Good to hear from you Maz.

My son's 15 now - so I promise, sleep does get better!!

Look forard to being able help when you are ready.

Louise

Thanks Louise, that's really useful advice, it just goes to show, the mortgage advisors aren't always right.

I doubt we will be offered more than £110K mortgage so hopefully we will avoid the stamp duty and luckily I work in the property department of a law firm so I will only have to pay for my disbursements, and I'll even be submitting my own searches !!

Once we get our savings a few more grand up we will definitely call for advice, fingers crossed we'll be ready to rumble in January !!

Thanks again for the advice, trying to get a decent mortgage is so stressful and it doesn't help when you don't get the advice you are hoping to hear!

Maz.

PS. I think I have forgotten what sleep is !!

Hi Maz - good to hear from you. Buying your first home is both exciting and stressful. Basically, there is so much choice in the mortgage market - and neither the fact that you have been left with a default in your name- or that your husband is self employed should be a problem with some Lenders - as long as you have the income to repay the required mortgage. Past credit problems will affect the mortgage rates available - but with only one default there will be some fairly competitive deals available.

The main objective of any Lender is to ensure any potential mortgage debt is 'affordable'. You haven't indicated your husband's income - but that will be assessed as his 'net profit'. The fact he has two years accounts prepared will be helpful. Depending on assessable income, self employed applicants will certainly be considered up to 90%.

It does sound as if you are doing really well with your savings, however, dont forget to factor in all the incidental costs such as stamp duty and legal fees - these can add up. As ever, we would be pleased to give you free mortgage advice after discussing all your circumstances in full if you would like to give us a ring on 0845 345 5705. We can discuss the information that you have been given once we know your full circumstances and give you an idea of options.

Finally, you mention you are on maternity leave - so I hope all is going well and if your baby has arrived - hope you are getting some sleep!

Louise

Dear Louise

My husband and I are desperate to get on the property ladder.

My husband and I currently have 9K saved for a deposit and are hoping to get this up to about 12K (the mortgage broker stated we would need a min deposit of 15% because my husband is self employed, is this true?).

I am currently on maternity leave but earn over 18K normally. My husband has 2 years accounts for his business. We have a loan with 4.5K remaining and I have £1,200 left to pay on my credit card (which I have cut up).

Unfortunately a few years ago I made the mistake of letting a friend have a mobile phone on my name. Whilst I was travelling he failed to pay a 1K bill and later absconded (he had stolen money here there and everywhere and we are obviously no longer in contact). I have not yet paid this 1K and this has resulted in a default against my name. Obviously I am planning to pay this off as there is no chance I will get it from my so called friend. I check my credit rating on a regular basis and it has me listed as low risk even with the default. I think my rating is currently 800/1000 or somewhere around that region.

I did apply for a credit card a few months ago and was declined. The credit we currently have was given to us due to us having a good relationship with our bank manager and because my husband has reasonable credit history. I have never missed a payment on my current credit card and our current loan but this doesn't seem to do us any favours at all.

The mortgage broker seems to think that we would be quite lucky to be offered a mortgage and if we do, it would be for a max of 100K. Do I really have a chance of getting a mortgage or not ? I have a friend who was blacklisted and still got a mortgage, how is this possible ? I also know people who earn less money than my husband and I and have been offered £160K !!!!

Please give me some good impartial advice as I am very reluctant to trust any mortgage brokers and banks just seem to be too fussy when it comes to self employed applicants.

If I pay this 1K off this year, how long is it going to take to disappear so we can start applying for mortgages ? I don't want to start making applications only to be declined and have a long list of credit checks made against me.

Can you offer any advice ??