Holiday Home Mortgage Broker � Do I Need One?

Thinking of buying a holiday home? Very exciting isn�t it! Have you got a few hundred thousand pounds in your bank account? No? Then you�ll need to look for a holiday home mortgage. That�s the less exciting bit.

When looking for your holiday home mortgage there are two main ways you can proceed:
1. You can go direct to your bank or building society.
2. You can look for a holiday home mortgage broker.

The problem is that if you try to obtain a holiday home mortgage direct from your bank or building society, you will usually find it isn�t altogether straightforward.

� Not all lenders are willing to offer mortgages on holiday homes, although the number of lenders who will is increasing. Some types of holiday home will only attract a mortgage from a specialist lender. In most cases, your bank or building society will only have access to their own mortgages or to a small panel of lenders. A holiday home mortgage broker who has access to the whole market will usually be able to find a lender who will consider your request.

� Lenders on holiday homes will usually only lend 70-80 per cent of the value of the property, so you need a large deposit. Often, the larger the deposit you provide, the better the rate you can negotiate. However, if you�re not used to it, it�s quite hard to do the negotiating yourself. If you use a holiday home mortgage broker, you can have the negotiating done for you, and you have a much better chance of securing the most advantageous rate.

� If you are like most people, you will already have a mortgage on your first home. So you need to be very careful about over-extending yourself. There are pros and cons on both sides about getting a repayment versus an interest-only mortgage for your holiday home. A repayment mortgage would hasten the day when your holiday home was your very own, but could you afford repayments at that level? A holiday home mortgage broker would be able to assess your exact situation and provide the right advice.

� The cost of the �conventional� type of holiday home is escalating out of many people�s reach. There are alternative types of holiday home that cost less � such as log cabins or holiday park homes � but only a small number of specialist lenders will provide mortgages on them.. You really need a holiday home mortgage broker to find the right lender for you.

Buying a holiday home can be great fun, or it can be frustrating and stressful. You really want it to be as much fun as possible. Using a holiday home mortgage broker can iron out the hassles and make it much more likely that you will enjoy your holiday home from the very beginning.