I seem to be getting into a habit of doing these posts once every two months so there is actually quite a bit to update you all on regarding the house/mortgage situation but also nothing at all to really update you on – grab a cuppa, it’s going to be a rollercoaster!
A Quick Catch-Up
Last time I posted I had just gone back to work after being on furlough – we knew I wasn’t going to be made redundant, we had set the goal of saving £10k towards our house deposit/mortgage costs but we still didn’t know if we’d be in a position to buy anytime soon. That all changed in October and thanks to some loose ends getting tied up we were in a position to apply for a mortgage and try and get things done before the stamp duty relief disappears (which will save us around £6.5k). By the end of October, we had a mortgage in principle agreed and everything was working out better than I had expected – the one goal we’ve been working towards for 5+ years was insight and it would mean that 2021 would be a really big year for us as we would have our house, I might be able to look at leaving work to go fully self-employed and we could relax a bit.
Then Boris went and announced another lockdown and it all went to 💩
Decembers budget is done 👍
At least we’re starting off the month on the right foot with Decembers budget all done and looking good. I’m still not working to a zero-based budget at the moment but I am working on ‘paying ourselves first’ so that £7.30 is what’s left from our full-time wages after we have covered all outgoings including savings and fun money. I transfer in my self-employed earnings as and when through the month at the moment, so that green number will go up and then be filtered into savings accounts or be used to cover any miscellaneous expenses.
The Mortgage Saga
We started November with a mortgage in principle agreed with Natwest, we had a surveyor booked in to come and value the house on Monday the 9th and on Friday 6th I got a call to say they wouldn’t be coming as Natwest had cancelled our mortgage…which was the first I had heard about it.
I got on the phone to the mortgage broker to ask what the hell was going on and he explained that Natwest had cancelled a lot of peoples mortgage in-principle agreements with no explanation when Boris announced Lockdown 2.0 and the extension of the furlough scheme and he was trying to get to the bottom of it.
Let’s just note that Lockdown and the furlough extension has caused no changes to our income, I won’t be going back on furlough and I’m earning just as much (if not a bit more than I was) via my self-employed income PLUS we have more savings towards the deposit – we’re in a stronger position than when we first applied.
After 2.5 weeks of going backwards and forwards with Natwest we were no closer to an explanation but they said that because we had already had the mortgage semi-manually underwritten (apparently having 3 incomes into a 2 person household really confuses banks so they had to get a business manager to look at it?) we could appeal the decision but they would need more information from us. Originally we only had to supply 3 months statements from our joint account and my tax returns for the past 3 years but now they wanted – bank statements from Dean and I’s personal accounts, our savings account and my business account. Obviously, this is fine I can account for every penny that comes in and out of this household but it does seem a bit odd that they didn’t ask for them before?
That was nearly a fortnight ago now and they still haven’t looked at the appeal, the mortgage broker has been chasing them daily and they are blaming it on staff being on holiday. We should hopefully hear back this week with a decision.
I.AM.STRESSED
I get that there are a lot of people who are stressed when getting a mortgage sorted but literally so much hangs in the balance of this decision (that shouldn’t even have to be decided again because it was already given the go-ahead) and I can’t do anything or plan anything until we know whats going on.
If we get the mortgage approved again then that’s great, we can get the solicitors (who I’ve already paid some money to I should add) doing what they need to and have the house sorted by early next year hopefully. I can then look at going fully self-employed at some point next year and the one goal I feel like I have been working towards for the past 5+ years will have been achieved.
If we don’t get the mortgage then we are back to square one and it’s likely that we will miss out on the stamp duty relief that ends in March and it’ll mean finding even more money to put towards costs. It’d mean we can save more towards the deposit so we would then owe my parents less (they are helping us with any shortfall we have on the deposit as we are buying the house from them and them lending us a bit to cover that frees up a whole house sale of money for them) but it also means god knows how many more months of me working 60 hour weeks trying to balance full-time work and side hustles and to be honest I’m getting tired.
Decembers Side Hustle Goal – £2,020
Last months Side Hustle Earnings were really good but I’m challenging myself to see if I can do a bit better this month and hit £2,020 – it seems like a fitting number to see out the year with. I have no idea if I’ll actually be able to hit it but working towards that will distract me from stressing about the mortgage 😂
How is your budget looking for December?
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