www.iva.co.uk

Hello all.

Like many, I have been reading many of the fantastic posts people have submitted and the many success stories told.

I am in the forces and am into the final 9 months of my joint IVA with OH. It has been a struggle at times especially at the beginning when I was out in Iraq when this whole process was starting. Stress was very difficult in more ways than one as you can imagine.

I have looked on many posts mainly searching for success stories post IVA with regards to obtaining a mortgage (there's not many that i could find) Because of our "live life for the day" attitude pre IVA we have obviously no deposit, really regretting that now, learnt the hard way i'm afraid.

Since starting the IVA and about to hit the big 40 it has dawned on me how blinkered I was all those years ago. Yes i'm in a safe and secure....ish job but am a little concerned on getting on the housing ladder.

Once the IVA is complete we will be in a much better position to start saving, but the car will need changing pretty soon, so that will take a bit of a chunk of the money away.

Looking back on the spreadsheet we have kept running, it will take us about the same length of time to save for a decent deposit as the IVA was running. It still seems an uphill trudge for a while yet.

Has anyone had a similar experience that could offer some comforting advice, or at least tell me there is light at the end of this branch of the tunnel.

Thanks for reading this long post.

First of all -- Well done! Starting out on this journey is problematic for all of us -- but to have to deal with active service at the same time is a real extra burden.

As for mortgages -- even the "squeaky clean" are having problems at the moment. However the mortgage market might calm down a little over the next few years, while getting a deposit together. Your credit file will be K.O'd for another year and three quarters yet, in any case.

When you do get to searching for your home remember that some of the big house builders ( Bloor for one, I think) do Forces Schemes to help servicemen and women onto the property ladder.

Hi
When the time is right I would use a whole of market mortgage broker rather than approaching the High St banks.
Regards

Congrats on nearing the end. I'm in the same position but a few years behind. We can but hope the market will open up for us!

I am going to be really boring here Once your IVA is finished, sort the car out, then save crazy for the next few years - hopefully the lending policy may have altered a bit - Your IVA would have dropped off your file, and you would have had a chance to improve your credit scoring. Hopefully securing a better mortgage deal

I know its boring but see it at your next 3-4 year plan !!!!

Thanks all for your quick replies. Save like crazy, bit of a strange concept to me

Ginger, you said pretty much what I thought really. Change the car that will last for a good 5 years, and we have decided to put most of what we were putting into the IVA in a savings account (One we can't get access to quickly and with as good an interest rate as possible)

Hopefully we should be looking to save between 500-700 per month. Works out at £6000-8400 per year and £24000-37600 over four years. It sounds good looking at it that way ..mmmmmmmmmm.


Just can't wait for the whole thing to be over, getting excited now. Big kid I know

Thanks again.

Bear in mind that your credit file should be clean a year after your IVA is over so you can source a High Street mortgage. Some ask about IVAs and others do not so a good broker would be an asset. The advantage of this is that you would not need a massive deposit nor be hit by penal rates so you may not need to wait for a further four years.

Perhaps two saving accounts - one you can most of the money into and a Instant access - where you save say £100per/month in case of emergency.

You find saving money is a strange concept to most of us before we had to deal with the debt issue, however the postive bit is - you wont want to go down the IVA route again !!!!

Best of Luck

Thanks Michael,

I will bear that in mind when the time comes.

Ginger,

We have an instant access ISA which we will use for emergencies and the like when the time comes. The bank will wonder what's going on when they start seeing that start to build up again It's looking pretty sad at the moment.

As for the deposit for the mortgage, we are quite fortunate that the Forces currently offer help with obtaining mortgages and deposits. Not sure if they still will in the future with all the cuts and so forth.

Will have to wait and see the options when the time comes.

Cheers!!

hy we have 6 payments left and like you feel we have come such a long long way ! cant wait for 1 august!

Michael - I was under the impression that everyone needed a good deposit these days, even those with squeaky clean credit historys.

I have heard that even 20% deposit isn't really enough. When we come to start looking for a house, we have a budget some where around £170,000 ish. Or in mortgage terms about £900 per month, but that would be the max i would think. Also have to bear in mind if, sorry when interest rates go up that will have to be taken into account.

It's all scary stuff when you get to my age and still a first time buyer.

2 weeks time and 8 payments left, not that i'm counting

I am glad that I already have a house even though I won't be able to remortgage. Our payments are over £1k per month and that's before the interest rate goes up!

At least it will be almost paid off by the time we finish the IVA - would have been sooner if HSBC hadn't convinced us to take out a further advance.

Hi Andy

When the time comes - you may want to fix the rate for a few years.

Be realistic - you want get that detached house with swimming pool (well not just yet):-) just find an area you both really like and be happy there thats more important.
You would not be the first to have to settle for a apartment/flat for a few years.
As you are in the military - you may not have all those things of your own that you need right away cooker/fride/bed etc etc -so allow some money for that