Censeo Financial: Getting ready to buy your Shared Ownership home

Specialist brokers discuss the necessary preparations for buying a home

Introducing Censeo Financial

Censeo Financial are an award-winning mortgage broker specialising in Shared Ownership and affordable homeownership. Having been trading for over 16 years, we work with many housing associations, councils and developers and have helped thousands of first time buyers get onto the property ladder. We have access to all lenders who offer Shared Ownership mortgages and often get exclusive deals that you wouldn’t get from going to a lender direct. We strive to offer the best service possible and to find our customers the best mortgage for their personal needs saving time and money.

Understanding the purchase of a property

Buying a property is one of the biggest decisions you will make in your life, so it is vitally important that you do your homework properly before making the commitment to buy. It will not only save you time but in the long run, may also save you lots of money.

The first step is to do a quick calculation using the Censeo App. This will tell you what you can afford and roughly what your outgoings every month will be. This is available on both the Apple and Google Play stores.

It’s also worthwhile to check your credit report to avoid any unexpected surprises after you have reserved the property and applied for a mortgage. There are several credit reference agencies to choose from but the one we recommend is Checkmyfile – Trustpilot’s top ranked credit report service, which pulls together data from all four credit reference agencies.

Get your FREE Checkmyfile credit report by using their 30-day trial. Click here. If there was something you were not expecting, you have time to talk with Checkmyfile and hopefully resolve it before you need a mortgage.

Armed with this knowledge, you will then be able to do the exciting part – looking for a Shared Ownership home you know you can afford.

Once you’ve found your dream home, we recommend that you do a more detailed affordability assessment. Just go online and visit our simple-to-use online portal. This will tell you if you are eligible to buy a Shared Ownership property or not.

Next, it makes practical sense to get your finances in order. If you want to be approved for a mortgage, lenders will need lots of information from you. So, it is a good idea to set aside some time to look at all your monthly outgoings – including a realistic amount per month that you can live comfortably on. If you can, try putting together a simple spreadsheet which includes all your bills, spending, debt repayments, income sources and of course your spending on leisure activities!

At the same time, it is essential that you make sure you have sufficient funds for a deposit. Many lenders are now offering up to 95% mortgages so you only need a 5% deposit but this could still be several thousands of pounds. Either you will need to save up for this or go to ‘Bank of Mum & Dad’ for their help.

Much will then depend on two key factors – your employment status and your credit score. Having a regular income and being in full-time employment is the ideal but many lenders now recognise that thousands of people are self-employed so whilst it is harder to get a mortgage and you may not secure the best rates, it certainly isn’t impossible.

Turning to your credit score, it is important that this is sufficiently high or you may have real trouble getting banks or building societies to lend to you. Therefore, make sure that you don’t miss any payments, you aren’t carrying too much debt (unsecured loans and credit cards) and you have built up a decent length of credit history.

As you get closer to getting a mortgage, it is a great idea to sort out your paperwork as mortgage brokers will need to these in order to proceed. Six months’ payslips, six months’ bank statements, proof of residency, company accounts and copies of your passport will all be required so make sure you have them handy. If you are seeing a broker face to face, then bring them in a folder. If you’re doing everything online, then scan them and send them across.

Whether you are thinking about buying your first home, you simply want to know what you can afford to buy, or you’ve found a property but need sound financial advice always go to a specialist broker like Censeo Financial. We are established, award-winning and only do affordable.

Share to Buy is a one stop shop for affordable homes. On our website, you can search for properties, compare mortgages and find out all you need to know about alternative home-buying schemes such as Shared Ownership via our article index.