# have mortgage app. in principle, how long to wait for full approval?



## wanagetahome (4 May 2009)

Hi all,

In the process of buying our first property, we got approval in principal 2 weeks ago, found a property, paid booking deposit, have a solicitor and now we are just waiting for the full approval. How long should we expect this to take in the current market? also, we have arranged for the valuation to be done this week, so hopefully they'll do it tomorrow or Wednesday. I'm just getting so anxious about it now.
Any advice on how long we should expect to go through the rest of the process and move in? I'm a nervous wreck.


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## TheBigD (4 May 2009)

I'm at roughly the same stage as you. I made an offer on an apartment last Monday and paid booking deposit. I had AIP from the bank prior to this. I informed the bank of the details of the property that day, along with my solicitor details. My mortgage handler rang me on Thursday to say the mortgage has been sanctioned and the formal offer documents were on the way to my solicitor. Getting the valuation done tomorrow or wednesday. 

So hopefully your formal offer will be as quick.


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## wanagetahome (4 May 2009)

Thank you TheBigD, thats really good news. Congratulations. Hopefully all will run as smoothly for me now.  Once the formal letter is received I hope it's plain sailing from there.


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## dewdrop (4 May 2009)

Just a bit of simple advice..please keep in close contact with your Mortgage contact and always know what matters need attention. Some of these can be handled by yourself and others by your solicitor.


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## wanagetahome (4 May 2009)

Thanks Dewdrop, I've been calling our mortgage broker every few days, she arranged our valuation to be done this week, and advised me that as soon as the approval comes through she will arrange for us to take out life/home insurance. I believe they can arrange that for us, however I have been looking on the internet myself for quotes. I'm just not to sure how the home insurance will work as it is an apartment, on the ground floor of a duplex, with own front door. So i'm going to hang on and wait for the broker to point us in the right direction. Our solicitor said he'd be in contact once he receives the contract from the bank. Can you think of any other matters that will need our attention?


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## Jimbobp (4 May 2009)

You will need confirmation from the apartments management company that the building is insured (they will have block cover on all the apartments). The cost of this will usually be part of your management fee. Once you move in you should look at getting a contents policy.Best of luck with the move.


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## dewdrop (5 May 2009)

as you are dealing with a broker who arranged the mortgage with the bank I dont know whether it is possible for you to contact the person in the bank who is handling the application. They are the people who know precisely what is required. Many years ago i worked in such a section and we usually had a checklist of requirements.


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## Locke (5 May 2009)

We applied through the bank directly in Late Feb, offer issued 4th March. It was pretty quick. Make sure your broker keeps you updated on where you are.


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## wanagetahome (11 May 2009)

Hi again, i may just be very paranoid, but I just need a bit of advice. we still haven't received full approval and I'm getting worried. I have received a letter from our solicitor, which encloses a letter from the developers basically saying that if all is not signed sealed and delivered within the 21 days then they will put the property on the market again. Now that gives us until Wednesday the 20th of May and I'm terrified we won't have everything sorted by then. we had the valuation done last week, and and when i called my mortgage broker on Thursday i was told she was away on holidays. so another guy is dealing with it now, and said he 'hopes' we hear by Thursday. Do you think we will have time to get everything sorted by then? or is this all going to fall through on us? This is the most awful wait of my life (i know i'm being dramatic)


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## TheBigD (12 May 2009)

Which bank is it?


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## LoisLane (13 May 2009)

I'm in the process of first-time buying too and finding this bit between mortgage broker and solicitor the most frustrating. however, don't be afraid to just keep phoning and/or emailing your mortgage advisor for updates. make sure your solicitor is on hand to do everything quickly too - I didn't realise all the to-ing and fro-ing re contracts and mortgage offers!

good luck


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## TheBigD (13 May 2009)

> I didn't realise all the to-ing and fro-ing re contracts and mortgage offers!


Tell me about it!


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## wanagetahome (13 May 2009)

Hi, Thanks for the replies guys. well we're going through a broker but they are focusing on ICS because they gave us pre approval a few weeks ago. but this is getting very frustrating now, because we have to have it all sorted by next week, contracts signed and what not. I just hope its not a no at this point. I'll be devastated. AIB refused us today, but I'm trying not to take it personally. If we get approval, how long does it take to get everything else sorted? or how long could we expect to wait to move in, the property is ready to go.


