Strange Ebay sales nr.1

It's amazing what you can sell on Ebay.

We've just sold DVD of Withnail and I for £0.99 (plus £0.90 postage). Bargain, you'd think, but this is a free DVD which we got in the Sunday Times... You know the ones which come in a cardboard sleeve? I used to throw them away. Not anymore! And because it was listed and sold at £0.99 we didn't pay an insertion fee either.

So, to whoever bought it: Thank you! Another £0.99 towards the house fund!

Credit ratings

Banks only want to lend money to people who are highly likely to pay it back. But how do you know if they will count you as one of these people?

One way they judge you (and they do) is to look at your income and expences and your previous addresses (see previous blog post). Another way they judge you is to look at your credit rating and the cool thing about this is that you can check on it before they do and make sure your rating is as good as it can be.

There are three main companies to check your credit rating with: Equifax, Experian and CallCredit/Noddle. Different lenders check different credit rating companies, so it's worth you checking how you come accross with all three companies. Setting up your account with them can take some time, but it is worth it. Equifax and Experian charge you £2 for your file, but CallCredit/Noddle will get it to you for free. Something as simple as not being on the electoral roll can count against you, but by checking your credit rating, you can see anything that isn't in your favour and change it.

Find out more about Credit Ratings on Money Saving Expert.

What do the banks want?

So, say you have a deposit ready and now you are ready to deal with the banks. What will they actually want from you (apart from your money)?

Just like being prepared for a job interview, it is worth being prepared for a meeting with the bank. This includes bringing details of:
 

• Your last three years address history. No gaps please. If there are gaps, f.ex if you were living and working abroad, then bring any paperwork you have for that. The more the merrier. Banks value stability so staying in one address shows that you are a reliable tenant, so are likely to be a reliable home-owner. Moving around too much doesn't look too good, so see if you can get references from your landlord to show that you are reliable. If you have moved around for work purposes, make sure you bring employment contracts to show this.


• Your last three months payslips (it may be wise to bring more) and your last P60. If you are a contract worker or self employed, they are likely to want to see three years worth of accounts so start saving them up now. The bank will want to know that they can expect their money back so you'll need to show that your income can support the repayments.


• Your last three months bank statements. If you are applying for a morgage at the same bank where your bank accounts are, then they will be able to dig them out, but if the morgage and your accounts are with different banks, then you have to bring them. Many people (me included) have opted out of paper statements, so that means having to print out statements from my online banking account. Again, this so the bank can check your income vs your outgoings so they can make sure you can afford the repayments to them.


• Details of any loans of credit cards you have. Having loans or credit cards won't automatically disqualify you from getting a mortgage, but the bank will want to see that they will get their money back so make sure the repayments are up to date and that you haven't missed any of them. 

It may sound a bit belt and braces, but think about it. Would you lend houndreds of thousands of pounds to someone who moved address every few months for no apparent reason and who might not be able to pay you back?  Everyone has different circumstances so if you have moved around a lot or your income varies from month to month, be prepared to explain everything and back it up with more documentation. 

In this case, less is definitely not more.

Local Lend a Hand!

Most first time buyers who struggle to save up for a deposit (if this includes you, then welcome to the club!) will know that some lenders offer a 95% mortgage. Sounds great but it does mean that the repayments will be something like 6% pr month. Not so great...

However, in May 2012 Oldham Council struck a deal with Lloyds TSB to provide up to 95% mortgages on similar terms as a 75% mortgage! So the council will provide an indemnity of up to you to get up to a 75% mortgage even if you only have a 5% deposit! That way you don't have to worry if you can't save up a huge deposit and not have to worry about the monthly repayments being too much to handle. Both Oldham Council and Lloyds TSB have strict credit requirements and criteria so check out the Oldham Council website for more information and if you live in Oldham you can pop by your local Lloyds TSB branch.

And Oldham are not the only one! The other councils involved in this scheme at the time of writing are:

• Blaby District Council
• Blackpool Council
• Bristol City Council
• Broadland District Council
• Conwy County Borough Council
• Hastings Borough Council
• Luton Borough Council
• Northumberland County Council
• Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council
• Peterborough City Council
• Stafford Borough Council
• Warrington Borough Council

Check the Lloyds TSB website regularly to see if your local council has joined the list. I certainly will!

The wonders of Ebay

So, we've got an Ebay account. I can't believe we haven't thought about this before! We've got lots of stuff we don't want or use so why not sell it? So far we've sold DVD's, clothes and a shoulder bag.
After moving in together, we realised we had doubles of so many DVD's we might as well sell them. Oddly, that includes DVD's that were free in magazines and newspapers... And people will buy then off you! I'm almost sad I threw away all my old Glamour magazines now. Maybe someone would have bought them too!
I've also sold some clothes that were given to me in birthday and christmas presents. They are too small and not really my style anyway. I've got a big bag of them and they are just taking up space in the boiler cupboard.
So far we have almost £50 in the kitty from stuff we don't want.