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

loveisdivine

We're hoping that because neither side is in a chain, that perhaps we might get the keys in a couple of months? I honestly have no idea what to expect time wise.

Utah

SB_Part2 wrote: »

The house wasn't occupied and we weren't in a chain. We were going with KBC but they were insufferable to deal with. We eventually gave up on them after 8 weeks and tried BOI. They had our offer letter ready within a week.

Feel the same about KBC
So you apply online, then it tells you will be called. They rang at an inconvenient time last Wednesday, I said ring on Thursday. No call. They ring on Friday at an inconvenient time (I'm heading into meetings both times). Tell them to ring back in an hour. Been waiting ever since. You think it'd be in their interest to get a customer on board!!

BOI are amazing. You get a mortgage advisor assigned to you. He answers emails within 5 mins! Can call whenever I like. It's great.

I understand the difference in rates and cost etc but there's a lot to be said for great customer service!

Naid23

SB_Part2 wrote: »

The house wasn't occupied and we weren't in a chain. We were going with KBC but they were insufferable to deal with. We eventually gave up on them after 8 weeks and tried BOI. They had our offer letter ready within a week.

Yeah i've heard bad things bout KBC - they have the lowest rate at the moment but from what i've read, that €20 difference a month is not worth the stress and drama of dealing with them.

youcancallmeal

Utah wrote: »

Feel the same about KBC
So you apply online, then it tells you will be called. They rang at an inconvenient time last Wednesday, I said ring on Thursday. No call. They ring on Friday at an inconvenient time (I'm heading into meetings both times). Tell them to ring back in an hour. Been waiting ever since. You think it'd be in their interest to get a customer on board!!

BOI are amazing. You get a mortgage advisor assigned to you. He answers emails within 5 mins! Can call whenever I like. It's great.

I understand the difference in rates and cost etc but there's a lot to be said for great customer service!

So would this be another argument in favour of a broker? i.e. Let them deal with the hassle of chasing and talking to them

Utah

youcancallmeal wrote: »

So would this be another argument in favour of a broker? i.e. Let them deal with the hassle of chasing and talking to them

To be honest, yep!
I'm not sure why we haven't gone to a broker. Not as if we have to pay them.

Does anyone know if you have to meet the broker in person or can it all be done via email etc?

angeldelight

You'd probably need to meet the broker - we had to meet ours twice, once to sign all the original forms for application then again to organise life insurance and home insurance. Everything else was done by email.

It's almost a month since we went sale agreed and we've everything done our end so just waiting on vendors to sign and then bank to release cheque. Life insurance took a week and a half to sort, otherwise it would have been quicker!

Sono

Utah wrote: »

Feel the same about KBC
So you apply online, then it tells you will be called. They rang at an inconvenient time last Wednesday, I said ring on Thursday. No call. They ring on Friday at an inconvenient time (I'm heading into meetings both times). Tell them to ring back in an hour. Been waiting ever since. You think it'd be in their interest to get a customer on board!!

BOI are amazing. You get a mortgage advisor assigned to you. He answers emails within 5 mins! Can call whenever I like. It's great.

I understand the difference in rates and cost etc but there's a lot to be said for great customer service!

Funny we just got our mortgage with boi and if I was to do it again I would not recommend them, thought they were poor to deal with.

Santy2015

Sono wrote: »

Funny we just got our mortgage with boi and if I was to do it again I would not recommend them, thought they were poor to deal with.

We are with BOI and I found them very helpful. Tried Kbc they were very hard to deal with, I don't like AIB don't ask why I just don't and ebs weren't giving us enough.

SB_Part2

I can't recommend BOI enough. Every step of the process I was kept informed about. Even when our solicitor requested the cheque from them they rang to let us know.

I have heard stories of them not being as helpful, though. I think it probably boils down to which branch you're dealing with.

Tuesday_Girl

angeldelight wrote: »

You'd probably need to meet the broker - we had to meet ours twice, once to sign all the original forms for application then again to organise life insurance and home insurance. Everything else was done by email.

