The word mortgage actually comes from the old French mort gage which means “death pledge” – cheery! This language described a liability that dissipated either when payment was made, or when the borrower died. Not miles away from what a mortgage is today.

Today, a mortgage is a long term loan that is ‘secured’ against your home. The security element of the mortgage is important, because it enables lenders to risk lending you more money over a longer period, knowing that if you fail to keep up payments, they can take ownership of and sell your home to get back the money they’re owed. 

We’re pretty confident that if you’re at least 20 years of age, have a sustainable income that can support mortgage payments, a reasonable deposit, and have found a property in Wales or further afield that would make good “security” (see above), then a mortgage can be found for you.

The rate you get, and the type of mortgage you qualify for will depend on how safe a bet you are to a lender. That is, the better your income, the bigger your deposit, the more saleable your property, the more likely you are to get approved on some of the best rates. 

When you think you need a mortgage, the first step is often looking online or arranging in person or online appointments with mortgage lenders such as banks or building societies.

It can take a while to get an appointment to speak to someone, and the process can be complex and time consuming. Provided you’ve got a deposit, a mortgage broker could to help you get a mortgage approved quickly, and unlock more options.

Before sending off your mortgage application, your mortgage broker in Cardiff will have checked over your case in detail. Most of the time, they’ll be pretty confident that your mortgage application will be approved, and if they’re not 100% confident, they should let you know before it gets submitted.

Once the mortgage application is sent off, the lender will review the information that’s been provided in addition to evidence such as your bank statements and pay slips. Once they’re satisfied that you can keep up monthly mortgage payments, they’ll make sure the property is suitable and produce your mortgage offer. 

Our initial consultation is always fee free, so there’s nothing to lose. 

When you talk to mortgage brokers in Cardiff, like us, you’ll have an opportunity to determine any issues that might come between you and the home of your dreams at the earliest possible opportunity. This gives you a chance to fix them before it’s too late. 

Like with any service you receive, there is an advantage to working with an expert who is familiar with your local area. For example, our Wales based brokers know about new homes and developments in Cardiff – from Plasdwr to Penarth.

You might find we’ve already arranged mortgages for clients on the development you’re looking to buy. This avoids wasting time because we can avoid lenders that don’t like certain sites – particularly if they’re overexposed (have lent too much against property in that area).

Our systems are designed to work most efficiently when we give advice remotely. So yes, we can help you wherever you are in the UK. Naturally, being mortgage brokers in Cardiff , a lot of our business does come from the Cardiff area, and we feel we can add most value to our Wales based clients. 

We’ve definitely noticed over the past 5 years or so, that more and more people are moving to Newport, Cardiff and South Wales in general from Bristol or beyond. Cheaper property, easy access to the M4 and main train lines make Cardiff and Newport in particular convenient for commuters.

We’re mortgage brokers in Cardiff and Usk, both only about 15 minutes from the M4, but we think the key draw to South Wales are the beautiful beaches as near as Barry Island, and the stunning Brecon Beacons, a place of outstanding natural beauty. 

The first thing to prepare is a list of questions you’d like to ask your mortgage brokers in Cardiff. For example, ‘what lenders can you access’, ‘what are your fees’ or ‘are you regulated’.

You’ll also have some questions to ask yourself, like ‘how much can I borrow?’ or ‘how much deposit will I need?’.

At Exley Financial Planning, we’ll tell you exactly what you’ll need to do to prepare for your meeting with us. Our online fact find portal is where you’ll tell us about you and your circumstances, and we’ll send you a ‘shopping list’ of documentary requirements. This would often include bank statements, payslips and photo ID.