After spending nearly a year searching for her first property, Mai finally found the place she wanted and, after some negotiations, agreed a price with the seller.

Like many first time buyers, Mai had initially used online mortgage calculators to check what she could borrow. Now that she had a specific place in mind, she made an appointment with her bank to arrange the mortgage. After waiting three weeks for an appointment with an advisor, she was left disheartened when they declined the mortgage, based on a historic issue on her credit file. With the seller threatening to remarket the property, a work colleague of Mai’s suggested that she speak with Caenstone.

Following our initial discussion, we advised Mai on how she could get a copy of her credit file to forward to us for review. We also requested all supporting documentation so that we could review Mai’s situation in detail. The paperwork was reviewed the same day and we had a mortgage agreed in principle with a major high street lender within 24 hours of our initial conversation.

The rate we secured was also cheaper than that normally offered by her bank. We spoke with the estate agent dealing with the property to reassure the seller that finance was available to Mai and that we would be managing the mortgage process going forward. The mortgage offer was received 10 days after the application submission with regular updates being provided to both Mai and the estate agent.

Mai got the keys to her first home just five weeks later.