Buy to Let Catch-22 Situation

Buy to Let Catch-22 Situation

9:21 AM, 29th July 2014, About 10 years ago 13

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I have been attempting to buy a Buy to Let property now for some time now (at least six months) but have hit an impasse.

I and the vendor have agreed a price and I have had a 75% LTV buy-to-let mortgage application approved. However, the property needs renovating – new GCH, kitchen and bathroom in order for it to be rentable and, the loan will not be advanced by my mortgage company until the work is carried out to their satisfaction.

I was initially led to believe by my solicitors (who are also acting for the mortgage co.) we could conditionally exchange contracts, I would then have 6 to 8 weeks to complete the work to so it would be in a rentable state. Once they were happy with the work, the mortgage company would then advance the loan and I would pay the deposit and complete the purchase.

However, I’m now being told by my solicitors this is not something they would recommend, but more importantly, the vendor will not agree to any work being done prior to completion. This of course means my mortgage company will not advance the loan as the works have not been carried out!

My only option according to my solicitor is to make cash purchase but I have not got enough funds.

Any advice would be appreciated.

MHS22


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Comments

Shakeel Ahmad

22:03 PM, 30th July 2014, About 10 years ago

The Lenders view is if the property is not habitable that means no rent is coming in view of this how the mortgage etc will be paid.

A friend of mine was in a similar situation, He offered to pay six months of instalment's at the time of exchange.

Bridging loan is short term borrowing, accordingly reflecting its associated cost. In the present climate this could be risky as a normal may not apprive your application for what ever quirky reasons e.g owning too many properties, not earning say £50 k per year even where earning £50k it should not be from rental income.

I suppose the crux of the matter how desperately you want a particular property & your attitude towards risk taking.

Hanif Shaikh

23:14 PM, 30th July 2014, About 10 years ago

Wow! This is my first post on this site (or indeed any property website) and was not expecting such a response.

Thanks for everyone's contributions. I think the consensus is that there are no good options for me which do not involve additional expense and time.

One option I've considered is to get a 'Further Loan' to my mortgage which is on my residential property. I've spoken to my mortgage company and they have agreed in principle the sum I'm looking for (and I have told them what the purpose of the loan would be). And use the further loan monies for a 'cash' purchase. Refurbish as necessary and then use BTL mortgage offer I already have to repay the further loan.

Neil Patterson

9:29 AM, 31st July 2014, About 10 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Hanif Shaikh" at "30/07/2014 - 23:14":

Hi Hanif,

With your plan B you will need to start again with the BTL offer as it will now be a remortgage and offers also expire.

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