Property is one of the biggest investments you could ever make in your life, and unless you have a great deal of money you will have to take out a mortgage to pay for it. Mortgages are a long term loan that is used to pay for houses and other properties that can be applied for by anyone who is over the age of eighteen and in employment. However there is an application process that must be gone through and successfully completed in order for mortgages to be granted.



When you are looking for mortgages you should be aware of certain information that you will have to supply and prove in order for your application to be successful. Here is what you should expect to be asked:

•Your personal details and the personal details of anyone applying with you– name, date of birth etc. These are asked so that the lender firstly knows who they are dealing with.

•The mortgage amount – all mortgages are different amounts so you should first find out the price of a property that you want to get a mortgage on. Many people when applying for mortgages don’t always have a particular property in mind but a price range that they could afford to pay.

•The term of the mortgage – this varies between mortgages and lenders, although the average term is 25 years, however this can be as low as 15 years and as high as 35 years.

•The type of mortgage you are looking for. There are many different mortgages on the market from repayment to interest only and each one of them has its benefits and drawbacks. You need to choose the one that suits yourself the best.

•Your employment status – this is checked and recorded as anyone applying for a mortgage needs proof of income from which they will be making their repayments. Do not be tempted to inflate your salary as this will be found out as you will asked at a later stage to provide your lender with wage slips and even bank statements and any false information will be found out.

•Details of your credit history. You can put any information relating to your credit history when you are applying for mortgages. Your credit score will be used to assess your credit worthiness when making any financial application, and each time you apply for a mortgage it will be recorded on your credit history.

There are other details that will be required when applying for mortgages, but these are the main points that you can expect to be asked.

As soon as you are successful in your application you can go ahead with your mortgage offer and put a bid in for the property that you wish to buy. This is then either accepted or rejected by the seller. If your offer is accepted you can then inform your solicitor who will then start the proceedings and inform your mortgage lender. You will then start to pay your mortgage payments one a mutually agreed date. You will then continue making these repayments until you either pay off the loan amount, or you decide to move house – by which time you might be looking at other mortgages on the market. Some people even decide to look at different mortgages for the property they are in if they want to re-mortgage or find a better repayment rate, however it should be noted that many mortgages have a set period of time in which you are tied to that particular mortgage, after which you can look elsewhere.