Moving

My day started a little earlier than I intended! We got the Pickfords quote the other day and it seemed very high and not quite as competitive as I had hoped. So I decided to get some other quotes which is generally a good idea anyway. So this week I have three other companies coming in to do quotes – one on Monday, one today and one tomorrow. Today’s appointment was booked for 12 noon, so imagine my surprise when he showed up at 9.30! Anyway, I can’t be sure that in the chaos that is my life at the moment, I didn’t write down the wrong time. And he was the perfect gentleman. I was still in my pyjamas and he offered to wait in his car until I was more suitably attired!

I have to say, at the moment, the customer is definitely king. I would like to think that was due to improved standards in customer care and service over the years and good training, but I think that whilst that’s true, there’s also a little bit of a scrabble for your business at the moment. We are very much in the minority buying a house (as well as getting in professional movers – when things are tight, it’s one of the first costs to get cut. People try and save money by moving themselves.) Either way, I am very impressed with the good service from 3 out of 4 of the movers and after tomorrow’s visit, maybe 4 out of 4.

I finally finished my job application last night. I took so long to do it. I would literally open up the application and then go on the internet, or walk the dogs, or watch some TV. But eventually there was nowhere to hide, not if I wanted to meet the deadline and so I finally got a move on. I think I’m a little fatigued when it comes to applications. I’m not approaching them with the same zest and zeal that I was six weeks ago! Let’s hope I get this job and I can have a break ;0)

We heard yesterday that we might even complete before the 12th and this morning the final part of the mortgage was approved. From what I can gather (and feel free to comment if I’m wrong) there are 3 parts to the mortgage process where things can go wrong and potentially you can fail to get a mortgage.

1. Mortgage in principle: this is obviously not binding and you can do it before or after finding a place. You go to a bank or broker and they take your details and agree in principle to give you a mortgage.
2. This is formalised after your offer has been accepted. This is the point where they want the ins and outs of your life since forever and where a lot of mortgages can fail if they uncover bad or undisclosed credit history. This stage is a big deal and once this has been done, it’s unlikely – not impossible, but unlikely you will have any further problems.
3. The mortgage is approved by the underwriters. Between stages 2 and 3 you might be asked for some more details – maybe bank statements etc. But once you’ve got past stage 3, you’ve got a mortgage baby! Then the mortgage confirmation goes to your solicitor who can close the deal.

We have passed stage 3! So from the solicitor and mortgage people thinking that completing on the 12th was very tight and maybe not possible, they are now saying it might happen even earlier! Good stuff, eh?

We were chatting in bed last night that despite how stress-free this process has been (in relation to how stressful it could have been), we’re still stressed! Don’t underestimate how draining buying a house can be.

Finally if you want a recommendation for a broker (and I would always choose a broker over going straight to a bank or building society) then London & Country are brilliant. A broker will search for the best deals on your behalf and they shouldn’t charge you for this service – they charge the mortgage provider. We’ve been very impressed with the efficiency and customer service at L & C.

Anyway, enough of all that, I may not have a job application to do today, but I do have a million other things to do!