Saving/Applying for a mortgage 2015/16/17/18/19

fibix

JJJackal wrote: »

A good start would be to sit down yourself and look at your ins and outs for a 2 month period

See if you have any loans and go on line and see are there cheaper repayment options

Clear any credit card debt

Thanks, I’ve done some of this but I need a more of a long term plan from someone in the know.

Black_Knight

Have you looked up anything yourself? Some of it is pretty boilerplate. You can only borrow up to 3.5 times your salary. You need at least 10% of the house price as a deposit. The bank will need to see you can afford to repay the mortgage every month, and they'll stress test that by adding 2% to the interest rate you're quoted. Eg. If you're looking to get a mortgage at 3% interest, you'll need to be able to show you can afford 5% interest repayments.

Have you loans?
Do you overspend on credit cards?
Have you savings?
Are you better off saving every month when you could be using that money to pay off your loan?

fibix

Ok, so no specific recommendations so as to the institutions that could help then;)

Bubbaclaus

fibix wrote: »

Ok, so no specific recommendations so as to the institutions that could help then;)

What you are asking for is very basic. A bit like asking for professional chef recommendations to show you how to boil pasta.

The J Stands for Jay

fibix wrote: »

A random question for a person that needs to get her finances in order. I’m looking for someone who can sit down with me, look at my bank accounts and tell me: this is too much spending here, this loan charging you that, in order to have your house deposit you need to do xyz, banks lending this and you need that. Where can I go for this sort of advice?
I want my own place more than anything, lucky with decent enough job but just need to get myself sorted.
Thanks!

Look at the mabs and ccpc website, they have lots of info on budgeting.

I'll have a stab at it without knowing anything about you:
You spend too much on:
Nights out
Takeaways
Clothes makeup
More car than you need
Starbucks.
Apple stuff
Spotify
Satellite/cable

Fol20

https://www.askaboutmoney.com/forums/money-makeover.62/

You could post here. You need to fill in a template and give a good breakdown of saving,spending pattern, goals and objectives etc.


Its an irish forum and some of the guys on there are very good.

lcwill

fibix wrote: »

Ok, so no specific recommendations so as to the institutions that could help then;)

Why don't you take a look here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/irishpersonalfinance/

There are a few helpful posts and people who can give ideas.

antimatterx

One thing I recommend if you have outstanding loans is to see is it possible to get a new loan with a lower interest rate than your current loan, and pay off your an existing loan. Yes you will still have a loan, but a lower interest rate will either save you money if you keep the loan term the same, or reduce the loan term if you make the same repayments.

sozbox

Do this for a start

List your income and expenses

Open Google sheets
Write down your after tax monthly income
Then list every single monthly expense you have
- Rent
-Phone
- Electricity
- Gas
- Car loan
- Personal loan
- Petrol/Diesel
- Insurance
- Food
- Lunches
-Alcohol
- Coffees
-Lunches
- Clothes
- Holidays
- Sky
- Spotify
- Netflix
- Any other subscriptions?
- Anything else? Check you bank statements, where is your money going? Write it all down

This will give you a good idea of what you can realistically save per month after expenses

Reducing Expenses

Go through the list above and identify areas where you can cut down. Do you have subscriptions you no longer use? Cut them

Can you save by switching car insurance? Moving Electricity and Gas to another supplier? Do it

Can you get a cheaper phone plan? Great

How much APR are you paying on your loans? Can you re-finance elsewhere and reduce the repayments? Most likely yes so make sure to check this.

bonkers.ie can be used for most of the above and will take you 30 mins.

First time I did this i saved 5k in personal loan interest over 4 years by moving my loan, not bad for half an hour work right.

Mortgage

You can borrow 3.5 times your gross salary, what is that figure? That figure is 90% of what you can afford to buy as you also need a 10% deposit.

3.5 times not enough? Ask the bank for an exception. If they say no, ask another bank, I applied to 5 banks and took the best offer.

