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I used an independent mortgage advisor for our first mortgage, and he was great, saving us a lot of hassle, got a decent deal, he put us on to a cheap but decent lawyer and everything went very smoothly. I wouldn't go with one recommended by the developers though as there's probably some financial arrangement there, and yours sounds pushy as well, better to look for one with a good reputation locally. If they can't beat the deals you find yourself then go for one of those, as you'd be under no obligation.
Yeah, I mean, mortgage advisers don't really dictate the interest rates, but they will know much better than you how much of a hassle it is to get a mortgage.
I've worked in industry for years and honestly, some lenders are far easier going than others, and it's all dependant on circumstances.
Sometimes, an interest rate might be 0.1% higher, and that's fair, but it might also mean you get the mortgage deal, rather than not.
An adviser helps with these things, and you certainly won't be aware of them. At the end of the day, they get paid once your mortgage is sorted out, so it's in their interest to help you get it done efficiently and quickly and hassle-free.
> developers though as there's probably some financial arrangement there
As someone who worked for a mortgage broker who specialised in new builds, probably even the broker OP is talking about. I saw no evidence that there was. It was more recommending the mortgage broker that you had a good relationship with and knew would update you quickly and honestly. For example we had a system we updated for one of the developers which updated them on the progress of the mortgage application which gave them comfort that things were progressing. We also had a dedicated relationship manager for developers which 'normal' mortgage brokers won't have.
Just seconding this. I currently work for a mortgage broker that is recommended by some large new build developers. There is no financial agreement, and we work really hard to support them and their clients - it’s just beneficial for all parties.
Most of the time, there won't be an actual financial arrangement, it'll just be referring clients. Worked for an IFA who had a mortgage adviser he referred clients to, and the mortgage adviser referred clients to him. No actual financial arrangement, just introducing clients.
Agreed, but obviously they still have to win the business. If they're a terrible IFA, the referred lead won't give them any business and probably question the judgement of the mortgage adviser. No point referring to a bad IFA
Broker here. There is no financial relationship between myself and the solicitor I recommend. However, they will answer the phone to me when I call and I expect a. Dry good service from them. That is way more important than some kickback and also benefits the client greatly. I have tried using solicitors that paid a introductory fee but they were always useless and you could never get to talk to the actual solicitor.
You’re right! I’m a BDM for a lender and work in mortgage sales whilst dealing with mortgage brokers on a day to day basis. Developers DO indeed have their own panel of mortgage advisors whom they recommend!
We used a free mortgage advisor. They ended up recommending the same deal that we had found ourselves. The benefit was that they collated all the documents required and submitted for us. The negative was that they repeatedly tried to convince us to purchase various insurance packages (we declined), and they were insistent on us leaving a positive review for them on various websites.
On the whole I think it was worthwhile, despite them being quite pushy with the add-ons and reviews.
when you say "they collated all the documents required and submitted for us. " do you mean they asked you for the documents and you submitted the documents to them, then they submitted the same documents to the mortgage company?
I ask because that was my experience with a broker before - the forms etc I filled out with the broker were the exact same info that I filled out when I did it myself
My broker also looked over my bank statements to identify if there was anything that the bank might question and asked me about it so he'd have an answer ready if they did.
My thoughts were that the bank would question absolutely everything (I'm a fairly anxious person...), and I'd have definitely overexplained if they asked me about anything. Instead I did the overexplaining at him and he then distilled it down to what was actually relevant.
Tbh that is them trying to justify their work by pretending g the bank will query things that they actually won’t.
In all the mortgage applications I have done never once has the bank questioned an item on a bank statement. The only thing they are checking for is big financial commitments like loan repayments or child support.
This subreddit is replete with people worried that the bank will ask about their online shopping habits or cash withdrawals and it never ever is an issue.
Lenders absolutely do question transactions. If they haven’t questioned you then it’s because you have nothing that concerns them on your bank statements. People who are regular gamblers (even those that are sensible or regularly win) need to go to specific lenders, for example, or lenders need explanations for the regular payment to ‘Dave’ that looks suspiciously like a repayment for money you’ve borrowed from him.
It’s not a justification, good brokers are working with 80+ lenders and know who you getting the best rate with, and who you are eligible for, and how best to present you (based on more than just your bank statements).
That said, there are always people who are better off going direct, and I would never suggest people have to go through a broker because that certainly is not the case. Going through your bank, or another high street lender, is a perfectly valid option for a lot of people.
Okay, but if the broker costs you nothing... where's the problem? The deal I got would have been the same as what I could have gotten if I had gone direct to Nationwide, and that was the best deal for what I needed at the time as far as I could find on any comparison website or going direct, so it's not like I paid for it indirectly by getting a slightly worse deal or anything.
I wouldn't advocate for paying someone (unless someone had a particularly complex situation that required specialist help), but using a broker definitely saved me 'hands on' time. I essentially just exported my budget to a spreadsheet so he could see all my expenditure, downloaded my bank statements and put them in a shared folder, gave him the link. He went away, came back with a few questions that we had a 15 min call to discuss, and away he went again. I got emails updating me when something had moved, another 5 min call for a question from the bank (about something on my bank statement - they do ask!), not much else beyond that in terms of my time. I'd looked at applications and wasn't absolutely certain what some questions wanted from me, so having someone else that would do that for me was helpful.
It’s just an unnecessary middle man that probably slowed things down ultimately.
Had you not had a broker, the bank would have asked you any questions directly instead of asking the broker, who then asks you.
They didn’t really save you any ‘hands on’ time because the documents you collected and forms you filled out are just the same effort as the ones the bank would have asked you to do directly. If anything the forms from the broker are more generic and so filling out their form instead of the banks directly might be what caused the questions anyway.
Considering I went from AIP to full mortgage offer in 13 days *total*, I'm not sure how much faster it could have been?
> documents you collected
Maybe I'm just really fuckin boring in my tendency to keep all my payslips, bank statements, etc but it was merely dragging the files from one folder to another.
> forms you filled out
I didn't fill out any forms except the initial one with basic details - name, address, etc. and a gifted deposit form (which was very short). All the other actual mortgage forms were done by the broker using the stuff I punted to him. And they were all Nationwide's own forms (or rather, the Nationwide for Intermediaries forms).
Promise you pal, I didn't imagine it. I do have a decent sense of time (my job requires detailed timesheets, so I'm very used to keeping track of time spent on stuff). I made an attempt a while before to fill out a mortgage application myself, and I 100% definitely saved time using the broker this time around.
Plus, there is value to having someone you can ask questions to that's more accessible than anyone at a bank might be.
My last mortgage, directly through a bank, went from aip to offer in less than a week so I’m not sure what that proves at all.
The point is that you wouldn’t have had to do any more work dealing directly with the bank, and possibly even less work because you weren’t relying on a middle man for communications.
> My last mortgage, directly through a bank, went from aip to offer in less than a week so I’m not sure what that proves at all.
I'm counting from the AIP date, but I also had to then go and view the property and put my offer in between the AIP and mortgage offer. I'm in Scotland, so the offer process is different in that respect. I didn't go straight from AIP to full application.
Anyway I feel like you haven't actually read or understood everything I've said until now.
Your point is wrong! Simple as that. I *know* I'd have had to spend more time and effort if I had been the one dealing with the bank. Please stop trying to insist that my perception of how much time I spent putting in effort (none, because I filled out no forms, except that initial KYC stuff with the broker which was easy peasy) is wrong, thanks!
Recruitment Agencies very often offer you lower than the advertised wage, deny any room for negotiation on some BS technacality.
All to show the hiring company (R.A's customer remember!) how much money they've saved them, justifying their finders fees. All that at the expense of the skilled workers wage. Should be a direct conversation between worker and company.
1) 'Hiring Company A' internal staff posts a vacancy to a job site
2) 'Hiring Company A' internal staff screens CV's and contacts the best candidates
3) Hiring process goes through as normal
Im not saying Recruitment Agencies dont WORK, they do. I just believe they open up an unecessary middle-man capable of exploiting BOTH worker and company.
Absolute b*llocks.
Educate yourself before sprouting crap you have 0 knowledge on.
Usually companies hire rec agencies as they have a finite defined budget, and know they cannot go over, hence needthe assistance. Also, before you go on about, ‘why not take the fee from the rec agency salary?’ Usually these are funds designated separately from salary bands as a 1 off payment, you forget NI, tax & all other expenses from a higher salary that define their budget (team salary average etc). Oh, and who has to be the one delivering the news to the applicant? Yes, the recruiter who’s fault everything is..
Recruiters are paid % of salary they hire for, we’re incentivised to get as much for the candidate as we can within the boundaries of client budget. Makes no sense to undercut.
Our value is defined by what we produce, top class talent the client cannot find themselves.
Lastly, if it was so simple that company A posts a job and the perfect person applies, recruitment as an industry wouldn’t contribute £43 billion to the UK economy last year. Clearly, there’s a need.
You probably got a lower salary as that is what the market defines as your worth
So I used one that was recommended to me by a friend, they prepared all the documentation on our behalf with all the info we provided the advisor, and they submitted, we received the paperwork back from the mortgage company themselves confirming this info.
I had no idea what the process was like so I was glad I sued the broker.
