Contacting broker for advice only

polydactyl

Is it possible to contact a mortgage broker for advice on future planning etc or is that frowned on.

Basically I have an apt with a tracker in central Dublin. Mortgage 1500 a month, neg equity of approx 100,000. No incentive to sell it and our family could stay there for next few years while we plan. However our Salaries have now improved to over 180,000 with potential for about 20,000 in overtime. Have two kids in Creche for now and currently saving 1000 a month but houses in our area are 500,000 and up. So I just need some advice on what we need to save over the next few years etc. Is it nailed on 100,000 etc. Would an advisor meet us to discuss future planning or would they not bother until we have more of the deposit. Currently have 40,000

bleary

I think they would be delighted to meet ye,
For one thing you sound good candidates for an exemption on deposit rules.
Better to meet now and sort any glitches rather than wait another while and then have to wait longer again to clear your record.

antoinolachtnai

bleary wrote: »

I think they would be delighted to meet ye,
For one thing you sound good candidates for an exemption on deposit rules.
Better to meet now and sort any glitches rather than wait another while and then have to wait longer again to clear your record.

There are advisors who will deal with you for a cash fee for a one hour session, I can suggest s famous one by PM if it is any help.

Denny_Crane

I was going to say why bother with brokers just save as much as pos and approach a bank, especially as it's fairly easy to fudge some of the neg equity figures to a degree. However €180,000 gross and only managing €1000 a month savings on a reread. I think you might have bigger issues at play here, you really need to look at your finances so a broker, but more probably an FA might be well worth investing in. I think you may have an issue approaching banks through a broker or otherwise with such a small amount of savings each month vs income.

Lumen

You don't need a broker if you're not buying soon. They can't see the future.

IMO you should aim to clear the NE and save 20% of the 500k within 5 years, probably about the time you'll be wanting more space.

So that's 160k in 60 months, or 2.7k/mo. Call it 3k. That still leaves you 3k net/month after creche and mortgage.

Try not to get used to spending 110k net income. It's easily done. There are always more expensive things.

polydactyl

Thanks everyone, we do save more really more like 1500-2000 a month but it's not via direct transfer the 1000 is the minimum. Creche unfortunately will be approx 2000, a month from the summer and with 1500 in mortgage that's already more than 3500 gone a month before car, food, insurance, health insurance etc but I think we will look at meeting with a FA first possibly and see about maximising the savings...we already don't drink and have a limited social life I think we just spend too much on tesco

Denny_Crane

Realistically the car shouldn't be a huge issue with that sort of income. If you're getting the latest models on something like PCP look to own something safe and reliable for a few years out right while you get established. Make sure you're also getting the best possible treatment for tax. You have to bear in mind you'd be pushing top 2% of household incomes in Ireland once OT is factored in. People in that bracket, frequently don't seem to realise they are, and for whatever reason aren't as careful as they could be. Granted my experience is coming from people in the medical/academic fields - who can be basically mad in the first place.

I suppose what I'm driving at is the vast majority are worse off and managing to get mortgages. €500K isn't even outlandish in terms of nice houses in Dublin. I'm not trying to have a go and I wish you all the best with it, just make sure you're watching everything very carefully. As for Tesco switch to Lidl and Aldi. The amount of money that can be wasted on food at any income level is astounding!

Another thing that really should be on your radar is paying down your current NE, but take advice on that vs establishing savings from an FA/broker.

polydactyl

Sorry by car I meant petrol etc. No I think you are right, we don't live extravagant lifestyles by any stretch but money seems to fly out the door as we don't necessarily need to keep an eye on it but will for now. Last time I looked into paying down NE bank said to over pay they would remove the tracker although this was years ago now so never looked again. May just try and save two lump somes. One for NE and one for new deposit. Thanks for the advice. I think a kick in the backside to watch the frivolous spending is what I needed

Denny_Crane

Believe me I hear you. We're very sensible in terms of spending, thankfully without the childcare costs which are mind melting, but we started to put all household expenditure on one credit card (paying it off each month). We have a serious WTF moment in regard to groceries, petrol and other such spending.

The other issue with paying down the NE mortgage is unless it's going to benefit you in terms of moving don't do it as you'll probably only lose tax relief on a loan with extremely low interest. I'm terrible at tax calculations so I may be talking nonsense there but I think to answer your OP, if you're upfront with a good broker/FA there is no harm in having a chat.