Tag Archives: House Purchase

House Purchase
Contractors making a house purchase would be well advised to use a specialist contractor mortgage broker.

They can get contractors mortgage offers at the best rates and with the lowest deposits.

All the contractor needs is a copy of his, or her, contract.

The mortgage offer is based on their daily rate rather than their director’s salary.

[caption id="attachment_617" align="alignnone" width="265"] House Purchase by contractors using specialist contractor mortgage brokers[/caption]

Calculating Your Mortgage Offer

To find out your likely mortgage offer, multiply your daily rate by 5 to get your weekly earnings.

Multiply that by 48 to get your annual earnings.

Now multiple that by 4 (or maybe even 5) to find out what offer you would get from the lender.

Now put that against your house purchase price.

Specialist broker – Why Contractors should use them

Posted on June 19, 2016 by admin

Specialist Broker

Tony Harris is a specialist broker of contractor mortgages. He has been getting contractors mortgages for many years. So, I thought I would ask him why contractors should use a specialist broker like him rather than go direct to those that give out mortgages.

I asked him “Why should I go via you when I can just walk into a high street bank or building society? What differentiates you?”

Contract Based

With over fourteen years experience as a specialist broker and of negotiating our contract based mortgage underwriting, we have built unrivalled relationships with lenders.

If you go in to a high street bank and present your accounts, the mortgage adviser will only see your net income. This should be considerably less than you are actually earning (if your accountant is doing his job). So, this could severely limit the amount you can borrow.

Annual Contract Rate

Instead we use our contacts to secure your mortgage based on a multiple of your annual contract rate. This is irrespective of how long you have been contracting. It also doesn’t matter how long you have left on your current assignment.

This invariably allows our clients to borrow far more than they could even when they were a permie. It also saves the trouble of collating years of accounts or projections. This is the standard requirement if you were to go in-branch.

Mortgage Lenders

We understand that you live a very hectic lifestyle and have tailored our service to match.

We won’t need to see you face-to-face for a lengthy meeting as our entire service is offered online, via email and by phone. We do all the running for you, liaising with solicitors, lenders and estate agents so you don’t have to.

You will have one contact who will guide you through the process and is on hand to answer any questions you may have, leaving you free to concentrate on the needs of your client.

Best Mortgage Rates

That answers that then. It would be a foolish contractor who walked into banks asking about their contractor mortgages.

Tony uses his credibility in the marketplace to help get contractors the best mortgage rates available and the highest offers.

To get further information or to apply to a specialist broker for a mortgage, fill in a form here and Tony will get back to you:- Mortgages for Contractors

Contractor Mortgage Offer – how much can you get?

Posted on June 19, 2016 by admin

So, How Much Can You Get

The questions contractors ask is how much can they get when applying for a specialist contractor mortgage.

Tony Harris is a specialist contractor mortgages broker. He has successfully got contractors mortgage offers for years, way above what a high street bank would get you. We ask him how much a contractor can get on his contractor mortgage offer and how it is worked out.

Tony, how much of a contractor mortgage offer can you get a contractor? Is it related to the amount you pay yourself from your company? Can you get a contractor mortgage offer based on the total amount of the contract? Say I was earning £400 a day but paying myself £150 a day? How much of a contractor mortgage offer could you get me?

Tony’s reply on Contractor Mortgage Offer

“Our specially negotiated contract based underwriting uses your hourly or daily rate to work out how much you can borrow This is irrespective of how much you physically draw out for yourself.

“We simply take your daily rate of £400 and work out what your annualised rate would be if you worked at this level for five days a week and 48 weeks of the year.

“The lender will then specify what multiple of this they are willing to lend. However, it is usually around four times annual contract rate.

Contractor Mortgage Offer from Contract

“This means you could secure a mortgage of £384,000 despite only paying yourself £150 a day.

“You don’t have to have an annual contract to receive this amount. The lenders we use understand our niche clients. They appreciate that you are highly likely to secure another contract as soon as the current one has ended. So even if you only have a three-month contract, we should be able to secure you a mortgage”.

Director’s Salary

That’s pretty good and a lot more than a bank or building society would offer you. They would only take the Director’s salary you draw. They offer contractor mortgages based on 3, 4 or 5 times that. That wouldn’t buy you much.

It’s basically all down to Tony’s credibility with the mortgage brokers and his success down the years in bringing them contractors who pay their mortgages. Contractors can tap into that.

To get further information or to apply for a mortgage, fill in a form here and Tony will get back to you:- Contractor Mortgages

Help to Buy ISA for First Time Buyers – Contractor Mortgages

Posted on March 19, 2015 by admin

Help to Buy ISA

Contractors have just had some great news from Chancellor Osborne in his 2015 Budget. He has created a Help to Buy ISA for first time buyers.

