Before you begin the mortgage application process, you should think about how your finances look on paper. As a result of the crisis, lenders have toughened their affordability requirements, making it more challenging to get a mortgage. How can I increase my chances of getting a mortgage?
You can increase your chances of getting a loan by keeping a watch on the following typical spending habits:
Using Joke Payment Descriptions When Sending Money
Adding a ‘funny’ description to a bank transfer with a friend may seem amusing at the moment, but not when a mortgage lender discovers it in your bank statements. To avoid any queries from your mortgage lender, it’s better to avoid using any comical payment descriptions at all.
Betting Apps
Although sports betting apps have made gambling even more straightforward, you must keep track of your spending to ensure it does not become a source of concern. If a bank or building society discovers that you are an active gambler when applying for a mortgage, they may reject your application. This is only true if the transactions consume a large portion of your monthly income or cause you to incur an overdraft; the odd wager is perfectly OK.
Using Buy Now, Pay Later Schemes
It’s becoming more challenging to find an online fashion shop that doesn’t offer a buy now, pay later option that allows buyers to spread the cost of an item over many weeks interest-free. While using systems like Klarna or Clearpay may be appealing, it may influence your odds of getting a mortgage. Lenders can view this as a lack of money to pay for low-cost items upfront.
Payday Loans
Although if you paid off your payday loan entirely and on schedule, it might still work against you when applying for a mortgage. Payday loans reveal to the lender that you have lived beyond your means at times.
Monthly Subscriptions
Netflix, Spotify, gym memberships, and app subscriptions are all monthly expenses to be careful of. Although being relatively cheap in contrast to your other monthly expenditures, subscription services can be used to reduce your capacity to repay mortgage payments. Examine your living expenses and make sure you have the money to continue with your existing subscriptions – you may be paying for something you no longer need.