Once you have your total house budget you can start looking to see where you can afford to buy.

Do you want a new build? Check out Help to Buy scheme to get a generous tax refund up to 5% of the house price. Now you might only need to save a 5% deposit!

How long will it take to save up your deposit now that you know how much you're spending each month?

You'll need about 5k on top of the deposit to take care of solicitors fees
Don't forget about furniture, that's not cheap, another 5k to get you going.

To ease the pain here go with a bank that offers cash back. You can always move your mortgage a year or two down the line to a lower interest rate without having to pay back the cash back.

Income
Sometimes you'll have done the above and figured out it will take too long to save up. You have one other path here, increase your income by changing jobs. Not always an option but something you may have to do to get what you need.

Can you earn extra money on the side? An extra 100 a week is 5k a year.

This isn't definitive but should be enough to get you into the mindset where you need to be to begin the process.

Best of luck

Fireball81

Did this for a single friend a few weeks back who is/was in a similar situation.

As others have said above, its actually not rocket science and you don"t have to be 'good with money' either.

Get your your bank statements (print from online if you have gone paperless) and categorise every single item you spend in say 3 months.

Look at your mobile bill and any other bills you have, credit card debt (switch the zero interest for balance transfers of you are paying interest at the moment).

You'd be shocked and suprised where your money is going.

When you know what exactly you are spending your money on you can prepare a new budget.

Clear all debt before saving, you'll pay more in interest than what you will earn, will make a mortgage application easier too.

antimatterx

HI,

I'm hoping to buy an apartment in the next year or two. I'm currently saving a fair bit every month and getting my accounts in order. The deposit won't is an issue, but I might need more than 3.5 times my salary.

Is it possible to get an exemption, whats the highest ratio you can get, and how do you qualify for an exemption.

Thanks

molly09

Can I ask a few questions on this please......

Is it possible to get approval for a mortgage if you have a small car loan?

In a previous post someone mentioned about a help to build scheme or something .....where would I get information about this ?

Also do you need a larger deposit for a self build rather than buying a house?

Reversal

A start would be to take responsibility and put your own effort into your personal finance.

Looking for someone else to hand cash over to to fix it for you is a red flag tbh.

Fireball81

molly09 wrote: »

Can I ask a few questions on this please......

Is it possible to get approval for a mortgage if you have a small car loan?

In a previous post someone mentioned about a help to build scheme or something .....where would I get information about this ?

Also do you need a larger deposit for a self build rather than buying a house?

Mortgage applications are all about security and repayment capacity. It is possible to get one with a car loan but it will impact how much you can borrow so best to clear it first.

Help to buy https://www.revenue.ie/en/property/help-to-buy-incentive/who-can-claim-the-help-to-buy-htb.aspx

Not sure on the last one sorry, assume not but could be wrong.

jlm29

molly09 wrote: »

Can I ask a few questions on this please......

Is it possible to get approval for a mortgage if you have a small car loan?

In a previous post someone mentioned about a help to build scheme or something .....where would I get information about this ?

Also do you need a larger deposit for a self build rather than buying a house?

It’s possible, but it may impact the amount you can borrow, as it takes from how much you can pay back every month. If your mortgage was small, maybe that wouldn’t be an issue.

jlm29

OP, it sounds like you want to go on that “how to be good with money program” on RTÉ!

fibix

Bubbaclaus wrote: »

What you are asking for is very basic. A bit like asking for professional chef recommendations to show you how to boil pasta.

And I still would like the chef’s recommendation, please. You must have not seen Marco Pierre White’s lesson on cooking pasta;)

Graham

Mod Note

Threads Merged

Black_Knight

fibix wrote: »

Ok, so no specific recommendations so as to the institutions that could help then;)

Primary school should be sufficient.