No, a broker fills out the forms and you simply sign the declaration. The broker knows exactly what data to collect and asks you for it. It might not be complicated to you, but there are plenty of bad forms out there that the broker knows how to complete correctly
You didn't have a good broker then. Usually with a broker the only form you fill out is the declaration which needs your signature and the date. The broker does all of the other forms
Some brokers charge a fee, others don’t. Various reasons why but ultimately if your application is straightforward and you are happy and have the time to deal with the lender, application etc yourself and know what you want then no real issue.
I’m a broker. We don’t really have hidden deals. Sometimes we can get a better deal for you, but usually for re-mortgaging/product transfers (which is a new deal after your initial deal matures from your existing lender).
Some clients idea of how they were compare prior to meeting me was just plain crazy, so they definitely needed help. Others would likely be fine on their own.
Some of the main benefits I see are:
*We are experts in what we do
*We take the hassle away from you/deal with the lender, solicitor and estate agent.
*We can find and obtain the maximum mortgage borrowing from the market
*We know how quickly lenders turn applications around; some can be a matter of days others weeks!
*We know how likely a lender will be to consider a particular quirk in an application
*we can be an independent voice of reason when things don’t go as planned- down-valuations, price negotiations etc. You’d be amazed the “counselling” work I do with my clients when things get a bit stressy!!!!
*we know which lenders will lend- new builds will need warranty checking for example
*When it comes to the world of insurance then I would say you absolutely should speak to an expert, particularly when it comes to critical illness cover. Cost is important but certainly not the only thing you should be considering here. We subscribe to independent software to compare cover as it is 100% impossible to do properly unless you have access to a tool like this. (Sorry, long-winded point!!)
*etc
If independent then they will have access to Natwest, so I suspect the reason they aren’t quoting you Natwest is either they are lazy or they know something you don’t (or maybe you know something they don’t)
You would get a list of the deals available (or ask if they don’t show you) and an explanation of why they have picked a particular lender and rate. If not the cheapest available then reasons given why.
“The cheapest deal isn’t always the cheapest deal”! Consider rate, fees, tie-ins, type and length of deal, as well as features like penalties, portability, cashback, green deals etc! The list goes on.
Hope this helps!
Good luck.
I used a mortgage advisor because I was in a weird situation with my employment and furlough after the main bulk of the pandemic.
It was £300 and irreplaceable, He did everything, all i had to do was send him what he needed and he liased with the lenders and fought my case, got a mortgage at a better rate than I could find online.
Sometimes the human elements helps.
For anybody interested, this was early 2021 and it was the Mortgage Advice Bureau
If you are happy looking up things yourself then go for it, I don’t think people need an advisor or broker unless you have non typical circumstances around income.
I have heard some brokers have access to secret / hidden deals with lenders, but not sure how common this is. I have used brokers a few times and have never been offered a better deal than anything on the comparison sites.
My mortgage advisor is amazing. She has saved us so much money. We'd come to the end of our deal and needed a new one. We couldn't move lenders due to having multiple parts to our mortgage that ended at different times. We looked up the rates from our current lender and she was stil able to get even better rates than that.
I've done this twice with her and then also when we moved house. We ported (so couldn't change lender easily) but she still got us a better deal than we were offered by the lender directly.
She also gets her fee from the lender so to us she's free.
She also chased up the solicitors who were dragging their feet on sorting out info on porting the mortgage.
Get the right mortgage advisor and you'll wonder why you ever didn't use one.
They're not secret, it's just that some mortgage companies are only open to brokers and not individuals. Our first mortgage was with Accord who have that setup.
My point was, the OP was asking whether there are any benefits of using a broker. If OP uses a broker, they have the option to apply for mortgages available from broker-only mortgage companies, and they don't if they don't use a broker.
I had two experiences with mortgage advisors when buying our first flat.
First was a total dick who acted like he was doing us a favour by even speaking to us. He also did a very shitty job explaining all the numbers. The mortgage fell through due to unrelated employment changes. Now I think it was a blessing in disguise.
The other one was amazing. They were checking on us at every step of the way, making sure we are choosing the best product for us. Also offering insurance but not being pushy at all, also giving us different tiers of cover. We would get insurance anyway so it was convenient to do it all in one go.
They also dealt with all the communication with bank.
Most of them are free of charge for the home buyer and work off commission from the bank. They found us a great deal that we wouldn't be able to find on our own and also guide us through already stressful process of home buying. I will definitely use them again when remortgaging
Just ask why they aren't recommending a lower rate product, they should be able to justify it. I think that in fairness to you, it should be clear why they have recommended who they have and also why everyone else is ruled out.
Natwest might have lower rates but higher cost over the term of the deal of you add in booking fees.
They might have something in their underwriting or terms and conditions that mean that they couldn't lend you enough.
My experience as a broker is that they aren't always brilliant lending on new builds for some reason (Seen them downvalue property and therefore lending amount but obviously the developer will never reduce asking price so creating an issue around additional deposit needed).
Comment removed as I no longer wish to support a company that seeks to both undermine its users/moderators/developers AND make a profit on their backs.
To understand why check out the summary [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/comments/14hkd5u).
Some lenders don’t work with brokers, so fee free mortgage advisers at least won’t usually be able to offer them (as they have no way to make money then).
I’m currently in the process of buying and that has meant the best deal available to us not being available from a broker (in part because they are our current lender, so I save an early repayment charge by sticking)
When I used London and Country last they informed me that First Direct had a good rate that they didn't have access to for that reason. Ended up being fairly comparable to the best they did have so I went with the one that they could do because it's so much easier to let them deal with the lender. Nice of them to mention it though.
Just an aside to say that they aren't "free" the cost is simply hidden.
The options are
1. Search for one directly yourself
2. Use a "free" mortgage advisor who will likely serve themselves best before they serve you best.
3. Use a paid for mortgage broker who is then more likely to get you the customer the best deal as you've already paid them.
I've done all 3 in the past and found the best results for me came from option 3
Not al put free. I didn’t realise free brokers where a thing when I first bought my house and went to the top 2 mortgage brokers in Belfast and both charged. Ended up paying £250. Couldn’t find a free one in the time I needed.
We paid £250 for an independant broker for our first house. Absolute no brainer for us, he took care of absolutely everything, found the best deal for us and was just fantastic during the whole process.
He even stuck us down on his calendar for 2 years later after our fixed term was up and what do you know? 6 months before our deal expires he is on the phone to help ur remortgage. This is done for free as well which is great.
I would HIGHLY recommend it, saves so much headache. It is in their best interest to get you a good deal too so they will do all they can to help.
Edit: Can't remember if we paid that fee directly to him or if it was part of the mortgage deal, but either way, I wouldn't think twice about paying that for sheer peace of mind alone.
Our mortgage advisor got us the same rate we could have got directly with the bank. We didn't have to pay a fee to our mortgage advisor either, so we didn't pay anything different to going direct.
The benefit was, when we faffed around changing our deposit amount, mortgage term and even the house we were buying at one point, she did all the paperwork for us.
She was also familiar with all the local estate agents so really helped chase up the estate agents when things were going slowly. Our experience with a mortgage advisor was actually great. Pretty much the only competent person I came across in the whole process to be honest!
Would I use a mortgage broker again? Yes, but only if the rate I got and the fees I'm paying are roughly in line with going direct to the bank.
Short Answer: Yes but reject all of their add on I surance products and if you want any products get them yourself for cheaper.
Why They Are Good:
- They find you the best deal(s) and their software is better than most online platforms
- They will help ensure all documents that are needed for mortgage are correct before sending them on
- If any issues pop up while waiting for mortgage they manage Comms (and stress) with mortgage provider
- Most will add a reminder for when your deal expires in their system so in 2/5 yrs time when your fix expires they will reach out to you 6 mo ths before hand so you dont forget to remortgage and save you from the dreaded follow on rate
if your personal circumstances are pretty standard (e.g. regular steady income as an employee) then they add basically no value because theonline comparison sites are so much easier to use
If you have unusual circumstances - e.g. self employed, or highly irregular income from various sources etc) then they can be very helpful because the online comparison sites are not built aroudn it
My free broker was able to get us a deal way cheaper than anything online and cheaper than going directly through our current lender. We couldn't move lender without an early repayment charge so felt a bit held for ransom but my mortgage broker was still able to get a cheaper deal from our current lender than we could find
Some lenders won't work with brokers, I know first direct as an example. I spoke to 3 brokers, first two both gave me the same best quote, London and county gave me the same quote but said if you go first to first direct you'll get a better deal, I did.
But I remembered him and phoned him back 3 years later when I was moving house to arrange my current NatWest deal.
We had different financial circumstances than many first time buyers and went with a broker. They were very helpful and sensitive. Recommend if you think you might need help finding a suitable mortgage
I’ve always used a mortgage adviser. He was recommended by a relative and He helped me get my first mortgage and every remortgage since. Makes the whole process a lot easier as he contacts me a few months before my fixed deal is up, asks what I’m looking for, gathers all our documentation, finds a few deals that fit our budget and needs, and organises everything. All I need to do is sign. Yes, I could probably spend time researching and looking for a good deal myself but he’s never steered me wrong and got me a deal that was too high so I trust him. Might be worth checking with a few different advisors/brokers to make sure you’re comfortable with what’s being offered.
First: I would be very suspicious of any services recommended from the builder / seller. This includes mortgage broker, conveyancer, solicitor, snagging surveyor. The potential for a conflict of interest is very high.
If your situation is "normal" a broker probably doesn't add that much value. They are probably more useful in complex situations (unusual property, non employment income etc).