The Help to Buy scheme, brought in by the Government has been highly successful. It has provided the feelgood factor that the Government wanted going into the General Election in May.

Previously, lenders were asking for 20% and 25% deposits to first time buyers and they just didn’t have it. First time buyers are crucial for a healthy housing market. Their inability to get into the market was depressing prices.

So, the Government guaranteed 20% of the deposit. This meant that those first time buyers were able to get 95% mortgage again. They did so in droves.

This helped to push house prices up which engendered the Government’s feelgood factor. This, in turn, has brought the Conservatives level with Labour in the polls.

New Help to Buy ISA

Now, the Government has gone further and created the Help to Buy ISA.

It enables first time buyers to be able to save tax-free for a mortgage deposit in an ISA. Not only that, for every £200 a first time buyer saves the Government will add a further £50.

That should help!

Furthermore, it means you are able to increase your deposit by 25%.

It’s a huge boost to first time buyers, including contractors taking out contractor mortgages.

Help to Buy ISA in the Autumn

Said Emilie Heaney, an expert on both the contractor mortgages market and the ISA for contractors market:-

“Contracting first time buyers will be able to start saving in these special ISAs in Autumn 2015. You will need an initial deposit of £1000 to open a H2B ISA and can use it to save for homes worth up to £450,000 in London and £250,000 in the rest of the UK.

“So, your £1000 you will benefit from a £250 uplift from the Government.

“Overall this will be further positive news for the housing market starved of first time buyers with enough of a deposit to take that all important first step and should encourage a generation of new savers and we commend this to the house”.

To get in the queue for one of these new Help to Buy ISA products fill in the form here ISA Form

Rent to Own Scheme proposed by LibDems – Contractor Mortgages

Posted on March 16, 2015 by admin

Rent to Own Scheme

The LibDems have announced a new Rent to Own scheme before the coming General Election. This is to be implemented between 2015 and the next election in 2020.

It is for first time buyers, especially those who cannot put together the deposit for their first home.

They have designed the new Rent To Own scheme to help new buyers to build up a stake in their homes via renting.

First Time Buyers

Getting started in the market is a huge problem for first time buyers. The typical first time buyer in London will need a deposit of over £60,000 if they wan to buy their first home.

They would pay what they would pay in rent, at a market rate, for 30 years. After that they would own their own home.

There would be something at the end of it for them – ownership of their own home.

Dream of Home Ownership

According to Nick Clegg, the LibDem leader:-

“For working young people the dream of home ownership is increasingly out of reach. Prices are so high renters cannot afford to save for a deposit, which means they can never take that first step onto the housing ladder.

“Rent to Own will mean, regardless of their background and family circumstance, they will be able to make this a dream a reality. This is about building a stronger economy and fairer society, and making sure Generation Rent has the same opportunity to get on in life as their parents and grandparents before them.”

Higher Monthly Payments

It is expected that the monthly payments for Rent To Own will be higher than if they took out a mortgage on the property.

It is being suggested that, in London anyway, it will mainly benefit those on higher incomes.

The Housing associations would build the new houses for the Rent to Own scheme.

The LibDems plan to have 30,000 homes in the Rent to Own scheme by 2020.

Paying Rent

While they will be paying more than mortgage holders for their properties there will still be people who benefit out there.

There are millions of people who have been paying rent on their houses for years out there. The very cost of the rent prevents them from being able to save up for a mortgage deposit.

They might as well have been paying that rent towards being able to own the house after 30 years.

Help to Buy scheme – Can I use it? | Contractor Mortgages

Posted on June 16, 2014 by admin

Help to Buy Scheme

Would I be entitled to use the Help to Buy scheme?

The government has been under increasing pressure recently to review the Help to Buy scheme as it has been brandished as the catalyst for the so-called ‘housing bubble’. It would be quite damaging if the Chancellor was to turn his back on the Help to buy scheme now. This is because so many first time buyers have now got a foot up on to the housing market across the UK.

Official figures from the Department of Communities and Local Government have announced that approximately 74 borrowers are purchasing a house through Help to Buy on a daily basis.

Help to Buy Mortgages for UK Contractors

Specialist Contractor Mortgages

The Help to Buy scheme has enabled many prospective buyers who have been stuck on the sidelines of the property market. This is because they are unable to put together the necessary deposit. The average deposit put down by a borrower on the Help to Buy scheme was £13,031 in April. This compares to the average deposit of £61,325 from a buyer not using the scheme.

As a Contractor you too can benefit from this excellent scheme. There are certain criteria to meet in order to qualify. Equity loans are available to both first time buyers and home movers on new build homes in England. This is for a purchase price up to £600,000.

Who Is Eligible?

