What is a Military Mortgage? 

The term military mortgage is used quite often, but there is no specific mortgage out there that’s geared just to the Armed Forces. 

What we mean by a military mortgage is that some of these lenders will look more favourably on the military because they are transient and serve overseas frequently. Therefore, we gear our mortgages to those specific lenders. 

How do you apply for a Military Mortgage? 

1. The first step is to contact us, fill out a form and we will get a hold of you. 

We discuss what your requirements are, and start to give you advice on where to go. As an independent Mortgage Broker, we do all the work for you. 

1. We will conduct a financial review with you. This will discuss your circumstances, your income, your expenditure, any past credit problems, employment details, and how long you’ve got to serve. 
2. We will search that marketplace to establish what we believe is the best deal for you, and provide you with written illustrations. These are created as PDF files to enable you to read them in your own time. 

We will go through all the documentation with you step-by-step. We’re always here to answer any questions that you might have before we start the process of going forward with a mortgage.

What mortgage assistance is available for military personnel in terms of fees? 

When we look at fees, this very much depends on the lender you’re going to and the type of mortgage scheme that you’ve chosen.

Some lenders will charge a fee for the mortgage to get the keenest interest rates. often these can be added to the loan. If you’re buying a property, you’ve got to think about solicitors fees that will be charged. 

These are usually charged on completion of the mortgage but solicitors might charge you up to about £300 in advance, to pay for disbursement. These are usually instructed at outset as they are currently taking up to 6 weeks to be returned. 

We are here every step of the way:

As previously stated, your broker provides you with full paperwork, a full mortgage quote, or an illustration. This outlines every fee you will need to pay, from solicitors fees, and stamp duties to lenders fees, and broker fees. 

You will see this documentation ahead of applying, to ensure you are fully happy and informed before you proceed.

What if I’m deployed? 

There are two parts to this question:

1. You’re currently deployed when you apply for the mortgage

 In this case, we’ve got different ways in which we can communicate with you while you’re overseas, via the methods mentioned previously. 

1. You get a mortgage and then you’re deployed. Not only deployed on an operational tour but more likely posted. 

In this case, you can apply through a lender for a Permission to Let. This means the lender will let you, let the property out, knowing that’s still your home. This is while you are working overseas but you can reoccupy the house once you are back.

Your lender won’t make any charges for you because you’re in the forces. Whereas civilians have to pay the lenders extra interest rates, and convert their mortgage to a Buy to Let or pay a fee for this. Generally, in the military, you get this free of charge from your lender.

Is it important for me to register on the electoral roll, even though I registered to vote by post?

Yes definitely. The importance of registering on the electoral roll hasn’t always been mentioned at briefings before being deployed at DACs and RACs or at annual G1 Financial briefings.

What happens is, when we serve, we sign up for a postal vote. This enables us to vote in any UK election, but it doesn’t help towards your credit score. Everyone where possible should ensure they are registered on the electoral roll at a given location.

For PAD’S, the process if you are in a UK SFA address is simple, but Singlies, we advise that if you’re not able to register on camp, instead register at your parent’s address. This way, you’re starting to build a credit profile. It will be much easier to negotiate with lenders, and saves you time in the long run. 

Closing down accounts: 

One of the biggest problems we have with people that are posted all over is that they don’t close down their accounts before they leave. For example, something as simple as a mobile phone communication bill, that gets posted out to your address. 

You’ve moved overseas, and you haven’t paid your mobile phone bill. These companies will then chase you and they will take it to court. They will issue what’s called a ‘default’ because you’ve defaulted the credit agreement. The case might even go to a county court judgment, and at this stage, we are stuck. 

We’ve worked with so many people that haven’t been aware of their bad credit ratings. We can help bad credit ratings, but you won’t be able to get a 90% mortgage, which is what most people are looking for when they first get on the housing ladder.

How can a Mortgage Broker help? 

We take the pressure away from you. Our team knows what you’re going through. We’re able to take you by the hand and lead you right through the buying process.

We can help appoint solicitors that are forces friendly. Those who are used to dealing with the Forces Help to Buy money and drawing receiving that from the MOD.  We can put everything in place, and deal with estate agents that are chasing you for your mortgage, etc. 

Everything will be passed on to us first so that you can get on with your daily routine at work and have just one point of contact.