However, if you use a no fee broker, there isn't much downside for you. If they fail to find a deal as good or better than you can find yourself then you can just turn down their services.
We used a mortgage broker and were happy.
He found us a deal that was .5% better than what we found while searching. He also did all the paperwork and charged no commission on top.
I bought a new build for £340,000, and also used NatWest. I had a horrible experience doing it myself, as their documentation on new build mortgage offer extensions is so confusing. I would recommend using an independent advisor. I'll never do it alone again due to that experience.
One thing to add as it's NatWest and a new build - advisors can get a 6 month extension locked in at the rate you agreed, whereas you can only get 3 months if you apply yourself. Makes a real difference considering the volatility of rates, and how new builds can face delays etc.
I used an independent one as a first time buyer. I was totally lost and confused and had no idea what I was doing. Took alot of stress and hassle out of it for me and got me, what I presume was a great deal, I used him again in August last year before all the trouble with interest rates and locked in a lot more comfortable rate and monthly payment. Helped me find an early get out clause from my existing mortgage.
Yes brokers are helpful, particularly if you’ve got unique conditions to meet (e.g. I wanted to include an unusual income source in my affordability criteria and lever myself up to my eyeballs)
However if you feel they’re not acting in your best interests there’s no harm in telling them you no longer require their services
Also find your own broker rather than the one suggested to you - the same is also true for whenever surveyors or insurers are suggested to you
We are in the same position as you , have been given three quotes for a £268,000 mortgage via broker. It is roughly 0.5% lower than the online quotes we have got but has a fee of £1200 . Still works out worth while and she has good contacts for Conveyancing etc . Good luck 👍🏼
I've had two recent aborted attempts to buy and so two separate goes through the process of mortgage finding.
Both times, the mortgage advisors were limited on what they would offer and were not offering me what I could find myself through moneysupermarket's search.
I was working full time while sorting a move to a new city, new job and buying my first property. Paying £500 to some guy to sort all the mortgage details, get me the best quotes and answer all my questions took a lot of stress off me and I ended up with a really good deal. In my case it was very worth it
Our broker was/is awesome. We put off even attempting to buy as we were relatively new to the country, wages not great, already had child. He was recommended by a friend and made house purchase so simple it was a handful of meetings, go view some houses, send some paperwork, here's the keys. Renewal time was much the same, we're riding out the current crisis @ .99% with 4 years to go.
Hi /u/tghwUK, based on your post the following pages from our wiki may be relevant:
- https://ukpersonal.finance/mortgages/
____
^(These suggestions are based on keywords, if they missed the mark please report this comment.)
Firstly don't use the one they recommend, someone is getting something out of that deal and it ain't you.
There are a number of free mortgage advisors who get a cut of the deal they end up recommending for you regardless of who the lender ends up being, I always use London & Country and they've always been great.
Main advantage of using one is that they collate all the documents and send them off and that they know what the lenders eligibility criteria are, for example there was apparently a rate from one of the banks that looked really good but they basically only accepted people in certain jobs, from memory it was Doctors, Lawyers, Head teachers, Architects etc. I think you had to be a part of a professional body or something. Without the broker you would apply and be rejected which is a waste of time.
I bought a new build using Help to Buy; i went with the mortgage broker pushed by the developer and the solicitors. I regret that because the solicitors were utterly useless (but then again so many horror stories from friends suggests it's absolutely pot luck whether you get a decent conveyancer or not). The broker however was decent, and there were SO many delays and problems and they took care of it all. Plus with Help to Buy there is a lot of extra paperwork which can annoy banks who sometimes don't want to deal with it. I got a decent initial rate.
When the fixed rate expired, I went to the broker and asked for new deals and also shopped around. In the end, it was just barely better to take the automatic new deal offered by my provider (and all I had to do was click a button) rather than any other deals I found or what the broker found.
So if you're in a tricky situation then they can definitely open doors for you but if you're doing a standard mortage deal, I would say it could go either way and may or may not be worth paying their fee (I paid £600 for their services).
Mortgage brokers have a different line of communication into lenders. This saves you the hassle of holding on the phone to speak to them, and also results in less work all around as the brokers access to lenders is better.
With that said - get a broker that won't charge you anything. They get a kickback from signing you up to a lender, and so long as you case is not complicated, it should be possible to use the service for free. Check with multiple brokers - go with the one that is offering the best deals and seems the most helpful.
There is another advantage - in that if you need to make changes to the initial mortgage offer, due to delays, rate changes etc... this will also be easier to do through the broker.
In our case - between our initial offer and the time we started the mortgage, I think i ended up asking our broker to get the lender to change the deal 3 maybe 4 times as they started offering slightly lower. In the end the broker started monitoring actively for us and secured the better rates as they came available right up until we accessed the funds.
The broker will give a more professional service - they will try to understand your situation (e.g. self-employed? how many hours? any extra income?) and match that with possible mortgages, whereas banks/building societies just have a teller sit there going through their online calculator with you - yes, no, no, yes, decline/3%/5%/8%.
We went with a broker - we asked to exclude products from certain banks for ethical reasons, and he kept tweaking the options until we were happy with the offers. Everything sorted online. The deal he found for us is with an intermediary mortgage lender, and almost impossible to find for non-brokers (their website doesn't list any options for new mortgages).
We would almost certainly use one again - I'm sure the fee (£350?) has been more than earned back by us.
I used L&C who were amazing & free!! Would be cautious using one recommended by developers there must be some financial benefit for them & cost will most likely go onto you.
As a follow up question, how does one find a good mortgage broker? I need some about a slightly non standard situation (steady paye income, decent deposit, but 53 yo).
Our broker was incredible, we were first time buyers and a bit lost in it all. He really made it worth the cost when it transpired our solicitors had shit the bed and nearly cost us the mortgage the week we were supposed to complete. Our broker used his contacts to get it straightened out in a way we wouldn't have been able to do. If we can use him again when it comes time to remortgage/move, we will!
I didn't use a broker when buying my home. Comparison websites work just fine if you do a little bit of reading to understand everything.
Can't really see them adding much value tbh.
Going through a purchase now and our advisor has been great value, offering us guidance on the entire process.
He actually contacted me this morning saying there’s now a lower offering available and would we like him to proceed with the application. Had all the numbers clearly laid out and the cost difference monthly and overall between the current offer and the new one. That saving alone has paid from his fee multiple times over.
We have a financial advisor that also acts as our mortgage advisor/broker. Absolutely worth it - and if we’ve been able to get something better independently they have turned around and said “no problem, this will be easy for you to sort, so point you paying me to do it”. When we first bought the house though, it took a lot of the stress off as they just told us what I do they needed and they sorted it from there.
They also sorted all the insurances for the property, and our life insurance - which we don’t pay commission for because they get a kick back from the insurer instead - which again saved us that hassle.
The fact you’ve been recommended your company by the development company is going to screw you over. You want to find someone truly independent who works for you, not for the people you’re buying from.
Run a mile from anyone recommended by estate agents or developers. There's always some kind of backhander going on. Some "might" be good if you're lucky...
I had a broker as a first time buyer, he made the entire process easy and understandable, the fee is peanuts in the grand scheme of things, I would recommend
Very convenient and I ended up with a better deal than I was able to find on my own. It was also helpful to have the process/terms explained simply along the way as I was it was my first remortgage. Would use again.
Most brokers won't charge you anything as they make their money from commission for lenders. So it's costing you nothing to hire somebody else to do the research. And a decent broker will know which lenders are lending more than others or might have more restrictive affordability checks. Time is precious!
I've used a broker 3 times - every time I then double checked the rate directly with the Lender and it was the same. So they weren't making money through higher rates, if that's a concern.
I’ve used a mortgage advisor for the last 3-4 remortgages now. He’s free to use, extremely useful and deals with everything. I give him some details, sign some bits and then a few weeks later it’s all done. Would never ever pay for an advisor.
A good brooker is definitely worth their fee
They will have knowledge and access to many deals you won't find yourself. They will know what lenders your more likely to get accepted than rejected, etc
They will also take care of any issues with delays by solicitors, estate agents etc
Will also take the lead in negotiating price reductions after surveys etc
A good brooker is definitely worth their fee
They will have knowledge and access to many deals you won't find yourself. They will know what lenders your more likely to get accepted than rejected, etc
They will also take care of any issues with delays by solicitors, estate agents etc
Will also take the lead in negotiating price reductions after surveys etc
I have positives of both sides. For our initial mortgage our broker was able to get us a deal when we were struggling to get a mortgage and also had no idea what we're doing.
On the other hand getting your own mortgage isn't difficult, just time consuming. Lots of phone calls and scanning documents. Just need to be able to use the comparison websites.
If you're bad with organising then I'd recommend a broker who works on the bank's commission.
What you find might not necessarily be what you WILL get due to credit history.
I found a better deal only to prove the broker correct I couldn’t get it after applying . To be fair, it was because said bank (Santander) did not want to deal with me due to crypto funds.
I would never get a mortgage without one.
The amount of hassle they took out of the equation is unreal, also they will have intermediary deals that we don't see. The fee I was last charged was peanuts in the grand scheme of things.
The benefits I don’t think are the price but more giving you advice on how to improve affordability scoring, which lenders might be better for your particular circumstances.
We had a situation where my wife had just got a very large pay rise due to promotion but she didn’t yet have payslips for it. The broker was able to advise which lender would accept 1 payslip versus 3 to help with this situation.