However, you would not be eligible if you already own a property. Also, you cannot sub-let the property. You require a 5% deposit. The Government will give you a loan up to 20% of the price. You will need to obtain a mortgage to cover the remaining 75%.

Please click on Specialist Contractor Mortgages. Then fill in the contact form for further details of the Help to Buy scheme rates. They’ll give you the current Halifax free valuation offer.

Mortgage Market Review | Contractor Mortgages unaffected

Posted on June 9, 2014 by admin

Mortgage Market Review

If I decide to move house, will I risk missing out on a property due to the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) regulations?

Since the Mortgage Market Review was introduced on 26th April, typical high street Lenders have pushed back completion dates by weeks.

Many borrowers have failed to comply with the now much stricter affordability assessments. This has undoubtedly put some individuals off of even attempting to apply for a mortgage. However, this needn’t be the case.

Specialist Contractor Mortgages

Your Contractor status places you in a far stronger position. This is because you do not need to secure your mortgage through the local branch of your high street Lender. That is where the problems have been arising. Specialist Advisers such as Tony Harris use their contacts in the various Lenders underwriting departments, to ensure your application is processed quickly and smoothly.

They will expertly package your application to ensure that it is fully Mortgage Market Review compliant. Therefore it makes it easier for the Lender to process it. As such, Contractors are finding they are completing on purchases when others are failing.

Mortgage Market Review and Specialist Contractor Mortgages

Indeed the Mortgage Market Review is giving contractors the jump on other mortgage applicants. Contractor Financials are able to get specialist contract mortgages for contractors at better rates than the marketplace. That’s as well as getting them more easily.

If contractors walked into a high street bank or building society they would have to produce three years worth of accounts. Also, they would get a quote based on their director’s salary. As we all know, contractors like to keep that low so that they can take as much as possible in dividends.

If you want more information or to apply for a specialist contractor mortgage click on Specialist Contractor Mortgages

Halifax offer free valuation fees to home buyers – Contractor Mortgages

Posted on June 4, 2014 by admin

Halifax Offer

Contractors can now take an advantage of a Halifax Offer just for them.

House prices are continuing to rise. The average house is now worth 10.9% more than a year ago at £183,577.

The Independent Financial Advisers at ContractorFinancials have noted that all areas of the UK are experiencing this upturn in the housing market. It is not just confined to London and the South East.

According to Nationwide, in April buyer enquiries increased across the UK. Even more notably they also increased outside of London and the South East.

In fact the North West, North, the South West and East Midlands saw the most buyer enquiries. So, irrespective of where you live in the UK, the time is right to move onto or up the property ladder.

Moving House

As there are so many hidden costs involved in moving, can I actually afford to move?

Moving house can be an expensive process. Fortunately the specialist Advisers at ContractorFinancials are able to source which Lenders are offering the best value deals available to Contractors.

Free Valuation Fees

An exciting cost saving currently being offered by the Halifax is free valuation fees to home buyers. This is available to both first time buyers and home movers.

– The free valuation fees applies to all home buyers with a mortgage of £200,000 and above on selected products.
– The Halifax will refund your valuation fee if the initial purchase falls through. You can still complete on another property with the Halifax.
– This offer is for a limited time only.

Save Hundreds of Pounds

This offering by the Halifax can save Contractors hundreds of pounds in free valuation fees. That can make a big difference when you are saving for a deposit.

If you want further information, or want to apply for one of these mortgages with Free Valuation Fees, you should click on Specialist Contractor Mortgages

No Stamp Duty for first time buyers – Contractor Mortgages

Posted on March 11, 2014 by admin

No Stamp Duty

The Halifax has launched a mortgage with no stamp duty for first time buyers.

Stamp duty acts as a significant barrier for potential homeowners. So, Chancellor George Osborne is under pressure to do something in his budget to help cash strapped first time buyers and movers with this most hated tax. Contractor friendly Lender Halifax have taken matters in to their own hands. They have launched a headline grabbing offer for first time buyers.

If you are purchasing a property up to the value of £250,000, you won’t need to pay stamp duty on certain mortgage rate schemes. So, this could reduce your buying costs by as much as £2,500. If your chosen property is under £125,001 then Halifax will pay £250 cash back. This is despite the fact that your property wouldn’t be liable for stamp duty tax.

Halifax have run similar schemes in the past that have helped over 14,000 first time buyers onto the ladder. So the Lender is expecting to see similar figures this time. If other lenders jump on the bandwagon then Osborne may end up with little say in the matter. The market would rally to allow thousands more buyers to purchase without stamp duty costs.

The real cost of stamp duty

Each year, more and more first time buyers are being pushed in to the stamp duty bracket as house prices edge up.

According to LSL, the average purchase price for first time buyers in January was £155,832. This was 16.4% higher than the same time last year.

