The Red Lion in the quaint village of Hellidon offers tasty food and a room for the night.

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Mortgage expert Tayo Oguntonade says making any sudden changes – like cancelling a credit card you don’t often use – could damage your chances of getting a mortgage application approved. Applying for a mortgage is a minefield, and your credit score is a factor that you have some control over.

Tayo is a qualified mortgage advisor and the founder of Brickz with Tipz, a website that teaches people about property. He highlighted this common first-time buyer mistake and how to avoid it.

Image credit: @brickzwithtipz

Mortgage application mistake first-time buyers often make

‘A big mistake is making changes to your credit file during the application process,’ says Tayo Oguntonade. ‘You hear of many first-time buyers, they have done all they need to do to buy their first home, and then they take out card finance which ruins two years of good work, basically.

‘When you get really close to buying your first home, when you’ve submitted your mortgage application, the best thing to do is just not tamper with your credit rating or your credit file whatsoever,’ he explains.

‘It’s quite interesting because there are people who will do stuff with good intentions to prove their score. Right at the last minute, they might cancel a credit card that they’re not using.

Image credit: Future PLC

‘But that can actually have a negative impact on your credit rating, especially if it’s a credit card you’ve had for a long time,’ Tayo says. This is because a credit card you’ve had for a while represents a long-lasting relationship with a credit card company.

Showing prompt repayments on credit cards is one of the many ways to improve your credit score for a mortgage. So cancelling the card can actually reduce your credit rating and damage your chances of getting accepted.

Buying a house is harder than ever for young people, so we need all the knowledge and tips we can get. People often shoot themselves in the foot by making sudden changes to their credit file, thinking it might help.

Image credit: Future Plc

‘The best thing to do, when you finally get there and you have submitted your application, just don’t touch anything!’ Tayo says. Spread the word.

The post Expert reveals a common mortgage application mistake first-time buyers often make appeared first on Ideal Home.

Spring is in the air and we are so ready to do some good old-fashioned spring cleaning and decluttering. Pro organiser and author of Create Space, Dilly Carter has revealed the one thing we need to do just that.

Given that a shocking 56% of us have rooms in our homes that are unusable due to clutter, we need her help, and Dilly recommends trying HIPPOBAGs. These are an eco-friendly alternative to a cumbersome metal skip and mean your unwanted items are disposed of properly.

Here are her top decluttering tips.

Image credit: HIPPOBAG

Expert decluttering tips for a spring clear-out

1. Clear your window sills

These can so easily get cluttered, blocking out light. ‘We want to let the light in, and see out of those windows,’ says Dilly.

The professional organiser recommends clearing your window sills completely. You’ll soon see how much better it looks with less clutter on it. ‘Now it’s empty and clean, what would you put back, what can be moved?’

2. Clean out cupboards one at a time

‘Just cleaning out your cutlery drawer and putting everything through the dishwasher will make you feel better,’ Dilly says. ‘Get rid of those tools, pens and keys.

‘Keep it just cutlery, take out the random.’

Image credit: HIPPOBAG

3. Get rid of unwanted items for good

‘There’s no excuse for holding onto your clutter when there are so many ways to get rid of it in an eco-friendly way,’ Dilly tells us. ‘There are loads of different apps, social sites and websites where you can post your unwanted items and actually make money out of your things.

‘And, if your unwanted bits aren’t in a good state or you haven’t got time to sort through them then HIPPOBAGs are a brilliant solution!’ Dilly says. These are fully recyclable skip bags that come in three handy flat-packed sizes, so they don’t take up valuable room outside your home until you need to use them.

Order them online or through the HIPPO App. Prices start at £12.49 for the MIDI Bag only or £156.99 for the MIDIBAG with collection.

Image credit: HIPPOBAG

Once you’ve filled your bag, HIPPO will take it away and ensure that over 95% of it is recycled for you. The rest will be disposed of ethically. How great is that?

We find one of the biggest obstacles to decluttering is knowing how to get rid of stuff in an eco-friendly way. According to HIPPO’s research, over one-fifth of adults in the UK feel the same.

This waste removal option takes care of all of this and prevents waste from ending up in landfills. Leaving us more time and energy to focus on persuading family members to get into the decluttering spirit.

The post The one item you need for a spring clear out, according to a decluttering expert appeared first on Ideal Home.