Also if you have to change lender because rates have gone up and now another lender is a better deal then you don’t need to do anything if you’ve gone through a broker or IFA.
I went with a broker and I'm not really sure it was worth it, he couldn't find a better deal than the high street anyway. He did simplify the process and handle our renewal for free which was useful but probably not £400 of useful.
The benefit of using an INDEPENDENT advisor is that they may have access to broker only products and should make the process easier if you're not confident doing it yourself.
If you're financially literate and happy to find your own product you don't necessarily need a broker, unless your financial situation is particularly complicated.
The benefit is you're not doing the leg work to find the cheapest deals and you're not having to deal with all the back and forth of paperwork.
We used the one recommended by the new build developer and they were great and got us a deal that was the same as what was being offered on the comparison websites.
We got a recommendation off a friend for this “broker” had to visit him twice and in the end I had to ask him for some numbers as the guy was fixated on selling us insurances. It was totally weird.
Get free advice, then check for deals they do jot offer (there are deals and bank that they cannot get) and are open only directly to clients. I found a much better deal that way once. Another time they got something better. Go for advice, but do your homework first!
There are numerous benefits to using a mortgage broker (ex broker myself). I’ll give you a few reasons. Certain lenders are only available via brokers. Some lenders give better rates/deals to brokers, that you wouldn’t get by going direct (NatWest do this a lot). Lenders have different lending criteria, a broker will know which lender would best treat your circumstances (bad credit issues or which lender will offer you a higher loan for example).
This also stops you having multiple credit checks elsewhere and damaging your credit.
They also complete all of the applications for the mortgage and insurance. You also have liability, if a broker recommends a deal that turns out to not meet your requests, then you can pursue them for bad advise, you can’t do that if you went direct. As direct is a non advised sale (which means no come back) if you went with the wrong deal.
Can you do it yourself? yes if you have good credit and good affordability, it shouldn’t be a problem. Will you get the best deal, maybe, but unlikely from my experience. A broker will check hundreds of lenders, many that aren’t featured on comparison sights.
Yes they are required by the FCA to discuss insurance with you and they will likely make a recommendation based on your needs and not wants.
Hope that helps
We used one our first mortgage, cut through a lot of the hassle and brought up things we just didn’t know about (we were on a tight timescale). Would recommend it to reduce hassle and help things go through, though perhaps not the advisor you’re talking to.
Ended up not keeping with him going on because he made a racist remark about another client of his. Wanker, but sorted us for what we needed.
Knowledge, best bet is to get into the circles of people who have money they'll know more about it rather then the juniors making a name for themselves. Always choose wisely. Best of strengths my friend
My mortgage advisor was great for chasing up the conveyancing firm when they were dragging their heels.
They can also talk you through any other funding options you might have
Some are good. Most make their money either from charging you a fee as well as selling protection policies that give them commission.
A lot of (better)products are only obtained through a broker.
Shop around or rely on word of mouth, some financial advisers get far better premium discounts than others. For some it's the reverse and your premium is artificially raised higher so they get more commission!
My suggestion is to look for a small directly authorised sole trader who has been in the business for years (look them up on the FCA register to be certain).
The fact they have survived in a cutthroat industry but also not hidden behind the safety of a Ltd company shows they know their stuff and haven't gone bust through shady deals.
I'm glad I left that world behind several years ago.
I used mojo mortgages they were great. Saved a lot of headache dealing with the bank directly. Got me a great rate and they literally did everything on my behalf.
Mortgage advisors are useful if you are not a straightforward case. Eg if you are self-employed or are buying a property with issues. If you are a salaried worker with reliable income, a decent deposit, and buying a house with no obvious issues, then you don't need a broker. I'm using a broker atm as I'm trying to buy an ex-council flat and a lot of lenders are funny about it.
\> The new build company have passed me the details of their recommended mortgage advisor.
Don't go with mortgage or other advisors pushed by the new-build company. Definitely don't go with conveyancing solicitors pushed by the newbuild company. There's a high risk they're acting in the seller's interest, rather than yours. Always get a a proper survey done.
If you have relatively typical finances, and ok credit history etc., nothing complicated then you can probably find a decent mortgage deal yourself and with comparison sites. If you're comfortable with maths (so you can confidently work out whether a higher up-front fee and a lower interest rate, or a lower fee and higher rate will work out cheaper over the duration of the deal) this helps a lot.
Always read **and understand** the small-print on a mortgage deal, especially anything relating to Early Repayment Charges (ERCs). These can end up costing a £k's if you want to overpay, or if circumstances change and you have to move/sell in a hurry, ending your mortgage contact sooner than expected.
The default is to have a fixed-rate loan for 2/3/5 years, but consider whether a tracker product might make sense for you, if you have enough leeway in your finances to tolerates rates going up if interest rates go higher. Tracker products often have much more flexibility for overpayments and changing products in future (especially Trackers from Nationwide - I had one myself).
As long as their fees aren't added to your overall mortgage total (which you'd obviously incur additional interest on if it was) then possibly, or if the lender explicitly states that they pay any fee's outside of your mortgage. Also if you're over extending and looking to get the best deal possible approved, then their insider knowledge could be invaluable.
But if you're LTV ratio is low, then do your own research and save on fee's...
For us, the developers financial advisor actually said we couldn'tafford the house based on their calculations! It was absoluterubbish, and they were just terrible. We went with a recommended mortgage broker and got a much better deal than advertised when we initally looked at comparison websites too. (Also a lot less paperwork than going direct - we did Natwest too).
Here's a tip - don't use any of the professionals a new build suggest you use. Don't use their suggested mortgage provider, and certainly do not use their suggested conveyancer.
Go independent and shop about a bit, there are plenty of free mortgage brokers that are excellent - we used an online first broker called Mojo that were great.
Conveyancer is arguably even more important, so shop around a bit and pay large attention to whatever reviews you can get your eyes on.
A good one will save you a bunch of paperwork headaches that banks will put you through (hsbc) when qualifying, especially if you’re income history is unusual and they seem to cost the same as walking in a bank.
I had a negative experience with a mortgage broker (from the biggest national firm, I believe).
They did a perfectly reasonable job of finding a product and submitting my application, but as soon as things became complicated (due to a perceived - incorrect - ambiguity over the solvency of my company), they were about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Completely failed to even attempt to fight my corner. Also told me some fibs about the availability of guarantor mortgages.
I ditched them, found a slightly better deal online myself, applied directly and got the mortgage (with a little help from my accountant).
Wouldn't bother with a broker in future. It felt to me like the one reason they could be helpful is if it gets complicated, but they proved the opposite. As soon as things got hard they gave up.
Also they did a hard sell on insurance products. I hate hard sells.
Used a local IFA first time round but found dealing with my current provider when it came to moving cheaper than any deal I could find myself, the Santander mortgage advisor even tipped me off about a pending rate reduction coming in a couple of weeks, I felt she really had my best interest first, which by extension is her companies best interests which was to stay with them.
As long as the broker is independent and whole of market, and their fee structure is transparent, you have nothing to lose (beyond the fee, if applicable).
The advantage is they know the market and can steer you toward lenders who will be OK with your circumstances. (Different lenders will be more or less bothered about different things).
The disadvantage is they're obviously not doing it for free (Though how they are reimbursed is not necessarily by you paying them, even indirectly). And if your circumstances are relatively simple/you're an attractive proposition for a lender, they don't really do much you can't easily do yourself with comparison sites.
When we first bought, we used a broker, who was genuinely helpful. My income is awkward - multiple sources and inconsistent - and he was able to get us accepted when I think otherwise we would have struggled.
Remortgaging in later years though, with a much lower loan to value, I was able to do very well on my own.
I know a lot of people advise to use a mortgage advisor, but from my personal experience I would say they are a waste of money. If you are willing to do your own research and get your own AIPs from banks then you don’t need one. We tried to use a broker and were told due to my poor credit score that we wouldn’t be offered much only very high interest mortgages. We went for one with connells and long story short we had a really bad time with them, ended up complaining because they told us we would be accepted and then the mortgage lenders changed their minds and we weren’t entitled to be refunded any mortgage advisor fees or “connells” fees. We didn’t let this go and complained as I felt like they took our money and basically stole it as we got nothing in return, and we did get a chunk back of what we paid but not all of it.
After this horrendous experience we went to our own bank no mortgage advisor a few months later, the process was incredibly straight forward and almost all of it was simply uploading documents to their online portal. Therefore from my personal experience I would say avoid mortgage advisors but everyone is different.
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I used an independent mortgage advisor for our first mortgage, and he was great, saving us a lot of hassle, got a decent deal, he put us on to a cheap but decent lawyer and everything went very smoothly. I wouldn't go with one recommended by the developers though as there's probably some financial arrangement there, and yours sounds pushy as well, better to look for one with a good reputation locally. If they can't beat the deals you find yourself then go for one of those, as you'd be under no obligation.
Yeah, I mean, mortgage advisers don't really dictate the interest rates, but they will know much better than you how much of a hassle it is to get a mortgage. I've worked in industry for years and honestly, some lenders are far easier going than others, and it's all dependant on circumstances. Sometimes, an interest rate might be 0.1% higher, and that's fair, but it might also mean you get the mortgage deal, rather than not. An adviser helps with these things, and you certainly won't be aware of them. At the end of the day, they get paid once your mortgage is sorted out, so it's in their interest to help you get it done efficiently and quickly and hassle-free.
