Shopping Around? Beware of the damage this can do!! (Other Comments)

Member Name: rachelmerrey

Product:	Other Comments
Date:	09/03/01 (94 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: shopping around helps get the best deal.

Disadvantages: Its a minefield if you don't know what you are doing.

For all you First Time Buyers looking for that special deal, beware of the term 'Agreement in Principle' or 'The Promise' as some lenders term it.
This is especially important if you are enquiring around Estate Agency Mortgage Advisers.
The term Agreement in Principle means that a lender is willing to lend you the mortgage you are after once they have checked your credit history out through a credit reference agency either Experian or Equifax.
When they do this they leave a footprint on your credit history to say they have been there, it does not state why though.
Imagine that you have been around 5 or 6 lenders and you have allowed them all to do this, your credit history is now splattered with footprints. There comes a point at which a lender will go in, see all these footprints and alarm bells will go off as they will believe that you are intending to take out credit left right and centre. The result is that they turn you down for a mortgage.
The worst problem comes with Mortgage Advisers in the Estate Agency business as they tend to work off a panel of lenders and if one refuses you they will stick you through another and another and another..until you have a huge problem and you won't even be aware of it as you may get a mortgage accepted but the next credit card you apply for will be declined.
When you have an appointment with any adviser they should be telling you this and that they will limit your credit searches to a minimum of one or at the most two. BUT many don't. Either they are too lazy or they just don't care because as long as they get you through a lender in the end they get paid and whose to know anyway?! Well now you do. Let them give you quotes,do your homework first, decide on which lender you want and then and only then permit a search to be carried out.
Remember mud sticks and these footprints can remain on your credit history for YEARS..it can affect not only your credit bu
t in some cases whether you get that dream job or not. Its suprising how much of your life can be affected by this simple procedure. Its a minefield out there, look after your personal information because if you don't it will maybe come back to haunt you one day and there will be nothing you can do about it.

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