to give them as much notice as possible to get their finances in order! Just remember, a gifted deposit is a gift, not a loan.

Credit Rating

Getting an up to date credit report is not an incredibly difficult task. We recommend Check My File, as they can collate the data from different sources into one for you to compare.

Once you have downloaded a copy of your credit report, you can send it to a mortgage advisor in Coventry, who will look at it for you. 

They will know precisely what sort of things the lenders will like to see and what they do not want to see.

Try it FREE for 30 days, then £14.99 a month – cancel online anytime.

Bank Accounts

When lenders look at your bank statements, make sure there are not many unnecessary bank charges or gambling transactions. You will need to provide the lender with a reasonable explanation of what happened on your account and how you plan to resolve this going forward if any issues crop up.

Self Employed

We realise that Accountants try to minimise the tax liability for their customers. That said, there is nothing to stop you from submitting another set of accounts earlier than you might typically do.

Especially if your business has developed in the last 12 months, some lenders consider overlooking previous years’ figures if the latest ones are more beneficial to a lender.

If anything is covered related to you, we may be able to help. Our team of mortgage advisors in Coventry love a challenge, so do feel free to get in touch!

Date Last Edited: December 6, 2023