Credit Card before exchange + completion
Hi there, this is a very dumb question SO please help me see reason.
Dual application, take home of £32k for me and £13k for partner.
Currently have an official offer for £135k loan on a FTB house. At the time of the application, I had around £2.5k in credit cards which I had full intended to pay off by the time of completion. I did manage to pay this off. On top of this I have a personal loan of £215 a month. My partner has a credit card debt of £500 and a personal loan of £85 a month. Neither has ever missed payments and we’ve both kept up with every bill and commitment we’ve ever made. Practically clean record.
However, we’ve been waiting for our seller’s new build to be built and during that time, we have had no end of trouble in our rented flat (broken appliances, furniture etc.) which our landlord is unwilling to help fix and has since accrued extra living costs, and on top of that, our dog has had a medical emergency (he is fine, he decided that he can fly and also hurt himself in the process). I am hoping to get my money back one way or another (insurance). But as a result, my credit cards have gone up to £4.6k.
I am incredibly stressed over this, because it was nice to have no credit cards debt for like a month. But also, I don’t want to jeopardise our mortgage at all, especially because now (after many, many months of silence) is the time we are discussing completion dates. So, Sod’s Law is that I can’t pay off the credit cards in time.
Our offer has no special conditions to pay our credit card debts off, and our broker has said (and shown) we were approved up to £200k based on our circumstances on declaration. So, our requested lending is quite a way under anyway, but I’m still incredibly paranoid.
I have looked into a debt consolidation loan/personal loan to cover my existing loan of £215 a month and my credit cards, and it would be £197 a month if I cleared it all off using this. So, then I would have no credit debt and my personal loan payments actually go down instead. However, I also know that taking out new credit can get you in a lot of trouble and possibly get your mortgage offer revoked. Which is the last thing that I want to do.
So, to stop my mind from going insane with panic and stress, what’s the best thing for me to do right now? Do I just leave it and hope for the best? Notify our broker? Do the loan? A mix???
Urgh, I’m sorry if this is rambling and stupid. First time buyer panic is truly the worst and I don’t know if I’m acting so stupid or not. I desperately need to get out of this rented flat lol thanks for your patience, I do appreciate it. Please be kind - I know I’m not the best with money.