Where to Find Your Buy to Let Mortgage

If you have made the decision to buy your first property to rent out, you are probably very excited. You have taken the first step on the road to becoming a “property tycoon”!

The next step is to decide where to get your buy to let mortgage. Do you just go to your existing lender? Do you find a company who advertise that they consider buy-to-let mortgages? Or do you look for a buy to let broker?

A lot depends on where you are buying your investment property and what sort of property it is. But you will also find there is a huge range of buy-to-let mortgage lenders and their rates vary widely. How can you be sure of getting the best deal?

• Some lenders will only lend a percentage of the purchase price - say 80% or 85%. Will this be enough for you, or will you require a larger amount?
• Many lenders of buy-to-let mortgages require to know the potential rental income as well as the purchase price, in order to decide on the amount of the loan.
• Certain lenders are very fussy about what kind of property they will lend on. For instance they may turn up their noses at premises above a shop, or an ex-council flat in a tower block. If you are interested in a property of this kind, how do you find a lender that will help you?
• Again, some buy-to-let mortgage lenders have restrictions about the type of lending you want to do. They may object to students, or any kind of multi-occupancy rental.

So if you don’t immediately find a buy to let mortgage lender who can meet your exact needs, how do you go about searching for the right one? Do you work your way through the mortgage lenders section in the Yellow Pages? Or look at all the Internet sites for mortgage lenders? Apart from being extremely time-consuming, the problem is that most of them won’t make it clear on their sites or on an introductory phone call just exactly what their rates are or what they do or don’t accept. On the whole, the best advice is to find an independent mortgage broker who offers buy to let.

The advantage of a broker in trying to find a buy to let mortgage is that the broker will have access to all the lenders in the market and will be able to make a valid comparison of rates and requirements. This will help you be sure you are finding the best deal.

Sean Horton is a Director of a buy to let mortgage broker who offer specialist advice for buy to let mortgages