Can I get another mortgage?

[Georgie2011]

I think I know the answer to this one - but will try anyway.

Jointly bought a one-bed apartment at top of market for €350k. Have repaid €50k of it (18yr term left) and think it's currently worth €200k (optimistic). This leaves us with approx €50k Negative Equity each.

We have a combined income of just over €190k and are getting married this year. We plan to rent the apartment out next year and either
(a) rent a house
(b) if we got another mortgage of €350k, buy a home.

We have €40k in savings and no other debt.

Am I wasting my time going to a bank to ask this question?
All advice sincerely appreciated.

 

[corkmike]

Firstly to me it looks like you have negative equity of 100k and not 50k.
If you sell the apartment you will have 100k of a mortgage to take over and you will more than likely be able to get a bigger house now with a nicer sized mortgage now. A mortgage of 350k originally for an apartment just goes to show the bubble we had.
If you have good jobs i.e. stable and your income level looks really good and you have no repayment problems I think you will be in a good position to discuss it with the bank.
We have to remember that even though we are in a bad place economically as a country, life still has to go on and banks are still doing business with people in good permanent jobs.
Regards
Mike

 

[Daisy09]

I would say that you are in a very good position. Having a joint income of nearly 200k would make you strong candidates plus having 40k savings.

 

[stephnyc]

be careful about buying only what you can afford - when both incomes are taken into account, you may be approved for a mortgage based on a multiple of that - however if circumstances change (having children, for example) you should also anticipate how you might afford the repayments if you only had one wage for a while

just thought I'd mention this, in case it is relevant, as we bought based on both salaries, and now, having had a child we both HAVE to work to keep up our mortgage repayments. Yet, you would think having good salaries we would have more choice not less