Recommendations are probably a light because what you're asking, people generally just figure out for themselves. What do you expect this professional to do? Mammy your bank account and see where you're going wrong? Someone putting that effort in is likely going to charge a fee, which, i'm inferring from your post, you don't need. There's apps for that (YNAB) which categorise where your money goes, and can help you save (if you're mature enough to stick to it).

RTE ran a program where financial idiots got consultant advise around their spends. It's called How to be good with money. Looks like yer man that ran it sells that service privately.

SteelyDanJalapeno

Financial planners :

https://www.bluewaterfp.ie/
http://www.pearce.ie/
https://kfp.ie/

fibix

Black_Knight wrote: »

Primary school should be sufficient.

Recommendations are probably a light because what you're asking, people generally just figure out for themselves. What do you expect this professional to do? Mammy your bank account and see where you're going wrong? Someone putting that effort in is likely going to charge a fee, which, i'm inferring from your post, you don't need. There's apps for that (YNAB) which categorise where your money goes, and can help you save (if you're mature enough to stick to it).

RTE ran a program where financial idiots got consultant advise around their spends. It's called How to be good with money. Looks like yer man that ran it sells that service privately.

If you find me asking for help in something so primary school basic so upsetting, please refrain from posting your patronising commentary and scroll over and enjoy your day.

VonLuck

Can anyone guide me to the rules on applying for a second mortgage? Currently own a property, but I am trying to plan my savings and mortgage repayments for the (distant) future.

How is equity on the first property, LTV, salary, rental income from rent a room etc. factored into the calculations? Thanks.

go to www.mabs.ie - they have a free online budgeting tool and spending diaries. If you need professional advice on something as simple as budgeting and saving it might mean you dont have the discipline by yourself to take charge of your finances. It is actually very simple to do. You will pay a very hefty fee to go to a financial adviser just for advice on saving and budgeting.

Just set a date i.e. 1 March, prepare in advance, have online banking to hand and details of loans etc. Start on that day and record all your spending in the MABS spending diaries and budgeting tools. You will see after a month what changes you could be making. I certainly wouldn't be paying anyone to do this for me. You mention you would like to buy your own house, saving on big items like a financial adviser's fees would be a start........... especially when there is so much free online advice available.

Gamb!t

Anyone here ever get a mortgage and buy abroad in France ?

Dolbhad

antimatterx wrote: »

HI,

I'm hoping to buy an apartment in the next year or two. I'm currently saving a fair bit every month and getting my accounts in order. The deposit won't is an issue, but I might need more than 3.5 times my salary.

Is it possible to get an exemption, whats the highest ratio you can get, and how do you qualify for an exemption.

Thanks

The max with an exemption is 4.5x salary. Each bank have different criteria rules. I got exemptions with same banks and not in others. Those I did get exemptions with, it varied on the amount.

Some banks our income wasn’t enough for exemption. We are not high earners but the banks we got approved exemptions with liked my job. So it’s very on a case by case basis it seems.

Also banks may say they can’t issue you with exemption until you have a house in mind.

I was honest and said I need an exemption and they ran the numbers. The main thing is the stress testing. You want a clean account and to meet the stress testing on the exemption amount. We have to clear a car loan before drawdown for the exemption.

Just watch it with one bed apartments. I had a friend buying a one bed apartment in Cork with Haven. As it was a one bed (and deemed harder to sell in future) Haven restricted them to 80% borrowings even though a FTB

lir6777

fibix wrote: »

A random question for a person that needs to get her finances in order. I’m looking for someone who can sit down with me, look at my bank accounts and tell me: this is too much spending here, this loan charging you that, in order to have your house deposit you need to do xyz, banks lending this and you need that. Where can I go for this sort of advice?
I want my own place more than anything, lucky with decent enough job but just need to get myself sorted.
Thanks!

