Autism awareness blogger Jade offers her tips

Earlier this year we worked on an advertorial with Jade, a blogger who specialises in mental health and autism awareness on her lifestyle blog, Jade Marie. Her blog post was all about education on how to reduce anxiety, something she feels when dealing with important situations such as getting a mortgage or buying her first home.

We learnt from the reader comments regarding her article that the tips were helpful and we wanted to share them via our blog, The Hub, as part of our Doing The Right Thing initiative which includes helping in our local communities and supporting our members when they're applying for one of the largest transactions they’ll ever deal with.

“Being an adult is confusing, stressful and full of moments where you just want to build a pillow fort and hide in it. For me, one of the most confusing and stressful parts is applying for a mortgage. It’s just not something that they teach you about in school. For me, there seemed to be this assumption that these are things your parents would teach you, but the problem is not everyone’s parents know how to do these things themselves", says Jade.

"My autism isn’t a fan of unknown situations, which is why on top of all the research into mortgages, I’ve also been looking into what I need to do for my mortgage appointment, and how I can reduce my anxiety when going to them."

Over to Jade for her top tips on dealing with anxiety when it comes to a mortgage appointment.

1. Choose the right style of appointment and prepare

Appointments are something that cause me quite a bit of anxiety to begin with, as I never know how I’ll be feeling from one day to the next, let alone a few weeks down the line. Here are some things that from personal experience I’d recommend trying.

See if there is an appointment type to suit your needs. With Mortgage Advice Bureau there's the option of both face to face, phone and in branch appointments.
Explain your situation to whomever your appointment is with, they may have more understanding than you originally thought and this may relax you slightly.
Write down any questions you want to ask before you head to your appointment and take notes on what’s being said during the appointment if you think you may forget anything.

2. Get your documents together

If there’s one thing I can’t do, it’s leave things until the last minute. I’m one of those people that if I have an appointment at the end of the week, I’ll be ready by the start of the week. Being organised helps reduce my anxiety as everything I’ll need will be ready and in one easy-to-find place.

For a mortgage appointment there are a few things they will always ask you for, such as;

The value of the property you want to buy or an idea of what price range you’re looking at
How much of a deposit you have saved up
Your last three months’ bank statements as proof of affordability
The last three months’ payslips if you work in a PAYE job or 2-3 years’ worth of accounts if you’re self-employed
Proof of ID for each person applying (a passport, full or provisional photo driving licence, EU national identity card or a blue badge for example)
Ask when making the appointment if anything else is needed

Better to be over-prepared than under, and start to panic when they ask you for something you don’t have!

3. Take someone with you

It doesn’t matter how old you are, taking someone with you to an appointment for moral support and to help you understand anything new is always a good idea. If you have someone who either owns their own home or understands how the process works, having them with you at the appointment could make things a little easier.

4. Plan your route beforehand

As with any kind of travel, if I’m going somewhere new I try and scout out the place beforehand. If it’s close I will normally go and have a look around, but sometimes I’ll just look at the area and how to get to it using an online map instead.

If you decide to have a physical appointment this might be something to consider doing, especially if you can’t take someone with you. I would also recommend having a backup route planned too, just in case there are road closures on the day.

5. Get there in plenty of time

Being late is a sure-fire way of setting off my anxiety, and even just thinking about it makes my palms sweat. As such, I always try to set off earlier than I need to, especially if I’m going somewhere that isn’t exactly local to me. I usually end up going in at least an hour early and just popping for a cup of coffee. Not only does this help me relax and mentally prepare before the meeting, but it also means that I’m not rushing around panicking if things don’t go to plan.

Mortgage Advice Bureau

We have two options for members to speak to us about Mortgage Advice Bureau mortgage advice. Firstly, a face-to-face branch appointment can be arranged or an over the phone appointment is also an option. Qualifying members of The Nottingham may also benefit from reduced mortgage advice fees.

YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE

There may be a fee for mortgage advice. The actual amount you pay will depend upon your circumstances. The fee is up to 1% but a typical fee is 0.3% of the amount borrowed.

Last updated on: July 29, 2021

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