What Can a Specialist Seafarer Mortgage Advisor Do For You?
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One of the most common questions asked by our clients is 'why should I use you?'
Our answer to this question is always the same...
Because of our specialist knowledge of the industry we can significantly increase your chances of being accepted for a mortgage, first time around.
The world of mortgages can be a complex one.
There are a huge number of mortgage providers out there in the market, all vying for your custom.
In this article, we explain why it's important for seafarers and yacht crew to speak to specialist mortgage advisors like us.
We outline three case studies that give real world examples of how our expertise has helped them secure better lending arrangements.
Read on to find out more or click a jump link below to skip to a chapter of your choice.
Chapters
Typical Problems
At first glance a client (without specific guidance) would possibly go straight to the cheapest lender.
In the majority of cases a decision in principle may be obtained, with no issue’s highlighted at the time.
However, the problems begin when a client has found a property and submits the full application to an underwriter.
Most lenders will not even look at those earning their income in a foreign currency.
And then you have to factor in the offshore work, residency, not paying UK tax but submitting tax returns under the sea farers earnings deduction, fixed term contracts, no payslips - the list goes on!
When faced with this information that does not neatly 'tick' all of their policy boxes, an underwriter will decline the application.
The client is then back to square one, with the added pressure of estate agents hounding them for their mortgage offer!
This is where the help of a specialist broker like Mortgages For Yacht Crew can be worth it's weight in gold.
As we only deal with seafarers, and with many applications under our belt, we really do have a unique understanding of the process and each lender’s (very different) criteria.
We have come across multiple complex cases, numerous difficult situations and scenario’s that we have been able to successfully navigate and get the client a mortgage offer.
Let’s take a look at some recent cases, all with very different obstacles that we were able to overcome using our experience of the industry.
Case Studies
Fay and Errol
Fay and Errol are purchasing their first home to live in.
They already have a buy to let property, which we had just re-mortgaged.
Like the majority of seafarers Errol is paid in Euro’s and we used the exchange rate on the day of application, to convert his income.
We also used their most recent credit reports to capture all loans and credit cards they have.
The underwriter contacted us to say they would lend a significantly lower amount than they required, as they had seen undisclosed commitments, and they calculated Errol’s income at a lower amount than we had.
If Fay and Errol had gone directly or used another broker with no experience of the industry, would this have been contested?
Or would they have believed the underwriter’s say was final?
Because of our understanding and the number of cases we have put through with lenders, we knew this could be contested.
The underwriter was provided with the exchange rate used and copies of their credit report to show that no commitments were missed off.
They accepted they had made a mistake and offered the full loan amount!
Rob
Rob was also purchasing his first property to live in.
He had been to numerous brokers in the UK and direct to some banks.
Everyone he approached said they couldn’t help him due to nature of his work.
He was on short-term contracts and sometimes had long gaps between employments.
At the time of application, he was in-between contracts.
We knew the approach to take with the lenders and were able to successfully secure him a mortgage offer within 1 week.
Rob’s words were 'I wish I had found you months ago and saved a load of time and stress!'
Matthew
Matt was purchasing an investment property.
We submitted his application with a well-known buy-to-let lender.
Affordability fit nicely, the property was fine, Matt had payslips, a permanent contract and tax returns to verify his income.
However, initially the underwriter refused his application on the grounds that his employer was based in a tax haven.
About 99% of employers are based in tax havens, so this was a very worrying decision!
We managed to argue this point, and as Matt files UK tax returns to declare his income in the UK, then they decided this was acceptable!
If Matt had gone directly to the lender, he would not have known that he could have contested this and would simply have given up on the mortgage and his dream of starting an investment portfolio.
Conclusion
These are just a few examples of the diverse cases we see and shows you how an experienced mortgage advisor can be invaluable in helping you to realise your dreams.
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IMPORTANT: This article provides an overview of using a mortgages advisor in the UK. It does not constitute advice and should not be used to make financial decisions. You must always seek advice from independent financial specialists when making major financial decisions.