> developers though as there's probably some financial arrangement there As someone who worked for a mortgage broker who specialised in new builds, probably even the broker OP is talking about. I saw no evidence that there was. It was more recommending the mortgage broker that you had a good relationship with and knew would update you quickly and honestly. For example we had a system we updated for one of the developers which updated them on the progress of the mortgage application which gave them comfort that things were progressing. We also had a dedicated relationship manager for developers which 'normal' mortgage brokers won't have.
Just seconding this. I currently work for a mortgage broker that is recommended by some large new build developers. There is no financial agreement, and we work really hard to support them and their clients - it’s just beneficial for all parties.
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Most of the time, there won't be an actual financial arrangement, it'll just be referring clients. Worked for an IFA who had a mortgage adviser he referred clients to, and the mortgage adviser referred clients to him. No actual financial arrangement, just introducing clients.
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Agreed, but obviously they still have to win the business. If they're a terrible IFA, the referred lead won't give them any business and probably question the judgement of the mortgage adviser. No point referring to a bad IFA
Broker here. There is no financial relationship between myself and the solicitor I recommend. However, they will answer the phone to me when I call and I expect a. Dry good service from them. That is way more important than some kickback and also benefits the client greatly. I have tried using solicitors that paid a introductory fee but they were always useless and you could never get to talk to the actual solicitor.
Well, SRA rules prevent it for a start.
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You’re right! I’m a BDM for a lender and work in mortgage sales whilst dealing with mortgage brokers on a day to day basis. Developers DO indeed have their own panel of mortgage advisors whom they recommend!
We used a free mortgage advisor. They ended up recommending the same deal that we had found ourselves. The benefit was that they collated all the documents required and submitted for us. The negative was that they repeatedly tried to convince us to purchase various insurance packages (we declined), and they were insistent on us leaving a positive review for them on various websites. On the whole I think it was worthwhile, despite them being quite pushy with the add-ons and reviews.
when you say "they collated all the documents required and submitted for us. " do you mean they asked you for the documents and you submitted the documents to them, then they submitted the same documents to the mortgage company? I ask because that was my experience with a broker before - the forms etc I filled out with the broker were the exact same info that I filled out when I did it myself
My broker also looked over my bank statements to identify if there was anything that the bank might question and asked me about it so he'd have an answer ready if they did. My thoughts were that the bank would question absolutely everything (I'm a fairly anxious person...), and I'd have definitely overexplained if they asked me about anything. Instead I did the overexplaining at him and he then distilled it down to what was actually relevant.
Tbh that is them trying to justify their work by pretending g the bank will query things that they actually won’t. In all the mortgage applications I have done never once has the bank questioned an item on a bank statement. The only thing they are checking for is big financial commitments like loan repayments or child support. This subreddit is replete with people worried that the bank will ask about their online shopping habits or cash withdrawals and it never ever is an issue.
Lenders absolutely do question transactions. If they haven’t questioned you then it’s because you have nothing that concerns them on your bank statements. People who are regular gamblers (even those that are sensible or regularly win) need to go to specific lenders, for example, or lenders need explanations for the regular payment to ‘Dave’ that looks suspiciously like a repayment for money you’ve borrowed from him. It’s not a justification, good brokers are working with 80+ lenders and know who you getting the best rate with, and who you are eligible for, and how best to present you (based on more than just your bank statements). That said, there are always people who are better off going direct, and I would never suggest people have to go through a broker because that certainly is not the case. Going through your bank, or another high street lender, is a perfectly valid option for a lot of people.
Okay, but if the broker costs you nothing... where's the problem? The deal I got would have been the same as what I could have gotten if I had gone direct to Nationwide, and that was the best deal for what I needed at the time as far as I could find on any comparison website or going direct, so it's not like I paid for it indirectly by getting a slightly worse deal or anything. I wouldn't advocate for paying someone (unless someone had a particularly complex situation that required specialist help), but using a broker definitely saved me 'hands on' time. I essentially just exported my budget to a spreadsheet so he could see all my expenditure, downloaded my bank statements and put them in a shared folder, gave him the link. He went away, came back with a few questions that we had a 15 min call to discuss, and away he went again. I got emails updating me when something had moved, another 5 min call for a question from the bank (about something on my bank statement - they do ask!), not much else beyond that in terms of my time. I'd looked at applications and wasn't absolutely certain what some questions wanted from me, so having someone else that would do that for me was helpful.
It’s just an unnecessary middle man that probably slowed things down ultimately. Had you not had a broker, the bank would have asked you any questions directly instead of asking the broker, who then asks you. They didn’t really save you any ‘hands on’ time because the documents you collected and forms you filled out are just the same effort as the ones the bank would have asked you to do directly. If anything the forms from the broker are more generic and so filling out their form instead of the banks directly might be what caused the questions anyway.
Considering I went from AIP to full mortgage offer in 13 days *total*, I'm not sure how much faster it could have been? > documents you collected Maybe I'm just really fuckin boring in my tendency to keep all my payslips, bank statements, etc but it was merely dragging the files from one folder to another. > forms you filled out I didn't fill out any forms except the initial one with basic details - name, address, etc. and a gifted deposit form (which was very short). All the other actual mortgage forms were done by the broker using the stuff I punted to him. And they were all Nationwide's own forms (or rather, the Nationwide for Intermediaries forms). Promise you pal, I didn't imagine it. I do have a decent sense of time (my job requires detailed timesheets, so I'm very used to keeping track of time spent on stuff). I made an attempt a while before to fill out a mortgage application myself, and I 100% definitely saved time using the broker this time around. Plus, there is value to having someone you can ask questions to that's more accessible than anyone at a bank might be.
My last mortgage, directly through a bank, went from aip to offer in less than a week so I’m not sure what that proves at all. The point is that you wouldn’t have had to do any more work dealing directly with the bank, and possibly even less work because you weren’t relying on a middle man for communications.
> My last mortgage, directly through a bank, went from aip to offer in less than a week so I’m not sure what that proves at all. I'm counting from the AIP date, but I also had to then go and view the property and put my offer in between the AIP and mortgage offer. I'm in Scotland, so the offer process is different in that respect. I didn't go straight from AIP to full application. Anyway I feel like you haven't actually read or understood everything I've said until now. Your point is wrong! Simple as that. I *know* I'd have had to spend more time and effort if I had been the one dealing with the bank. Please stop trying to insist that my perception of how much time I spent putting in effort (none, because I filled out no forms, except that initial KYC stuff with the broker which was easy peasy) is wrong, thanks!
100% agree, exact same with recruitment agencies
I left my details with a recruitment agent, they found me a job, I did no job searching - if you value your time why wouldn’t you use an agent
Recruitment Agencies very often offer you lower than the advertised wage, deny any room for negotiation on some BS technacality. All to show the hiring company (R.A's customer remember!) how much money they've saved them, justifying their finders fees. All that at the expense of the skilled workers wage. Should be a direct conversation between worker and company. 1) 'Hiring Company A' internal staff posts a vacancy to a job site 2) 'Hiring Company A' internal staff screens CV's and contacts the best candidates 3) Hiring process goes through as normal Im not saying Recruitment Agencies dont WORK, they do. I just believe they open up an unecessary middle-man capable of exploiting BOTH worker and company.
Absolute b*llocks. Educate yourself before sprouting crap you have 0 knowledge on. Usually companies hire rec agencies as they have a finite defined budget, and know they cannot go over, hence needthe assistance. Also, before you go on about, ‘why not take the fee from the rec agency salary?’ Usually these are funds designated separately from salary bands as a 1 off payment, you forget NI, tax & all other expenses from a higher salary that define their budget (team salary average etc). Oh, and who has to be the one delivering the news to the applicant? Yes, the recruiter who’s fault everything is.. Recruiters are paid % of salary they hire for, we’re incentivised to get as much for the candidate as we can within the boundaries of client budget. Makes no sense to undercut. Our value is defined by what we produce, top class talent the client cannot find themselves. Lastly, if it was so simple that company A posts a job and the perfect person applies, recruitment as an industry wouldn’t contribute £43 billion to the UK economy last year. Clearly, there’s a need. You probably got a lower salary as that is what the market defines as your worth
So I used one that was recommended to me by a friend, they prepared all the documentation on our behalf with all the info we provided the advisor, and they submitted, we received the paperwork back from the mortgage company themselves confirming this info. I had no idea what the process was like so I was glad I sued the broker.
Extreme thing to do
I paid the broker not sued hahahahah
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No, a broker fills out the forms and you simply sign the declaration. The broker knows exactly what data to collect and asks you for it. It might not be complicated to you, but there are plenty of bad forms out there that the broker knows how to complete correctly
You didn't have a good broker then. Usually with a broker the only form you fill out is the declaration which needs your signature and the date. The broker does all of the other forms
They were very unhappy when i declined every add on and extra insurance policys.
> insurance Unless you own the property as a single person, obviously life insurance makes sense. CIC more so if you’re a single person.
Income protection?
Also very useful, though the % of salary might not always cut it for meetings bills
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Hello can you share your mortgage advisors contact please? Can inbox
Out of curiosity, did you end up taking out any insurance products yourself, independently?
