Finance Wanted.

By Kim M Clarke

House prices today have been described as being extortionate. In fact the average house price is about ฃ180,000 which is about 8 times an average persons salary. Whilst those that have been lucky enough to get onto the property ladder in the early days when it was possible to get a mortgage and still have money in your account, nowadays many people are struggling to save up enough of a deposit to put down on a mortgage, let alone borrow the large amount of money that will actually allow them to buy a house or flat.

All mortgage lenders are happy to provide a joint mortgage. The incomes of each applicant are combined and then multiplied by a figure to come to the total amount they are willing to offer you. Most lenders will times this total figure by two and a half times the amount, but some will often multiply it by three and a half times the amount. If a married couple have a combined salary of ฃ40,000 they could borrow anywhere between ฃ100,000 and ฃ140,000 for a property.

Deposit

Having more people save up for a deposit towards their mortgage can be so much easier than one person trying desperately to save by themselves. Having 2 people saving ฃ2500 each is much easier than one person trying to save up ฃ5000 for a deposit on a property. The bigger the deposit you can put on a mortgage, the more money you could borrow to buy a better house.

Borrow more money

By combining the incomes of 2 or more people, the mortgage lender will be able to offer you a larger amount of money. Joint mortgages could help you buy a larger property with 3 or 4 bedrooms which could even give you the opportunity to rent out an extra room to help cover mortgage costs. One person with an income of ฃ25,000 won't be able to borrow much more than ฃ87,000 and may struggle to find a property for this price, whereas 3 people with a combined salary of ฃ70,000 could borrow anywhere up to ฃ245,000 between them all.

Joint ownership

Having a mortgage is a big financial responsibility and for some the burden may feel too much. It can feel more comfortable sharing such a large commitment with someone you know and trust.

Location, Location

By joining forces with your partner, husband, wife or friend you can open up the opportunities of house buying. Lots of people now even buy with brothers, sisters and other family members to raise more finance. The benefit of this is you are more likely to be able to buy a better house in your favoured location than if you tried to buy alone.

Investing in property

There has been an increase in the number of people who want to start property development and getting a joint mortgage is a great way to enable this to happen. Although most people applying for joint mortgages are happy for it to be their home as well as an investment.

Any joint financial commitment needs to be taken seriously though and should be thought out thoroughly beforehand. Because each person named on the joint mortgage will have equal responsibility and liability for the property, it is important to have a joint agreement legally drawn up to cover for any eventualities such as separation, job losses or a change in your personal situation.

Kim M. Clarke writes for http://www.joint-mortgages.co.uk where you can get information about joint mortgages and other types of loan options available.