Mortgage gym (A review)

Who are Mortgage gym?

Mortgage gym are a mortgage broker in the UK and to be a mortgage broker they must be regulated by the FCA.

You can check if Mortgage gym are authorised to provide mortgage advice by searching the FCA register.

You should see Mortgage gym mentioned on the FCA register by either their brand name “Mortgage gym” or their registered company name which you can find on their website.

The role of Mortgage gym:

If you are currently looking to buy a home then Mortgage gym may be able to assist you in finding a suitable mortgage product that meets your financial needs.

Before Mortgage gym proceed with providing you any assistance they will inform you through an initial disclosure documents of how they operate, if they charge any mortgage fees, if the offer mortgage protection or general insurance products, if they have any deals with any mortgage lenders, if they cover a whole of market in regards to mortgage lenders they could offer you, Mortgage gym may also inform you if there are specific mortgage lenders they can’t access.

Mortgage gym will also tell you if they are a specialist mortgage broker and deal with a niche area of the mortgage market such as:

• Bad credit mortgages
• Self-employed mortgages
• Complex income mortgages
• New build mortgages
• Shared ownership mortgages
• Help to buy mortgages
• Buy to let mortgages
• Commercial mortgages
• Mortgages with DMP (debt management plans)
• Mortgages with CCJs etc

To do this Mortgage gym will undertake a mortgage fact find to understand your current financial position and your future financial plans.

The mortgage fact find will include providing information about:

• Your income
• Your expenses
• Your current debts or credit obligations
• Your credit history
• Any property you own
• Dependants you have
• Your current employment
• Your future financial plans
• Your current financial plans
• Any government schemes you are eligible for
• Any government relief programmes you feel you may be eligible for
• On your current property (if you own one)

After assessing and understanding your financial information Mortgage gym will likely then provide you with mortgage advice which is covered by the financial services compensation scheme up to £85,000.

Mortgage gym will then seek your consent and then look to get you a mortgage agreement in principle from the mortgage.

A mortgage in principle will allow you to appear more serious to potential sellers and will likely give you an edge over other potential buyers who don’t.

Once you have found a property that you like you would then go back to Mortgage gym who will then look to get you a mortgage offer from a mortgage lender who meets your needs considering the property you have found.

Once you get a mortgage offer, Mortgage gym will then work with the mortgage lender and your conveyancer to ensure you are able to exchange contracts and complete on the mortgage.

Once you have completed your mortgage Mortgage gym will hold your date typically for a further 6 years and may likely recontact you when a remortgage is due.

Questions you should ask Mortgage gym:

• Do Mortgage gym charge a broker fee?
• Do Mortgage gym cover the whole of market mortgages?
• Do Mortgage gym offer mortgage protection?
• Do Mortgage gym offer a panel of conveyancers?

Are you a first-time buyer considering a mortgage?

Have you considered these first-time buyer schemes?

• Lifetime ISA- gives you a government bonus of £1,000 if you save the maximum £4,000 a year.
• Help to buy ISA- gives a maximum bonus us £3,000 if you save the maximum allowed of £12,000. Before you get either you should consider which is better. Lifetime ISA vs Help to buy ISA.
• Help to buy equity loan- gives you up to 40% as a 5-year interest-free equity loan. You begin to pay interest at 1.75 % after the fifth year and 1% plus RPI for every year thereafter.
• Shared ownership- You can buy between 25% to 75% of the property initially with a shared ownership mortgage and then buy more using a staircasing mortgage.
• Armed forces help to buy- similar to the help to buy equity loan but specific for the armed forces personnel giving them an increased chance of acceptance.
• Rent to buy- This is the right to buy scheme on which this guide is currently discussing. A different marketing name is just used. Watch out for this when shopping to avoid missing out on eligible properties due to confusion.
• Right to buy- allows you to buy your home at a discount price.
• Preserved right to buy– same as above.
• Right to acquire- same as above.

If you need financial advice and you live in the UK then you could contact the Money Advice service over the phone or via chat for impartial advice.

You can also contact the debt charity “Step Change” if you are in debt and need help.