In line with this increase in house prices, the average deposit that a first time buyer must save has also risen. It is now £500 higher at £27,519. This represents 75.1% of a first time buyer’s income. This is according to figures released in January 2014. So saving extra funds to cover stamp duty adds a huge additional financial burden and could delay a potential purchase.

Figures from TSB suggest that 22% of first time buyers don’t take the cost of stamp duty into account when they make an offer on a property. This could leave these potential homeowners in the awkward position of finding up to an extra 3% of the property value before completion. This may be a struggle for cash strapped first time buyers.

Contractor Mortgages from Halifax

With just a 10% deposit, and a £999 arrangement fee, first time buyers can access a 2 year fixed rate mortgage at 4.79%. If you can provide a larger deposit of around 15%, you will be able to access a 2 year fixed rate at just 3.04% with a £1499 arrangement fee. These competitive Contractor Mortgage rates are available immediately to first time buyers. The arrangement fee can be added to your mortgage in both cases. So you won’t need to pay it upfront.

There is no stamp duty.

You can also access the stamp duty offer if you are applying for a 95% mortgage from the Halifax Help to buy product range. This is great news for those Contractors that have struggled to save a large deposit.

Looking for a larger property or your next move? If you are buying a property over the value of £250,000 or are an existing homeowner looking to move, you won’t qualify for the stamp duty incentive from Halifax. However, you can access a wide range of competitive Contractor Mortgage rates.This includes a special rate with the Lender. This entails a fixed rate mortgage for 2 years at 1.79% with a £1499 fee if you have a 40% deposit.

Halifax are not the only Contractor friendly Lender so it is worth consulting a Contractor specialist Independent Financial Adviser. They will search the whole of the market to find the best rates available to suit your individual circumstances.

Contractor Mortgages Broker

Tony Harris is a Specialist Contractor Mortgages Broker. He has a special relationship with the Halifax. Therefore, he is able to get contractors better rates than they would get on the marketplace. He is able to do this because of the credibility he has built up with them. This is mainly because the contractors that he sends to them have paid up on their mortgages and not defaulted.

Normally if you approach a building society, or high street bank, on your own, as a contractor you will be told that you need three years worth of accounts. Furthermore, you will only get a mortgage offer based on your Director’s salary.

Contractor Mortgage Offers With No Stamp Duty

This wouldn’t be worth having. However, because of Tony’s credibility with the Halifax he can get mortgage offers for contractors just on production of their contract. Indeed, first time contractors can get specialist contractor mortgage offers on their very first day of their very first contract. He can also get them quotes based on their daily rate annualised (daily rate x 4 x 48 weeks) rather than Director’s salary.

This Halifax one is with no stamp duty.

To find out more or apply you should click on Specialist Contractor Mortgages

Contractor Mortgage Guarantee – new Help to Buy rules

Posted on July 23, 2013 by admin

Contractor Mortgage Guarantee

There’s news of a Contractor Mortgage Guarantee.

Specialist Contractor Mortgages received a major boost with the new rules on Help To By spelled out by Chancellor Osborne today.

Previously lenders had been giving no more than 80% mortgages which reduced the demand. However, the Government stepped in with Help To Buy. The Government would underwrite 20% of the mortgage at zero interest. This meant that contractors could get mortgages at up to 95% of the total in a Contractor Mortgage Guarantee.

However, it was only for new houses. That is all to change, according to the statement today. A new scheme worth £12bn will launch in January 2014 which means that contractors will be able to join the Help To Buy scheme when purchasing any property valued at less than £600,000.

Help to Buy Scheme

Existing homeowners can use the Help to Buy scheme if they want to re-mortgage their home.

It won’t be available for Let-To-Buy folk or for second homes. However, one would expect that. The borrowers will have to pass lending tests – you would expect that too.

The Government already see the Help to Buy scheme as a success. Pundits are warning tat it could create a boom in the housing market. The IMF have warned that it will inflate house prices.

This is pretty much what the Government want, though, as they try to create a feelgood factor, ahead of the next election, with nicely rising house prices.

Contractor Mortgage Guarantee Agreement

Said Chancellor Osborne “The contractor mortgage guarantee will support an increase in high loan-to-value mortgages for people who can’t afford large deposits, and it will also boost housebuilding. As of today, lenders have the detail they need to go away and get ready for next January’s launch.”

There have been 7,000 uptakes of the loans in the first 4 months of Help To Buy.
There are already signs of an uptick in the housing market with prices up 4% this year when they were predicted to be flat.

Contractor Mortgages are now booming according to specialist Contractors Mortgages broker Tony Harris who said that the market is ahead of its previous peak of 2007.

To find out more or to get a quote click on Specialist Contractor Mortgages