How I Got My Mortgage As A Self-Employed Person
I wanted to share my story with you as a self-employed person on how I got my self-employed mortgage and the struggles I went through. Now back in 2015, my business had a successful year. My April 2015 company accounts were showing decent company profits. And with my daughter Amelie starting school in September, we knew that it was the right time to move home so that we could settle ourselves for the next 10 to 15 years while our children go through schooling.
I did what most people are likely to do and went straight to my bank who was my current mortgage lender. I asked how much I could borrow. What I found was that they were averaging my income over the last two years as a limited company business owner. They were only using my salary and my dividends from the business. Now previously when I got a mortgage in 2006 and 2011, I got what was called a Self-certified Mortgage. All I did was sign a piece of paper to say how much I earned, and the mortgage was going to be affordable. But then the credit crunch hit, and as a result, they brought in the Affordability Model and completely changed the industry in the way they calculate how much you can borrow.
I was a limited income director. My wife is a Sole Trader, and we just found that the mortgage lender was not catering to our circumstances. I’ve been in the mortgage industry since 2003. So, I’ve seen many changes over that period, but, being a bit of a dog with a bone, I knew that there must be an alternative solution. I took to the phones, and I found almost 180 lenders over three or four days to discuss their criteria and look at how they assessed affordability so that I could find myself the best terms possible. What I found was an absolute plethora of lenders that would consider net profit, would just look at salary, look at dividends, would consider the latest year rather than averaging me over two which was really having an impact on the amount that I could borrow.
After assessing my data, looking at the documentation that the mortgage lender wanted, going through their criteria with a fine-toothed comb, identifying the right terms for me and my family for the future, I was able to submit a mortgage application to the lender that was suitable to my circumstances. Within 17 days of fighting, my PA and I had got the mortgage offer for my family to enable us to double our mortgage and move it into our dream home which we did roughly three months later.
The key thing is I understand what you’re going to have to go through as a business owner. I understand the questions mortgage lenders are going to ask. Three years on from that move, I’ve spoken to thousands of business owners just like you, from Sole Traders to Limited Company business owners, to contractors, to high net-worth individuals, people who are buying £1.5 to £2 million properties with multi streams of self-employed Limited Company business income. I’ve started to take that information, and from the hundreds of applications we’ve had success with, I’ve put it into my book The Self-Employed Mortgage Guide. The one key thing that I have learned is that it all comes back to preparation.
If you would like to reduce the levels of stress, if you would like to set yourself up for success, if you would like to buy your dream home in the next two to three years, starting with the end in mind and knowing that you need to earn x amount in two years within your company accounts within your SA302s, making sure that you’re tax efficient, then it’s all about preparation. If this is something that you would like help with, and you would like to have self-employed mortgage success, then please get in contact with active.mortgage.
Here is what to do next:
Alternatively, you can download a copy of, the Seven Mistakes that Business Owners and Entrepreneurs Make When Getting Their Mortgage, and that will put you into an email sequence that will keep you updated on how you can prepare.
Or you can go to Amazon and buy a copy of my book, The Self-Employed Mortgage Guide – The Self-Employed Mortgage Guide
P.S. When you’re ready here is how you can get help from us:
1. Grab a free copy of our eBook 7 Mistakes Business owners and Entrepreneurs Make That Could Jeopardise Your Mortgage. Avoiding these mistakes will have a big impact on your change of mortgage success, getting your dream home or reduced monthly payment.
2. Join our Facebook group, The Self-Employed Mortgage Community with Gary Das. This community is about building your business, networking (relationship building as I prefer to call it) and personal development with a focus for lifestyle, making money, property, and mortgages!
3. Request a call back. If you are ready to start your property journey, we would love to talk to you! Click here to request a call back.