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## NorfBank (14 May 2009)

ICS are quite reliable so you should be fine once they have received all the outstanding items. Ask your broker to confirm that everything has now been received. If you like, ask for your Approval in Principle, the ICS one will list all the items required for loan offer so you can assure yourself that everything required has been sent to the lender. To be honest if you received your AIP in mid April, you should have your loan offer by now once everything is in.

The other major hold up can be mortgage protection/life cover but it looks like your broker has initiated this.  

I would not be too worried about the contracts date, somehow I cannot see a vendor pulling out in this market. Best of luck with it.


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## wanagetahome (14 May 2009)

Thanks NorfBank. Well there's a whole new aspect to deal with today. When we got pre approval, I had done a credit check on myself and other half. I had missed a payment 2.5 years ago of 28euro 76 cents. Since then i have cleared 2 loans ( 16K and 9K) and 2 credit cards. I have never missed a payment for anything, and I had told my broker all of this when we applied initially, she said no problem at all, and we received our pre approval. today they have come back to us saying that default through the ICB of28.76 could now in fact stop us from getting a mortgage. I understand it is a default, however i did pay the money on the day with cash (it was through HFC bank for a cam corder I bought for my 21st back in 2002). I'm just devastated. The broker said now it looks like a refusal, which is now another black mark on my credit report, had we not had pre approval we would not have gone for full approval. Should they not look for bad credit at the pre approval phase?


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## NorthDrum (15 May 2009)

The developers have been putting you under pressure to close the deal!! Are you kidding me, was there a contract signed whereby you only had a specific timeframe in which to pay. This is laughable , was there a huge demand for your house


Firstly , dont panic, they havent refused you yet (according to your post), so the broker may well be trying to lower your expectations.

When you say missed payment, do you mean a loan or an overdraft facility (or credit card bill etc).? For what reason did you miss it? 


Has your broker asked you to write down exactly why there was a missed payment and details of how you rectified the problem? This is important when negotiating with Underwriters of Mortgage companies so you can put the best case forward clearly on your clients hehalve.

Has your broker notified you of your chances of getting a mortgage with anybody else!? Other companies may not take this view of this missed payment (if that is the sole reason why they are considering declining your application). Did you ask them to approach other mortgage companies straight away to get an idea as to whether or not you would get a mortgage with somebody else. At this stage it would take another month or so to get the deal through, but can any builder in the current climate afford to pull out of a deal of a sold house!! (this would give you an indication of how serious ICS are about not giving you the loan, if the broker said, its not worth doing that, then I would of thought that they know its just a bump on the application process and can be sorted).

Lastly, I normally get a life Assurance policy ready to go at an early stage. The reason being medical information can seriously delay a mortgage application. When a life policy is ready to go, you dont have to activate it until the mortgage is being drawn down. It just means that it doesnt hold up the mortgage application. 

Hang in there, I know its the most stressful thing trying to move and get all the bits and bobs sorted, but you havent been refused yet.


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## Lilly2099 (15 May 2009)

May I ask whereabouts your broker is based? 

We went to buy a house in 2007 via a broker and had a very very similar situation to yourself where we had pre approval etc and had paid deposit. Anyway after a lot of chasing a broker who had gone on holiday leave and sick leave and then refused to answer calls, we were turned down. It almost destroyed me with disappointment! However we got deposit back went on a holiday and then went for a mortgage on a different house in 2008 directly through the building society, it was a much faster process and we are over a year in the new house now. Just to say not to fret it will all work itself out.


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## wanagetahome (16 May 2009)

Thanks everyone, 

I know it's not no yet, but at the same time, she was pretty positive up until the point when they brought this delayed payment to her attention again, since then she has been extremely negative and not at all hopeful. 

