Getting myself a broker

tazzababe100 · 27 June 2017 at 11:54AM

Hi,
So I have my final offer accepted on a house wahoooo:T
I have to move pretty fast as the vendor wants to keep it on the market until I confirm a mortgage.
I have approached a couple of brokers this morning. One has got back to me straight away, literally 30 seconds after emailing them.
He has taken hard facts but I'm wondering if everything else is standard procedure:
Besides ID he has asked for 3 months of pay slips and bank statements. Now I haven't agreed that I will be using his service so is this the norm?
He said he will be having a look around for me and is going to contact me at 4:30 with info.
My deposit means I have a 88% LTV, he said no point in that ans I should use less deposit and have a 90% LTV instead.
I mentioned I was worried about SVR and that I wasn't one under 3.6% as if poo hits fan and for whatever reason I can't get a good rate after the fixed period, it would mean that I could still afford payments as they would be in line with current rent. (I've done a little research!)
He also hasn't sent me any details about his fees etc...or does he send them later?
Any advcie/guidance MSE peeps?

Neutrinno · 27 June 2017 at 12:44PM

Wouldn't agree with using less deposit, the more deposit you put down the better (in the lenders view, more deposit = less risk) and less the monthly payments. If you can afford it, put what you have down.

Asking for those docs may be his procedure, there isn't really any 'norm' procedure, it varies from broker to broker on what they may want up front.

Ask him upfront about his fees etc, best to know now instead of having a potential shock further down the line. He should give you a full disclosure/term of business before conducting business with you.

Not to sure what you mean by the SVR point, could you reiterate? Do you mean you want an SVR below 3.6%?

tazzababe100 · 27 June 2017 at 12:48PM

Yes having SVR below 3.6% I know it may sound daft but I panic that after a fixed period if I can't get a good deal for whatever reason then I know I can afford it if it was below 3.6.

I did mention fees to him at the start of the conversation, he said that it depends as he could take payment through the cashback offered from a lender

ACG · 27 June 2017 at 12:48PM

Why would you not put down 12% if you have it? Your paying interest on a smaller balance. Other than holding some back for a rainy day/to pay for stamp duty if you do not already have the money seprately I can not see why you would not put down what you can.

SVR rates are probably a little higher than 3.6% in the main and there is no guarantee they will not rise between now and when your deal finishes anyway. But if you get with a lender that is big in the mortgage market, providing you keep up repayments there is no reason why should not be able to switch to a new product anyway.

With regards to their fees, they should be telling you about them at the outset if they do charge. If they do not raise it then you should ask - but I would expect them to mention their fee sooner rather than later. If you do not agree with their fee then they have spent the afternoon doing research for nothing?

The will need those documents prior to an application. You can send them now or hold fire until you have agreed fees etc. They work for you ultimately, so anything that is important to you - ask ask and ask.

tazzababe100 · 27 June 2017 at 12:54PM

Thanks ACG, I thought the same about the deposit. I can understand what he meant about the monthly payment not really being affected, it is literally pounds. Just not sure if it was correct in him saying it.
Did not know that the SVR could rise whilst I had a mortgage, thought it was locked in. Good to know!
When he phones later I will definitely be asking him about fees again. He seemed a nice bloke but the whole thing seemed very rushed over the phone.

kingstreet · 27 June 2017 at 12:58PM

SVR - standard variable rate.

ACG · 27 June 2017 at 1:14PM

tazzababe100 wrote: »

He seemed a nice bloke but the whole thing seemed very rushed over the phone.

So I have my final offer accepted on a house wahoooo:T
I have to move pretty fast as the vendor wants to keep it on the market until I confirm a mortgage.

Whilst I dot agree with everything that the broker has said (my post crossed with Neutrino' but we have the same thoughts), you have said you need to move fast so this broker may just be reacting to your situation? Difficult to say without being party to the conversation.

In terms of the monthly repayments you are right, it will make little difference, but I have just opened up the MSE calculator I left the figures as they were, just altered it to a £2k overpayment in month1 and removed the regular overpayments and it means your mortgage would be cleared 7 months sooner paying £2700 less in interest.

Your figures will be different depending on the loan amount, term, rates etc - but it does make a difference, even if not a massive amount.

amnblog · 27 June 2017 at 2:06PM

Interesting that he got back to you straight away but it seemed a bit rushed'.

I wonder what info he will have at 4:30? Perhaps he will tell you if he is charging fees which should have been made clear at outset.

Presumably, he has not seen any supporting information yet.

In the meantime, I suggest you forget this idea about SVR being under 3.6%

If you are worried about affordability, ask about the suitability of a 5 year fixed rate.

NelliePie · 27 June 2017 at 2:17PM

We've recently completed on our house and used London and Country as our broker and they were incredible and fee free!! (and cover the whole of the UK!) When we started looking for a house they helped us get an AIP so we knew roughly how much we could spend and how much savings we'd need. You get a dedicated adviser so the person really gets to know you and what you need. Ours took a bunch of information about income, expenditure etc and talked us through what type of mortgage we wanted etc (as FTB we had a few questions which they went through). 24 hours later they'd found us a great mortgage that they were pretty positive we'd get and gave a set of reasons why they'd recommended that one but also had a back up (both of which were better than we found). They then processed the application on our behalf; the whole process was made so simple.

I'd just like to state that I don't work for L&C and I'm in no way affiliated with them I'd just recommend them to everyone!

tazzababe100 · 27 June 2017 at 6:44PM

So he got back to me a deal won't say who it's from but I can work out it's with Leek. I was up front with him and said I was talking to another broker. Asked about fees and he wouldn't tell me, said they were a bit cheaper than the other broker (they want £595) or 1% of the mortgage whichever is higher).

Either way my head is boggled. Not worrying about SVR now but the cost of having a broker!

Didn't choose L&C (although initially was going to) because of all the poor reveiws

ACG · 27 June 2017 at 7:13PM

The broker would not tell you his/her fee?

Getting myself a broker

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