From what I understand (haven't tried it myself), a mortgage advisor can help out even at this early stage, to tell you how to prepare for down the line when you're ready to apply. Alternatively, perhaps arranging a meeting with your main bank's mortgage advisor- they possibly wouldn't look at your statement and tell you where to cut, but should be able to tell you how much you will likely be able to borrow, and how much you should try to save from here on to maximise your chances.

Good luck!

TheSheriff

fibix wrote: »

A random question for a person that needs to get her finances in order. I’m looking for someone who can sit down with me, look at my bank accounts and tell me: this is too much spending here, this loan charging you that, in order to have your house deposit you need to do xyz, banks lending this and you need that. Where can I go for this sort of advice?
I want my own place more than anything, lucky with decent enough job but just need to get myself sorted.
Thanks!

Just stop spending on non-necessities......... this is literally it.

fibix

TheSheriff wrote: »

Just stop spending on non-necessities......... this is literally it.

That's beyond helpful, thanks.

Last time I checked, this was a really sound place to ask for random advice. What I got today (aside from a few helpful advices, which I'm grateful for), was unsolicited, direct or non direct, judgement on my finances (about which I revealed absolutely nothing) and myself, including some assumed analysis of my spending. Then I actually went and watched How to be good with Money and what revs me up the most, is some self professed 'experts' here calling these people, who sometimes were clearly lost, due to illness or simply lack of financial awareness, 'financial idiots'. I'm still shook after yesterday's revelations of yet another suicide, otherwise I wouldn't bother my poor keyboard with typing this. I don't know why the news affected me this much this time. If you have nothing constructive to say, just remain quiet. This goes for the condescending comments and not so subtle remarks. It so much easier not to be an Internet c**t and everyone can sleep better. Call this oversensitive, I'm sure a few will, don't care. In the world where you can be anything, be kind.

Noodles81

fibix wrote: »

That's beyond helpful, thanks.

Last time I checked, this was a really sound place to ask for random advice. What I got today (aside from a few helpful advices, which I'm grateful for), was unsolicited, direct or non direct, judgement on my finances (about which I revealed absolutely nothing) and myself, including some assumed analysis of my spending. Then I actually went and watched How to be good with Money and what revs me up the most, is some self professed 'experts' here calling these people, who sometimes were clearly lost, due to illness or simply lack of financial awareness, 'financial idiots'. I'm still shook after yesterday's revelations of yet another suicide, otherwise I wouldn't bother my poor keyboard with typing this. I don't know why the news affected me this much this time. If you have nothing constructive to say, just remain quiet. This goes for the condescending comments and not so subtle remarks. It so much easier not to be an Internet c**t and everyone can sleep better. Call this oversensitive, I'm sure a few will, don't care. In the world where you can be anything, be kind.

Hi Fibix, great post. I looked back over the last page or two to see what you were referring to as I haven't been on this page in a few days.

You asked a fair question but did not get a fair response at all from some posters. There was no need for the patronising replies you received.

We all have busy lives and fall into bad habits. A few years ago I got great advice from a loan adviser in BOI. I was getting a loan but she could see I was managing my accounts very badly and spent an hour of her time going over where I could make improvements.

Ideas such as writing out my expenses and income every month and making sure it tallies and stays in the black, refinancing credit card debt and getting a plan in place to pay it off monthly to avoid high interest rates, etc.

I did these things and more for a year and it did make me form better habits. Never be put off asking a question. That's what Boards is for, is it not?

I hope you get what you need from some of the good advice you got from other posters. It's definitely a good time of year to start thinking about organising your finances. Best of luck with it all.

Creamy Goodness

Lot of talk here about credit card debt.

I’ll share the biggest tip that was given to me about credit cards (by my father), the second you pay a single cent in interest on a credit card, you attack it with a scissors and close the account.

As a desperate measure, If you’ve been bad with a credit card, take out a loan at a lower interest rate and pay it off in full.

Credit cards are a wonderful tool if paid off - in full - every month, and yet the worst financial tool in the world if they’re abused.