Finding a mortgage that's right for you
For anyone contemplating buying a first home, it's important you consider your options carefully. But with the market place offering so many mortgage options to first time buyers, working out which is the right one for you can be confusing. That's why we've created a simple Mortgage Selector tool to help you find your way through the mortgage maze.
Let's begin with the basics. As with all loans, there are two parts to a mortgage - the original amount you borrowed (the capital) and the interest charged.
You can either repay a bit of the capital and a bit of the interest each month (a repayment mortgage) or you can pay just the interest each month and repay the capital at the end of your mortgage term (an interest only mortgage). If you choose this type, then you should have some kind of other savings scheme to build up sufficient funds to pay off the capital at the end of the mortgage.
Things to consider
Money might be tight to start with after your purchase. So you may want to consider a mortgage that gives you some degree of certainty about how much you pay each month, but equally you will want to have an eye on the future. Most first time home buyers are moving onto their second property within five years.
Narrowing your choice of mortgages to a small selection that could be right for you
To help you do this we're going to ask you three simple questions, and provide you with some important information along the way.
Why do we need to know this?
If you have a regular income - i.e. if you're in full time employment and you're able to supply verification of your wages (or if you're self employed we'll need two years' audited accounts) you'll qualify for a standard mortgage.
If you don't have a regular income or if the majority of your income is made up of bonuses, commission or investments, a Self Certification mortgage may be for you. With this mortgage, you certify your own income to us - we don't need independent confirmation.