Published: 5 December 2024
Seen a property on the market that you’d like to buy? Great news – but before you can close a deal, you’ll need a mortgage offer. Not sure how mortgage offers work? We’re here to clue you up on what the mortgage offer process involves…
What is a mortgage offer?
There are lots of things to consider when applying for a mortgage, and getting a mortgage offer is one of them!
Mortgage offers provide the confirmation that a building society or bank will lend you the money needed to buy a home that you’ve completed a mortgage application for.
One thing to note is that formal mortgage offers can only be provided when you’re interested in a particular property. So, you can’t get an official mortgage offer without a property in mind.
How long does a mortgage offer last?
Mortgage offers are valid for a fixed period, but this timescale will depend on the lender you’ve applied with.
For example, when you apply for a mortgage offer with us, it’ll remain valid for six months from the time of offer. But this will vary from lender to lender, so make sure you check (and make a note of) the date of the mortgage offer.
The offer can sometimes be extended too, like when a sale is taking longer.
The extension length will depend on the lender and it isn’t guaranteed it will be extended. We’ll usually extend an offer for up to six months but this can be subject to a new credit check and document review if you’ve taken out any new/additional credit. After all, this would need to be factored into affordability, which could potentially reduce your total loan amount. If the offer expires, it’ll need to go through the application process again.
How long does it take to get a mortgage offer?
When it comes to receiving the mortgage offers you’ve applied for, USwitch estimates that it takes around two to four weeks (on average) to receive one.
It can also be quicker than this timescale, but this depends on the time it takes a lender to review your mortgage application, as well as how complex it is. For instance, you might be asked further questions regarding your application, or asked to provide and send extra documents. So, if this is the case, it could take a little longer to receive your mortgage offer.
How to get a mortgage offer
To get a mortgage offer, you’ll need to go online and fill out a mortgage application with the lender you’ve chosen. Once you’ve completed this, the lender will start reviewing your mortgage application. While this happens, you might be asked to send requested documents to the lender, as well as answers to additional questions. This is to help the lender see if you’ve met their affordability criteria, which is usually based on things like credit and income checks.
Lenders usually organise a valuation to be carried out by a third party on your chosen property, which checks for several things, such as:
• The value of the property based on others sold in the local area.
• The condition of the property.
If the new valuation of the property is valued for less money than you originally thought, this can affect the loan the lender is able to offer you. So this is something to bear this in mind.
And there you have it - you’ve learnt all about mortgage offers ready for when you buy a house. In the meantime, to help get an idea of how much you may be able to borrow, use our mortgage payment calculator. And for any other tips, visit our Home and Money page!
This guide is not to be taken as advice, and you should seek independent financial or legal advice if needed.