Below is a list of Frequently Asked Questions. See the answers below. If you have further questions, you can submit them using our Feedback Form and we will endeavor to answer your query as quickly as possible.

• How much can I borrow?
• I think I may be on a 'Black List' can I still get a mortgage?
• What exactly is an 'Aussie' mortgage?
• What is the best mortgage?
• Why do lenders tie borrowers in?
• What are all the fees for and how much are they?
• Why do you charge fees? Don't the lenders pay you?

How much can I borrow?

The amount a bank or building society will lend to you will depend on how much you (and your partner) earn. At present, you can normally borrow between 3 and 4 times the basic income of the main earner PLUS the income of the other earner, OR 2.5 to 3 times the joint income of yourself and your partner. Some lenders have very strict income policies and others are fairly flexible in their approach. Contact us using our Feedback Form if you would like more details.

If you are concerned about how much you could afford to pay each month, use your Adviser will work out how much you could borrow.

I think I may be on a 'Black List' can I still get a mortgage?

Banks and Building Societies do not operate credit 'black lists'. There are a number of companies who maintain registers of credit transactions and to whom the lenders refer when they carry out credit checks. The data these companies keep on consumers is made available to the lenders, on request, and it is up to the lenders to interpret the data and verify if it is 'safe' to make the loan. Different lenders use different criteria when deciding whether to make a loan. Most lenders have special mortgage products for people who have had previous credit problems. Some lenders even specialise in this area, so if you have had credit problems in the past, it may still be possible to get a mortgage, depending on the severity of the problems.

What exactly is an 'Aussie' mortgage?

Nearly everyone has his own interpretation on this, just as there are a variety of ideas on what constitutes a flexible mortgage. In its simplest form, an 'Aussie' mortgage is one where the interest due is re-calculated daily. Any capital re-payments are accounted for immediately and if the borrower makes regular overpayments (s)he can reduce the term very quickly and save very large amounts of interests. Ask your adviser to work out how much you can save!!

What is the best mortgage?

There is no such thing as a 'best mortgage'. The best mortgage for you is the one that most closely satisfies your requirements. If that sounds like we side-stepped the question we plead guilty. The whole point of giving best mortgage advice is to structure the advice to the client's needs. Until we have established your circumstances, requirements and aspirations, we could not advise on the best mortgage for you.

Why do lenders tie borrowers in?

Lenders employ all sorts of means to attract new borrowers. These include, but are not restricted to, meeting the costs of valuation and/or legal fees to offering large discounts or attractive fixed rates or cashbacks. If borrowers take the goodies on offer then transfer the loan as soon as another lender's offer seems more attractive, then the first lender will have lost money on the deal. Redemption charges are a way of giving the lender an opportunity of recovering his investment

What are all the fees for and how much are they?

The number of extra charges which you may incur when purchasing a property can be quite disconcerting, adding as much as 5 % to the cost of your property. The following is a brief description of some of the fees you may encounter:

Valuation Fee - A fee paid by a borrower to cover the cost of the lender checking that the property is suitable security for the mortgage loan. Some lenders do not charge valuation fees with certain products and others may refund the cost of the valuation to you on completion. The amount of this fee is dependent upon the market value of the property and varies from lender to lender.

Arrangement Fee - This is a fee you pay to your lender in return for providing you with a mortgage. Usually paid on completion or with the application , these fees usually apply when you take out a fixed rate, discount or cashback mortgage. Again, this size of this fee varies from mortgage to mortgage. Some lenders don't charge any arrangement fees on certain products.

Booking Fee - A fee paid for the arrangement of a mortgage. Some lenders charge this place of, or in addition to, an arrangement fee. The fee is to cover the initial administrative costs in processing your application and securing the mortgage funds until completion.

MIG - Mortgage Indemnity Guarantee. This is insurance that covers the lender in case your property is repossessed and the lender cannot get back their money. Although this insurance protects the lender, you have to foot the bill. Some lenders will add the MIG on completion of the mortgage, whilst others will deduct the relevant amount at completion. This usually applies to high percentage mortgages of over 75% loan to value.

Legal Fees -You will need to engage the services of a solicitor to carry out a search, checking that the person selling the property has the right to sell, whether there are any outstanding legal claims on the property, and so on. Solicitors and conveyancers have different charges for the services they provide and depending on in which part of the country they are based. In addition, the Local Authorities in different parts of the country charge different rates for administering these searches. You should allow at least £400 if you are re-mortgaging and £600 if you are buying in England, and considerably more in Scotland. Some lenders offer a free remortgage legal service or offer small cashbacks to cover the costs.

Land Registry Fee - This is the fee paid to the Land Registry to register ownership of an area of land. This applies if you are purchasing a property or transferring ownership to another person.

Stamp Duty - This is a tax payable on the purchase of a property by the purchaser. For properties with a purchase price of up to £60,000, no stamp duty is charged. For properties between £60,000 and £250,000, 1% stamp duty is payable on the purchase price. For properties between £250,000 and £500,000 it is 3% and for properties over £500,000 it is 4%.

Professional Service Charge - A fee charged by an intermediary or advisor for locating and arranging the most appropriate mortgage for the borrower. Please refer to our Initial Disclosure Document for details of our service and the fees we charge.

Why do you charge fees? Don't the lenders pay you?

Our answer on this comes under the heading of 'Best Advice'. Not all lenders pay 'procuration' fees (commissions) to mortgage intermediaries. Those that do pay such fees have widely differing payment schemes. If we were to rely solely on procuration fees in order to meet our costs and make our business pay, we would not be able to offer loans from a number of lenders. This would clearly not be in the best interests of our clients.

Furthermore, while we have no objection to lenders paying intermediaries commissions, if that is the SOLE source of the intermediary's income, how can a borrower be sure that the advice he receives on a mortgage is not just the advice that yields the highest return to the intermediary? The existence or size of such a fee is not a factor in our recommendation to you, thereby maintaining our independent status and ensuring you receive Best Advice.