Northdrum, the missed payment was just not paid by the direct debit, but was paid for in cash over the counter. My broker said that HFC bank are famous for giving people bad credit for minimal reason if the direct debit was not there. So its a case of why wasn't it in my bank account, and to be honest I cannot remember, I had credit cards/ loans at the same time and never missed payments with them so why the money wasn't there I have no idea. That was literally the only black mark on either of our credit reports. 
I believe our Mortgage broker is going with ICS because she went to them for pre approval. she probably just presumed that it would be a done deal for us, because initially we were going to go for easisteps and we needed pre approval for that, so she only went with ICS then. This property came up as soon as we had pre approval and it was in the area I grew up in d16 so we decided to go for it.

i've tried to contact the estate agent, but keep missing her which is driving me crazy, because when i'm in work I just cannot take my phone, she leaves me a voice mail and then I call her back and miss her. I just hope I can convince her to ask the builders to hang on.
You recommend we organise our our life assurance now? our broker want us to use them to take it out, as they deal with Irish life, and they said that they wait until full mortgage approval is given. Maybe I'll just go for it anyway, to save time. I think I can arrange the inital phase online? 

By the way or broker is based in D 24.

i will keep you posted, and I'd like to say thank you for answering all of my questions, this is really a fabulous site.


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## NorthDrum (16 May 2009)

wanagetahome said:


> Thanks everyone,
> 
> I know it's not no yet, but at the same time, she was pretty positive up until the point when they brought this delayed payment to her attention again, since then she has been extremely negative and not at all hopeful.
> 
> ...


 
Firstly, if you apply for Life Assurance do it through your broker. Reason being Irish Life offer a price pledge to brokers (where they match the best price in the market) that they dont give to the general public.  Make sure to say that to the broker (that they are price matching the best premium in the market). 

Secondly The reason I was stating to send in an application was in the event they look for medical evidence. Perhaps your broker has discussed your medical history already and feels that you will be accepted quickly ( I go by the saying assumption is the mother of all feck ups!). If everything fell through then you dont have to take up the life assurance and you have wasted no money. But (just a but by the way!!!) if everythings ready to go and all thats left is the life cover and the life company requests medicals, it can seriously delay the application (depending on how quick the medical can be done).

Thirdly, do you know what the interest in your potential house was like!? Are there other houses similar in that area for sale. If so, then you have some sort of leverage over the builder in that he wont want this sale to fall through. He may very well be the exception to the rule, but MOST builders will give you more time to get the money together as MOST builders are struggling to offload their propertys. Most of them will be under severe pressure by the banks and will try to get you to sign up quickly more out of desperation then actual real threat to cancel the deal. (I highlighted most because theres always a possibility, unlikely as it would be,  that your builder is actually in a position to turn down a buyer of a house). If its the case that there are loads of houses nearby for sale and you cannot legally lose your deposit because the builder wants his money quicker, then you could always call their bluff and say that if they continue to put you under pressure you will look elsewhere. Remember you are the buyer and you deserve respect (although its not common where builders are concerned).

Try to keep the spirits up, I had a similar experience when I moved to Bettystown and the builder tried to feck us around. Its like the chess game of buying houses, but at this time, in general, the buyer holds all the aces . .


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## wanagetahome (23 May 2009)

Hello again, here's an update. We still haven't received mortgage approval. We have been waiting a long long time. Before we went for mortgage approval in principal I got our credit reports which our broker looked through and told us not to worry about the black mark on my credit report because it was for such a small amount and I have cleared HUGE loans and credit card bills before and since then. Anyway last thursday 15th of may, our broker called me to tell me that it was now becoming an issue with the lender. and that it didn't look hopeful for us. But that was 10 days ago now and we STILL haven't heard yes or no. I email her daily and call her every 2nd - 3rd day and she say's she's still fighting our corner for us. If the issue came up so long ago, what on earth is delaying them in giving us an official No? deep down i'm hoping that no news is good news because if they really didn't want to give us the loan, surely they would have told us last week? Does anybody have any advice? as we were due to 'sign' yesterday (21 days was up) and our solicitor said that the developers are screaming at him to get us to sign, which he won't do without approval obviously. I just wish we knew either way now, because I'm having trouble sleeping and feel sick with the worry.

Thanks guys


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## TheBigD (23 May 2009)

That seems an excessively long time. It should only take a matter of days for them to turn around your application. It's not like their swamped. 

And I wouldn't worry too much about the developer either, doubt he has people queuing up right now.


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