Usually you will need a minimum of 5% deposit, however some lenders also offer 0% deposit mortgages subject to meeting lender criteria.

This will vary depending on the loan amount, the term of the mortgage and the interest rate.

A repayment mortgage is guaranteed to pay off your mortgage by the end of the term as long as all payments have been made. An interest only mortgage is where your monthly payments are only covering the cost of the interest and your loan amount will remain the same. At the end of the term, you would either need to sell the property to repay the mortgage or find another source to repay the loan.

As a minimum, the building itself needs to be insured. We would usually recommend that you also insure the contents within your home too. Other insurances we recommend are life insurance and income protection insurance, all of which are quoted from across the whole of the market.

Yes. You can “remortgage” to another lender to take advantage of their better interest rates. As part of our service we will contact you as you approach the final few months of your existing mortgage deal to provide you with details of the options available to you.

here are various costs associated with buying a property which we’ve detailed below:

• Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT): currently first time buyers are not required to pay SDLT.  Current percentages payable can be found at https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax
• Solicitor’s fees: These are based on the purchase price.  Typically, First Time Buyers will pay £500-£1000.
• Valuation fees: For most lenders these are also based on purchase price.  Many lenders offer free valuations, especially for first time buyers and remortgages.
• Lenders arrangement fees: These can usually be either added to the mortgage or paid up front and average at about £999.00.
• Mortgage broker fees: We charge competitive broker fees to our clients.  Existing clients get a significant reduction.  We also offer a price-match guarantee – if you can find a broker fee elsewhere that is cheaper, then we will match it.

Yes, however you could have early repayment charges to pay if you have only had your mortgage product for a short amount of time.

Can I make overpayments on my mortgage to pay it off sooner?

Yes, most lenders allow up to 10% of the mortgage balance to be overpaid each year without incurring any penalties.

A Buy-to-Let mortgage is where you buy anther property specifically as an investment with the intention of letting it out.

Normally a minimum of 25% deposit.

Not for your main residence, but if you have investment properties that were bought on a Buy-to-Let basis, these will be subject to Capital Gains Tax.

This is a score that we all have and is based on how we have conducted our finances over the preceding six years and is used by Financial Services companies to assess our credit worthiness.

You can improve your score by proving that you can repay debt and cope with any credit commitment you have, such as loans and credit cards and by paying things like mobile phone bills and utility bills on time. Also, it helps to be on the electoral role.

Contact us at ARA Mortgages & Financial Services for a free no obligation assessment.