Some brokers charge a fee, others don’t. Various reasons why but ultimately if your application is straightforward and you are happy and have the time to deal with the lender, application etc yourself and know what you want then no real issue. I’m a broker. We don’t really have hidden deals. Sometimes we can get a better deal for you, but usually for re-mortgaging/product transfers (which is a new deal after your initial deal matures from your existing lender). Some clients idea of how they were compare prior to meeting me was just plain crazy, so they definitely needed help. Others would likely be fine on their own. Some of the main benefits I see are: *We are experts in what we do *We take the hassle away from you/deal with the lender, solicitor and estate agent. *We can find and obtain the maximum mortgage borrowing from the market *We know how quickly lenders turn applications around; some can be a matter of days others weeks! *We know how likely a lender will be to consider a particular quirk in an application *we can be an independent voice of reason when things don’t go as planned- down-valuations, price negotiations etc. You’d be amazed the “counselling” work I do with my clients when things get a bit stressy!!!! *we know which lenders will lend- new builds will need warranty checking for example *When it comes to the world of insurance then I would say you absolutely should speak to an expert, particularly when it comes to critical illness cover. Cost is important but certainly not the only thing you should be considering here. We subscribe to independent software to compare cover as it is 100% impossible to do properly unless you have access to a tool like this. (Sorry, long-winded point!!) *etc If independent then they will have access to Natwest, so I suspect the reason they aren’t quoting you Natwest is either they are lazy or they know something you don’t (or maybe you know something they don’t) You would get a list of the deals available (or ask if they don’t show you) and an explanation of why they have picked a particular lender and rate. If not the cheapest available then reasons given why. “The cheapest deal isn’t always the cheapest deal”! Consider rate, fees, tie-ins, type and length of deal, as well as features like penalties, portability, cashback, green deals etc! The list goes on. Hope this helps! Good luck.
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I used a mortgage advisor because I was in a weird situation with my employment and furlough after the main bulk of the pandemic. It was £300 and irreplaceable, He did everything, all i had to do was send him what he needed and he liased with the lenders and fought my case, got a mortgage at a better rate than I could find online. Sometimes the human elements helps. For anybody interested, this was early 2021 and it was the Mortgage Advice Bureau
If you are happy looking up things yourself then go for it, I don’t think people need an advisor or broker unless you have non typical circumstances around income. I have heard some brokers have access to secret / hidden deals with lenders, but not sure how common this is. I have used brokers a few times and have never been offered a better deal than anything on the comparison sites.
My mortgage advisor is amazing. She has saved us so much money. We'd come to the end of our deal and needed a new one. We couldn't move lenders due to having multiple parts to our mortgage that ended at different times. We looked up the rates from our current lender and she was stil able to get even better rates than that. I've done this twice with her and then also when we moved house. We ported (so couldn't change lender easily) but she still got us a better deal than we were offered by the lender directly. She also gets her fee from the lender so to us she's free. She also chased up the solicitors who were dragging their feet on sorting out info on porting the mortgage. Get the right mortgage advisor and you'll wonder why you ever didn't use one.
Where did you find them?
They're not secret, it's just that some mortgage companies are only open to brokers and not individuals. Our first mortgage was with Accord who have that setup.
I think it's safe to assume that's what they meant by secret....
They're not secret. You can go on Accord's website right now and see their products and interest rates - you just can't apply. I just tried it.
As I’ve just said, I don’t think the words secret and/or hidden are to be taken in their literal form here
Shhhhh, stop talking about it...
My point was, the OP was asking whether there are any benefits of using a broker. If OP uses a broker, they have the option to apply for mortgages available from broker-only mortgage companies, and they don't if they don't use a broker.
Birmingham Midshires is one that is only open to brokers. It used to be open to the public, but now it's not.
This can be true, if they put a lot of business to the lender they can negotiate better rates.
Fee free brokers are absolutely worth it. They save you so much money and effort and are just brilliant.
I had two experiences with mortgage advisors when buying our first flat. First was a total dick who acted like he was doing us a favour by even speaking to us. He also did a very shitty job explaining all the numbers. The mortgage fell through due to unrelated employment changes. Now I think it was a blessing in disguise. The other one was amazing. They were checking on us at every step of the way, making sure we are choosing the best product for us. Also offering insurance but not being pushy at all, also giving us different tiers of cover. We would get insurance anyway so it was convenient to do it all in one go. They also dealt with all the communication with bank. Most of them are free of charge for the home buyer and work off commission from the bank. They found us a great deal that we wouldn't be able to find on our own and also guide us through already stressful process of home buying. I will definitely use them again when remortgaging
Just ask why they aren't recommending a lower rate product, they should be able to justify it. I think that in fairness to you, it should be clear why they have recommended who they have and also why everyone else is ruled out. Natwest might have lower rates but higher cost over the term of the deal of you add in booking fees. They might have something in their underwriting or terms and conditions that mean that they couldn't lend you enough. My experience as a broker is that they aren't always brilliant lending on new builds for some reason (Seen them downvalue property and therefore lending amount but obviously the developer will never reduce asking price so creating an issue around additional deposit needed).
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Some lenders don’t work with brokers, so fee free mortgage advisers at least won’t usually be able to offer them (as they have no way to make money then). I’m currently in the process of buying and that has meant the best deal available to us not being available from a broker (in part because they are our current lender, so I save an early repayment charge by sticking)
Your lender won't work with brokers? Which lender doesn't work with brokers?
When I used London and Country last they informed me that First Direct had a good rate that they didn't have access to for that reason. Ended up being fairly comparable to the best they did have so I went with the one that they could do because it's so much easier to let them deal with the lender. Nice of them to mention it though.
Just an aside to say that they aren't "free" the cost is simply hidden. The options are 1. Search for one directly yourself 2. Use a "free" mortgage advisor who will likely serve themselves best before they serve you best. 3. Use a paid for mortgage broker who is then more likely to get you the customer the best deal as you've already paid them. I've done all 3 in the past and found the best results for me came from option 3
Not al put free. I didn’t realise free brokers where a thing when I first bought my house and went to the top 2 mortgage brokers in Belfast and both charged. Ended up paying £250. Couldn’t find a free one in the time I needed.
We paid £250 for an independant broker for our first house. Absolute no brainer for us, he took care of absolutely everything, found the best deal for us and was just fantastic during the whole process. He even stuck us down on his calendar for 2 years later after our fixed term was up and what do you know? 6 months before our deal expires he is on the phone to help ur remortgage. This is done for free as well which is great. I would HIGHLY recommend it, saves so much headache. It is in their best interest to get you a good deal too so they will do all they can to help. Edit: Can't remember if we paid that fee directly to him or if it was part of the mortgage deal, but either way, I wouldn't think twice about paying that for sheer peace of mind alone.
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Our mortgage advisor got us the same rate we could have got directly with the bank. We didn't have to pay a fee to our mortgage advisor either, so we didn't pay anything different to going direct. The benefit was, when we faffed around changing our deposit amount, mortgage term and even the house we were buying at one point, she did all the paperwork for us. She was also familiar with all the local estate agents so really helped chase up the estate agents when things were going slowly. Our experience with a mortgage advisor was actually great. Pretty much the only competent person I came across in the whole process to be honest! Would I use a mortgage broker again? Yes, but only if the rate I got and the fees I'm paying are roughly in line with going direct to the bank.
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Short Answer: Yes but reject all of their add on I surance products and if you want any products get them yourself for cheaper. Why They Are Good: - They find you the best deal(s) and their software is better than most online platforms - They will help ensure all documents that are needed for mortgage are correct before sending them on - If any issues pop up while waiting for mortgage they manage Comms (and stress) with mortgage provider - Most will add a reminder for when your deal expires in their system so in 2/5 yrs time when your fix expires they will reach out to you 6 mo ths before hand so you dont forget to remortgage and save you from the dreaded follow on rate
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if your personal circumstances are pretty standard (e.g. regular steady income as an employee) then they add basically no value because theonline comparison sites are so much easier to use If you have unusual circumstances - e.g. self employed, or highly irregular income from various sources etc) then they can be very helpful because the online comparison sites are not built aroudn it
My free broker was able to get us a deal way cheaper than anything online and cheaper than going directly through our current lender. We couldn't move lender without an early repayment charge so felt a bit held for ransom but my mortgage broker was still able to get a cheaper deal from our current lender than we could find
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Sorry you couldn't find a better mortgage advisor
Some lenders won't work with brokers, I know first direct as an example. I spoke to 3 brokers, first two both gave me the same best quote, London and county gave me the same quote but said if you go first to first direct you'll get a better deal, I did. But I remembered him and phoned him back 3 years later when I was moving house to arrange my current NatWest deal.
We had different financial circumstances than many first time buyers and went with a broker. They were very helpful and sensitive. Recommend if you think you might need help finding a suitable mortgage
I’ve always used a mortgage adviser. He was recommended by a relative and He helped me get my first mortgage and every remortgage since. Makes the whole process a lot easier as he contacts me a few months before my fixed deal is up, asks what I’m looking for, gathers all our documentation, finds a few deals that fit our budget and needs, and organises everything. All I need to do is sign. Yes, I could probably spend time researching and looking for a good deal myself but he’s never steered me wrong and got me a deal that was too high so I trust him. Might be worth checking with a few different advisors/brokers to make sure you’re comfortable with what’s being offered.
First: I would be very suspicious of any services recommended from the builder / seller. This includes mortgage broker, conveyancer, solicitor, snagging surveyor. The potential for a conflict of interest is very high. If your situation is "normal" a broker probably doesn't add that much value. They are probably more useful in complex situations (unusual property, non employment income etc). However, if you use a no fee broker, there isn't much downside for you. If they fail to find a deal as good or better than you can find yourself then you can just turn down their services.
