Don't allow un-necessary credit searches

A mortgage is the biggest debt you’re likely to ever take on, so you need to do your homework and understand more than just what certain marketing / PR headlines suggest about how the “100% mortgage is back” or how Bank Base rate will not rise for many years, or how much profit the banks are reportedly making!

Advice is crucial and should, ideally, be sought from a company offering ‘whole of market’ mortgages. Remember that some Estate Agency chains and Banks, in particular, can normally only offer advice on their own products or from a limited number of lenders.

Be wary that the more of these you talk with, the more likely you are to be credit searched. Make sure you stipulate at the outset that you do not authorise any credit searches, until you are happy to proceed with a specific product or lender.
Also, if not presently, but you have plans to apply for a mortgage in the not too distant future, keep your eye on your credit. Don’t miss or make late payments to any provider. All financial institutions will base their decision initially on your credit history. If you have missed or late payments, or even a lot of recent searches (from multiple finance/mobile/car/home insurance applications), this could be detrimental to your ability to obtain finance, at a competitive rate. If you have not reviewed your credit search before, get it for free (30day trial period) from Credit Expert (see www.atomltd.co.uk for a link). It’s well worth a review and a good insight on how attractive you may, or may not, look to a lender.

Finally, as lenders endeavour to control volumes and distribution, many limit which companies can access their products. Therefore, it is with delight that Platform (The intermediary lender of the Co-Operative Bank PLC) has retained AToM as a specialist mortgage distributor for a number of their products. The lender has a good appetite to lend in a specific arena in the mortgage market and we are privileged to be one of only 3 selected companies in the UK to promote their services and exclusive products.