It's almost a month since we went sale agreed and we've everything done our end so just waiting on vendors to sign and then bank to release cheque. Life insurance took a week and a half to sort, otherwise it would have been quicker!

It's almost 4 weeks since I went sale agreed, paid the booking deposit the following day and very little has happened since. Apparently the vendor's solicitor is preparing contracts, wish he'd hurry on

I went with Ulster Bank, had to pull away from EBS due to never-ending requests for paperwork and so far I'm happy with UB.

Sparky85

Went sale agreed on the 21st of April and got the keys Yesterday!!

Even going up and opening the door yesterday afternoon it still didn't feel real...Starting to sink in now, super excited today and also a tad hungover :P

I went through a broker and Haven (AIB)

fermanagh_man

I echo the thoughts on KBC, really poor service so far

We have gone through a broker for AIB/Haven and it's looking so much easier

Naid23

fermanagh_man wrote: »

I echo the thoughts on KBC, really poor service so far

We have gone through a broker for AIB/Haven and it's looking so much easier

Thats good to hear as we are leaning more toward Haven through our broker. KBC are looking for a lot of extra paperwork and then taking ages to come back on it.

Naid23

Sparky85 wrote: »

Went sale agreed on the 21st of April and got the keys Yesterday!!

Even going up and opening the door yesterday afternoon it still didn't feel real...Starting to sink in now, super excited today and also a tad hungover :P

I went through a broker and Haven (AIB)

Brilliant news. Delighted for you.

Arsen5

Might be a bit off the topic here but any idea which insurance company can provide a good combined quote on health, car, house & life (assuming we got mortgage approval)insurance all in one?

Konata

I have another question... at what point in the process do you pay the deposit (not the booking one, but the required 10% one?). And also does the booking deposit come from the regular deposit or is it an extra cost?

The majority of our savings were in a 90 day notice account (weren't intending to buy for another few years but circumstances changed!) which is now in transit but I'm trying to work out what sort of timeframes we'd have to work with with regard to paying that deposit. We could afford a booking deposit immediately but would obviously need to wait for the other deposit.

SarahMollie

Konata wrote: »

I have another question... at what point in the process do you pay the deposit (not the booking one, but the required 10% one?). And also does the booking deposit come from the regular deposit or is it an extra cost?

The majority of our savings were in a 90 day notice account (weren't intending to buy for another few years but circumstances changed!) which is now in transit but I'm trying to work out what sort of timeframes we'd have to work with with regard to paying that deposit. We could afford a booking deposit immediately but would obviously need to wait for the other deposit.

From memory, you pay the 10% deposit around the time you sign contracts. Your booking deposit forms part of the amount.

ie, if you pay 10k booking deposit, but 10% of the property value is €30k, then you pay the remaining €20k.

Konata

SarahMollie wrote: »

From memory, you pay the 10% deposit around the time you sign contracts. Your booking deposit forms part of the amount.

ie, if you pay 10k booking deposit, but 10% of the property value is €30k, then you pay the remaining €20k.

Thanks! Good to know the booking deposit isn't additional.

If it's signing contracts time that might give us a little more leeway if we saw something we really loved in the next few weeks.

Utah

Konata wrote: »

I have another question... at what point in the process do you pay the deposit (not the booking one, but the required 10% one?). And also does the booking deposit come from the regular deposit or is it an extra cost?

The majority of our savings were in a 90 day notice account (weren't intending to buy for another few years but circumstances changed!) which is now in transit but I'm trying to work out what sort of timeframes we'd have to work with with regard to paying that deposit. We could afford a booking deposit immediately but would obviously need to wait for the other deposit.

SarahMollie wrote: »

From memory, you pay the 10% deposit around the time you sign contracts. Your booking deposit forms part of the amount.

ie, if you pay 10k booking deposit, but 10% of the property value is €30k, then you pay the remaining €20k.

Yep, correct.

We have a booking deposit paid for x amount. The receipt we got stated we have to stump up the remainder (10% - x) three weeks after receiving the receipt. I think that was 4 weeks ago, they haven't come looking for it yet. We talked to a couple who bought in the same estate, they said they had a delay with their mortgage approval and the builders were happy enough to wait - in total it was 9 weeks between booking deposit and the remainder of the deposit.