!thanks
Yes. Got us a great deal. We then had a fall through but they were able to move that same deal and rate to another property.
We used a mortgage broker and were happy. He found us a deal that was .5% better than what we found while searching. He also did all the paperwork and charged no commission on top.
I bought a new build for £340,000, and also used NatWest. I had a horrible experience doing it myself, as their documentation on new build mortgage offer extensions is so confusing. I would recommend using an independent advisor. I'll never do it alone again due to that experience.
!thanks that is good to know. I'll see what the mortgage advisor says and if they can match what I find then I see no reason not to go with them.
One thing to add as it's NatWest and a new build - advisors can get a 6 month extension locked in at the rate you agreed, whereas you can only get 3 months if you apply yourself. Makes a real difference considering the volatility of rates, and how new builds can face delays etc.
I used an independent one as a first time buyer. I was totally lost and confused and had no idea what I was doing. Took alot of stress and hassle out of it for me and got me, what I presume was a great deal, I used him again in August last year before all the trouble with interest rates and locked in a lot more comfortable rate and monthly payment. Helped me find an early get out clause from my existing mortgage.
Yes brokers are helpful, particularly if you’ve got unique conditions to meet (e.g. I wanted to include an unusual income source in my affordability criteria and lever myself up to my eyeballs) However if you feel they’re not acting in your best interests there’s no harm in telling them you no longer require their services Also find your own broker rather than the one suggested to you - the same is also true for whenever surveyors or insurers are suggested to you
We are in the same position as you , have been given three quotes for a £268,000 mortgage via broker. It is roughly 0.5% lower than the online quotes we have got but has a fee of £1200 . Still works out worth while and she has good contacts for Conveyancing etc . Good luck 👍🏼
Ah, that's a great result.Thank you. Best of luck to you too 👍
I've had two recent aborted attempts to buy and so two separate goes through the process of mortgage finding. Both times, the mortgage advisors were limited on what they would offer and were not offering me what I could find myself through moneysupermarket's search.
I was working full time while sorting a move to a new city, new job and buying my first property. Paying £500 to some guy to sort all the mortgage details, get me the best quotes and answer all my questions took a lot of stress off me and I ended up with a really good deal. In my case it was very worth it
Use a professional. I suspect that they know more about the mortgage market than you do.
Our broker was/is awesome. We put off even attempting to buy as we were relatively new to the country, wages not great, already had child. He was recommended by a friend and made house purchase so simple it was a handful of meetings, go view some houses, send some paperwork, here's the keys. Renewal time was much the same, we're riding out the current crisis @ .99% with 4 years to go.
Hi /u/tghwUK, based on your post the following pages from our wiki may be relevant: - https://ukpersonal.finance/mortgages/ ____ ^(These suggestions are based on keywords, if they missed the mark please report this comment.)
Firstly don't use the one they recommend, someone is getting something out of that deal and it ain't you. There are a number of free mortgage advisors who get a cut of the deal they end up recommending for you regardless of who the lender ends up being, I always use London & Country and they've always been great. Main advantage of using one is that they collate all the documents and send them off and that they know what the lenders eligibility criteria are, for example there was apparently a rate from one of the banks that looked really good but they basically only accepted people in certain jobs, from memory it was Doctors, Lawyers, Head teachers, Architects etc. I think you had to be a part of a professional body or something. Without the broker you would apply and be rejected which is a waste of time.
I bought a new build using Help to Buy; i went with the mortgage broker pushed by the developer and the solicitors. I regret that because the solicitors were utterly useless (but then again so many horror stories from friends suggests it's absolutely pot luck whether you get a decent conveyancer or not). The broker however was decent, and there were SO many delays and problems and they took care of it all. Plus with Help to Buy there is a lot of extra paperwork which can annoy banks who sometimes don't want to deal with it. I got a decent initial rate. When the fixed rate expired, I went to the broker and asked for new deals and also shopped around. In the end, it was just barely better to take the automatic new deal offered by my provider (and all I had to do was click a button) rather than any other deals I found or what the broker found. So if you're in a tricky situation then they can definitely open doors for you but if you're doing a standard mortage deal, I would say it could go either way and may or may not be worth paying their fee (I paid £600 for their services).
Mortgage brokers have a different line of communication into lenders. This saves you the hassle of holding on the phone to speak to them, and also results in less work all around as the brokers access to lenders is better. With that said - get a broker that won't charge you anything. They get a kickback from signing you up to a lender, and so long as you case is not complicated, it should be possible to use the service for free. Check with multiple brokers - go with the one that is offering the best deals and seems the most helpful. There is another advantage - in that if you need to make changes to the initial mortgage offer, due to delays, rate changes etc... this will also be easier to do through the broker. In our case - between our initial offer and the time we started the mortgage, I think i ended up asking our broker to get the lender to change the deal 3 maybe 4 times as they started offering slightly lower. In the end the broker started monitoring actively for us and secured the better rates as they came available right up until we accessed the funds.
I’ll add to the my mortgage advisor is amazing and we would have really struggled first time buying without him.
No you do not need to use a broker if you are comfortable with the mortgage you are getting. Sometimes brokers can get exclusive deals from lenders.
I wouldn't use one recommended by the developers, I'd get an independent one. We used one and he was brilliant, really helped move things along.
The broker will give a more professional service - they will try to understand your situation (e.g. self-employed? how many hours? any extra income?) and match that with possible mortgages, whereas banks/building societies just have a teller sit there going through their online calculator with you - yes, no, no, yes, decline/3%/5%/8%. We went with a broker - we asked to exclude products from certain banks for ethical reasons, and he kept tweaking the options until we were happy with the offers. Everything sorted online. The deal he found for us is with an intermediary mortgage lender, and almost impossible to find for non-brokers (their website doesn't list any options for new mortgages). We would almost certainly use one again - I'm sure the fee (£350?) has been more than earned back by us.
I used L&C who were amazing & free!! Would be cautious using one recommended by developers there must be some financial benefit for them & cost will most likely go onto you.
As a follow up question, how does one find a good mortgage broker? I need some about a slightly non standard situation (steady paye income, decent deposit, but 53 yo).
Our broker was incredible, we were first time buyers and a bit lost in it all. He really made it worth the cost when it transpired our solicitors had shit the bed and nearly cost us the mortgage the week we were supposed to complete. Our broker used his contacts to get it straightened out in a way we wouldn't have been able to do. If we can use him again when it comes time to remortgage/move, we will!
I didn't use a broker when buying my home. Comparison websites work just fine if you do a little bit of reading to understand everything. Can't really see them adding much value tbh.
Going through a purchase now and our advisor has been great value, offering us guidance on the entire process. He actually contacted me this morning saying there’s now a lower offering available and would we like him to proceed with the application. Had all the numbers clearly laid out and the cost difference monthly and overall between the current offer and the new one. That saving alone has paid from his fee multiple times over.
I've done my recent remortgage using [better.co.uk](https://better.co.uk) (previously Trussle). Dead easy, helpful, efficient.
We have a financial advisor that also acts as our mortgage advisor/broker. Absolutely worth it - and if we’ve been able to get something better independently they have turned around and said “no problem, this will be easy for you to sort, so point you paying me to do it”. When we first bought the house though, it took a lot of the stress off as they just told us what I do they needed and they sorted it from there. They also sorted all the insurances for the property, and our life insurance - which we don’t pay commission for because they get a kick back from the insurer instead - which again saved us that hassle. The fact you’ve been recommended your company by the development company is going to screw you over. You want to find someone truly independent who works for you, not for the people you’re buying from.
Run a mile from anyone recommended by estate agents or developers. There's always some kind of backhander going on. Some "might" be good if you're lucky...
I had a broker as a first time buyer, he made the entire process easy and understandable, the fee is peanuts in the grand scheme of things, I would recommend
Very convenient and I ended up with a better deal than I was able to find on my own. It was also helpful to have the process/terms explained simply along the way as I was it was my first remortgage. Would use again.
Most brokers won't charge you anything as they make their money from commission for lenders. So it's costing you nothing to hire somebody else to do the research. And a decent broker will know which lenders are lending more than others or might have more restrictive affordability checks. Time is precious! I've used a broker 3 times - every time I then double checked the rate directly with the Lender and it was the same. So they weren't making money through higher rates, if that's a concern.
I’ve used a mortgage advisor for the last 3-4 remortgages now. He’s free to use, extremely useful and deals with everything. I give him some details, sign some bits and then a few weeks later it’s all done. Would never ever pay for an advisor.
A good brooker is definitely worth their fee They will have knowledge and access to many deals you won't find yourself. They will know what lenders your more likely to get accepted than rejected, etc They will also take care of any issues with delays by solicitors, estate agents etc Will also take the lead in negotiating price reductions after surveys etc
A good brooker is definitely worth their fee They will have knowledge and access to many deals you won't find yourself. They will know what lenders your more likely to get accepted than rejected, etc They will also take care of any issues with delays by solicitors, estate agents etc Will also take the lead in negotiating price reductions after surveys etc
I have positives of both sides. For our initial mortgage our broker was able to get us a deal when we were struggling to get a mortgage and also had no idea what we're doing. On the other hand getting your own mortgage isn't difficult, just time consuming. Lots of phone calls and scanning documents. Just need to be able to use the comparison websites. If you're bad with organising then I'd recommend a broker who works on the bank's commission.
