mortgage question

[crosser]

hi all, im a newbie here and have a question about getting a mortgage..

we have found a stone cottage believed to be 1890's that we have fell in love with... the house needs renovation but still has a functioning kitchen and bathroom but no plaster on the walls and its generally an unfinished resto.. its not a listed building and roof and structure is sound... its priced at 180,000 and we want to put a 100,000 deposit down,,, will any mortgage company lend on it or am i going to have to use a specialist mortgage company.... i have pictures of the property so you can see the state of play.... thanks

 

[Essex]

We bought a wreck 18months ago, and put down a deposit of over half the asking price. We had no trouble getting a normal mortgage (with deal). One of the mortgage companies we looked at wouldn't lend on a modern timber frame unless built recently, but was quite happy to lend on a 600 year old timber frame.

 

[Anita]

I wouldn't have thought that you'd have a problem - given that you only want to mortgage less than 50% of it's value. All building societies want to be reasssured if is getting their money back in a worst-case scenario, and with such a low percentage mortage that you would be seeking they would easily do that .

 

[crosser]

thanks for your opinions, got to wait till monday now to find out if our mortgage company will lend the money... me and the wife are really excited about the project....

 

[DaveBrigg]

We had no real problems with a property is a similar state, but beware the pitfalls of building society surveys. There are several threads here where people recount experiences, but to summarise, the BS surveyor arrives at your house after spending all week looking at 1980's Bovis homes. They have a fit and insist that you need a chemical damp course, woodworm and wet / dry rot treatment, full structural survey etc.
You are then faced with the prospect of spending thousands on work which may not be necessary, and may well cause more harm than good, or finding your own surveyor with knowledge and experience of old buildings who can give a true account of the work that need doing. Since you will end up paying for the survey anyway, I would advise asking the lender whether you can choose the surveyor, subject to their approval, and then find someone who will do a proper job.
Of course, your new property may come with a HIP, where all the work has been done for you...
Good luck with the project.

 

[Cloudscape]

I recently got a mortgage for less than 50% of the house valuation. The house clearly needs a lot doing to it, but the lender's surveyor (the one they use in that area) had 'seen it all before'. He wasn't phased by the state of the place, agreed it need fixing up but had huge potential, and the lender was OK with that.

If it helps, the lender is Alliance & Leicester. I used http://www.charcol.co.uk to find the mortgage (we're not your average couple with 9-5 jobs) and they couldn't have been better or more attentive.

(I also had my own structural survey done - again, by someone who's seen a few old houses in his time - but that was in case I was being blinded by the house and not seeing something serious.)

 

[ljn]

Haveing bought wrecks with rain puoring through the roof and no workable kitchen on 15% mortgage so I cant see how you'd have a problem with a deposit like yours. Not exactly "sub prime"!

I got quotes for repairs to roof and kitchen installation (minimal and not very realistic) and they withheld that amount on condition that I would do the work.

 

[crosser]

thanks again for your replys... got the mortgage offer ok today so now just the building survey to go... heres a few pics of the cottage, have plenty more if anyones interested....

 

[Nemesis]

Get a surveyor with expertise in traditional/historic buildings, and don't get a damp report from someone with a meter who is only interested in flogging injection and tanking.

 

[crosser]

 

[Nemesis]

Better than many a wreck. At least there is a bath and electricity.

 

[crosser]

anyone have an idea on the age of the cottage, i think it was a railway workers cottage... it used to be 2 but knocked into one many moons ago, also would this be lime mortar build?

 

[Nemesis]

If it was railway it will be well documented - depends where.

It looks like lime at this distance.