Konata

Utah wrote: »

Yep, correct.

We have a booking deposit paid for x amount. The receipt we got stated we have to stump up the remainder (10% - x) three weeks after receiving the receipt. I think that was 4 weeks ago, they haven't come looking for it yet. We talked to a couple who bought in the same estate, they said they had a delay with their mortgage approval and the builders were happy enough to wait - in total it was 9 weeks between booking deposit and the remainder of the deposit.

Actually, that's just given me another question! (sorry!!!)
Can you put in an offer before getting approval? Would you have to have at least Approval in Principle?

Tuesday_Girl

Konata wrote: »

Actually, that's just given me another question! (sorry!!!)
Can you put in an offer before getting approval? Would you have to have at least Approval in Principle?

Some estate agents will ask for proof of funds before accepting an offer but many don't. I made an offer while waiting for the AIP letter to be issued, in the end they never asked to see it.

Utah

We did!

It's a new build though that hasn't even started being built though so we might have a bit of leeway there.

The booking deposit is fully refundable so the worst that can happen is we get refused the mortgage and we'd be sad

Sparky85

Konata wrote: »

Actually, that's just given me another question! (sorry!!!)
Can you put in an offer before getting approval? Would you have to have at least Approval in Principle?

My Experience was that all Estate agents asked to see my Approval in Principal letter before agreeing to put my offers to the vendors. I had to print it out and black out the amount so I wasn't showing my hand to the agent as regards my top budget. This was in Dublin/Kildare.
I got the offer accepted on the place I was after by emailing the agent straight after I had the viewing to put my offer forward and I attached my approval letter (amount blacked out) and my solicitor details to show I was serious and ready to go ahead with the sale.
The agent later told me this is what convinced the vendor to accept my offer even though it was slightly below asking price and there was one other buyer on the pitch but the vendor wanted a quick hassle free sale.

Another quick question to add to the many being asked already.

When viewing a house do people just ask straight out what is the highest bid so far or will an estate agent give this information straight out or just give a wishy washy answer?

Michael D Not Higgins

Azalea Screeching Padding wrote: »

Another quick question to add to the many being asked already.

When viewing a house do people just ask straight out what is the highest bid so far or will an estate agent give this information straight out or just give a wishy washy answer?

The agent should just tell you straight off. Why mess the bidders around with having to guess the top bid? Just tell them and let them bid above that.

Konata

Thanks everyone, this thread is such a great source of info

Naid23

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

The agent should just tell you straight off. Why mess the bidders around with having to guess the top bid? Just tell them and let them bid above that.

Yeah, the house we viewed at the weekend, the EA came right out and told us as soon as we gave our name.

mirrorwall14

I've been told over the phone when they were arranging a viewing too

SarahMollie

Azalea Screeching Padding wrote: »

Another quick question to add to the many being asked already.

When viewing a house do people just ask straight out what is the highest bid so far or will an estate agent give this information straight out or just give a wishy washy answer?

They may say, you may ask, there are no hard and fast rules.

Typically, in my experience, if theres already an offer they will say. They are less likely to mention it if theres nothing on the table, as theres nothing to say really.

Asking doesnt show your hand or anything, its just a standard question. Sure you can't really decide to make an offer or not if you don't know the state of play.

If you ask, they will tell you. People are so suspicious dealing with EA's but they're just people.

Sparky85

Azalea Screeching Padding wrote: »

Another quick question to add to the many being asked already.

When viewing a house do people just ask straight out what is the highest bid so far or will an estate agent give this information straight out or just give a wishy washy answer?

I asked this when making the phone call to arrange a viewing on properties and was always told out straight what the current top offer was.

I also always asked the agents at viewings how many buyers were involved in the bidding... sometimes its better not to add fuel to the fire if there is a bidding war on between 2/3 buyers and I told some agents to let the others run out of steam and come back to me when they had one buyer left and I then put my bid in.