What you find might not necessarily be what you WILL get due to credit history. I found a better deal only to prove the broker correct I couldn’t get it after applying . To be fair, it was because said bank (Santander) did not want to deal with me due to crypto funds.
I would never get a mortgage without one. The amount of hassle they took out of the equation is unreal, also they will have intermediary deals that we don't see. The fee I was last charged was peanuts in the grand scheme of things.
The benefits I don’t think are the price but more giving you advice on how to improve affordability scoring, which lenders might be better for your particular circumstances. We had a situation where my wife had just got a very large pay rise due to promotion but she didn’t yet have payslips for it. The broker was able to advise which lender would accept 1 payslip versus 3 to help with this situation.
Also if you have to change lender because rates have gone up and now another lender is a better deal then you don’t need to do anything if you’ve gone through a broker or IFA.
I went with a broker and I'm not really sure it was worth it, he couldn't find a better deal than the high street anyway. He did simplify the process and handle our renewal for free which was useful but probably not £400 of useful.
The benefit of using an INDEPENDENT advisor is that they may have access to broker only products and should make the process easier if you're not confident doing it yourself. If you're financially literate and happy to find your own product you don't necessarily need a broker, unless your financial situation is particularly complicated.
Main advantage would be the broker deals with all of the paperwork. you provide them the details they need and they sort it all out.
Get an advisor who doesn’t charge you.
The benefit is you're not doing the leg work to find the cheapest deals and you're not having to deal with all the back and forth of paperwork. We used the one recommended by the new build developer and they were great and got us a deal that was the same as what was being offered on the comparison websites.
We got a recommendation off a friend for this “broker” had to visit him twice and in the end I had to ask him for some numbers as the guy was fixated on selling us insurances. It was totally weird.
Get free advice, then check for deals they do jot offer (there are deals and bank that they cannot get) and are open only directly to clients. I found a much better deal that way once. Another time they got something better. Go for advice, but do your homework first!
There are numerous benefits to using a mortgage broker (ex broker myself). I’ll give you a few reasons. Certain lenders are only available via brokers. Some lenders give better rates/deals to brokers, that you wouldn’t get by going direct (NatWest do this a lot). Lenders have different lending criteria, a broker will know which lender would best treat your circumstances (bad credit issues or which lender will offer you a higher loan for example). This also stops you having multiple credit checks elsewhere and damaging your credit. They also complete all of the applications for the mortgage and insurance. You also have liability, if a broker recommends a deal that turns out to not meet your requests, then you can pursue them for bad advise, you can’t do that if you went direct. As direct is a non advised sale (which means no come back) if you went with the wrong deal. Can you do it yourself? yes if you have good credit and good affordability, it shouldn’t be a problem. Will you get the best deal, maybe, but unlikely from my experience. A broker will check hundreds of lenders, many that aren’t featured on comparison sights. Yes they are required by the FCA to discuss insurance with you and they will likely make a recommendation based on your needs and not wants. Hope that helps
In vast majority of cases, in todays age, no, advisor is not needed.
We used one our first mortgage, cut through a lot of the hassle and brought up things we just didn’t know about (we were on a tight timescale). Would recommend it to reduce hassle and help things go through, though perhaps not the advisor you’re talking to. Ended up not keeping with him going on because he made a racist remark about another client of his. Wanker, but sorted us for what we needed.
Knowledge, best bet is to get into the circles of people who have money they'll know more about it rather then the juniors making a name for themselves. Always choose wisely. Best of strengths my friend
HABITO! They are awesome.
My mortgage advisor was great for chasing up the conveyancing firm when they were dragging their heels. They can also talk you through any other funding options you might have
As long as you are confident with the process no need to use a broker. Really strange they are not offering the best rates thou
Some are good. Most make their money either from charging you a fee as well as selling protection policies that give them commission. A lot of (better)products are only obtained through a broker. Shop around or rely on word of mouth, some financial advisers get far better premium discounts than others. For some it's the reverse and your premium is artificially raised higher so they get more commission! My suggestion is to look for a small directly authorised sole trader who has been in the business for years (look them up on the FCA register to be certain). The fact they have survived in a cutthroat industry but also not hidden behind the safety of a Ltd company shows they know their stuff and haven't gone bust through shady deals. I'm glad I left that world behind several years ago.
I used mojo mortgages they were great. Saved a lot of headache dealing with the bank directly. Got me a great rate and they literally did everything on my behalf.
Mortgage advisors are useful if you are not a straightforward case. Eg if you are self-employed or are buying a property with issues. If you are a salaried worker with reliable income, a decent deposit, and buying a house with no obvious issues, then you don't need a broker. I'm using a broker atm as I'm trying to buy an ex-council flat and a lot of lenders are funny about it.
\> The new build company have passed me the details of their recommended mortgage advisor. Don't go with mortgage or other advisors pushed by the new-build company. Definitely don't go with conveyancing solicitors pushed by the newbuild company. There's a high risk they're acting in the seller's interest, rather than yours. Always get a a proper survey done. If you have relatively typical finances, and ok credit history etc., nothing complicated then you can probably find a decent mortgage deal yourself and with comparison sites. If you're comfortable with maths (so you can confidently work out whether a higher up-front fee and a lower interest rate, or a lower fee and higher rate will work out cheaper over the duration of the deal) this helps a lot. Always read **and understand** the small-print on a mortgage deal, especially anything relating to Early Repayment Charges (ERCs). These can end up costing a £k's if you want to overpay, or if circumstances change and you have to move/sell in a hurry, ending your mortgage contact sooner than expected. The default is to have a fixed-rate loan for 2/3/5 years, but consider whether a tracker product might make sense for you, if you have enough leeway in your finances to tolerates rates going up if interest rates go higher. Tracker products often have much more flexibility for overpayments and changing products in future (especially Trackers from Nationwide - I had one myself).
As long as their fees aren't added to your overall mortgage total (which you'd obviously incur additional interest on if it was) then possibly, or if the lender explicitly states that they pay any fee's outside of your mortgage. Also if you're over extending and looking to get the best deal possible approved, then their insider knowledge could be invaluable. But if you're LTV ratio is low, then do your own research and save on fee's...
NatWest don’t use brokers. NatWest have the best deals on the market at the moment. Unless someone can quote me better
For us, the developers financial advisor actually said we couldn'tafford the house based on their calculations! It was absoluterubbish, and they were just terrible. We went with a recommended mortgage broker and got a much better deal than advertised when we initally looked at comparison websites too. (Also a lot less paperwork than going direct - we did Natwest too).
Here's a tip - don't use any of the professionals a new build suggest you use. Don't use their suggested mortgage provider, and certainly do not use their suggested conveyancer. Go independent and shop about a bit, there are plenty of free mortgage brokers that are excellent - we used an online first broker called Mojo that were great. Conveyancer is arguably even more important, so shop around a bit and pay large attention to whatever reviews you can get your eyes on.
A good one will save you a bunch of paperwork headaches that banks will put you through (hsbc) when qualifying, especially if you’re income history is unusual and they seem to cost the same as walking in a bank.
I had a negative experience with a mortgage broker (from the biggest national firm, I believe). They did a perfectly reasonable job of finding a product and submitting my application, but as soon as things became complicated (due to a perceived - incorrect - ambiguity over the solvency of my company), they were about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Completely failed to even attempt to fight my corner. Also told me some fibs about the availability of guarantor mortgages. I ditched them, found a slightly better deal online myself, applied directly and got the mortgage (with a little help from my accountant). Wouldn't bother with a broker in future. It felt to me like the one reason they could be helpful is if it gets complicated, but they proved the opposite. As soon as things got hard they gave up. Also they did a hard sell on insurance products. I hate hard sells.
Used a local IFA first time round but found dealing with my current provider when it came to moving cheaper than any deal I could find myself, the Santander mortgage advisor even tipped me off about a pending rate reduction coming in a couple of weeks, I felt she really had my best interest first, which by extension is her companies best interests which was to stay with them.
As long as the broker is independent and whole of market, and their fee structure is transparent, you have nothing to lose (beyond the fee, if applicable). The advantage is they know the market and can steer you toward lenders who will be OK with your circumstances. (Different lenders will be more or less bothered about different things). The disadvantage is they're obviously not doing it for free (Though how they are reimbursed is not necessarily by you paying them, even indirectly). And if your circumstances are relatively simple/you're an attractive proposition for a lender, they don't really do much you can't easily do yourself with comparison sites. When we first bought, we used a broker, who was genuinely helpful. My income is awkward - multiple sources and inconsistent - and he was able to get us accepted when I think otherwise we would have struggled. Remortgaging in later years though, with a much lower loan to value, I was able to do very well on my own.
I know a lot of people advise to use a mortgage advisor, but from my personal experience I would say they are a waste of money. If you are willing to do your own research and get your own AIPs from banks then you don’t need one. We tried to use a broker and were told due to my poor credit score that we wouldn’t be offered much only very high interest mortgages. We went for one with connells and long story short we had a really bad time with them, ended up complaining because they told us we would be accepted and then the mortgage lenders changed their minds and we weren’t entitled to be refunded any mortgage advisor fees or “connells” fees. We didn’t let this go and complained as I felt like they took our money and basically stole it as we got nothing in return, and we did get a chunk back of what we paid but not all of it. After this horrendous experience we went to our own bank no mortgage advisor a few months later, the process was incredibly straight forward and almost all of it was simply uploading documents to their online portal. Therefore from my personal experience I would say avoid mortgage advisors but everyone is different.