HSBC Lifetime tracker

bubblesmoney

skyjumper

i did receive a copy of the valuation report which hsbc paid for. i had verbal confirmation of the same both from the surveyor and hsbc branch mortgage advisor before i got the paper copy of the valuation report.

i also later received a home buyers report which i had paid for via hsbc. i paid 180£ for it which i think was a very reasonable homebuyers report price. the service and customer support of the surveying company appointed by hsbc in my case was top notch. i have mentioned the name and link for the surveying companys website in earlier posts on this thread. the surveyor gave me his mobile number incase i wanted to discuss any concerns about the property / survey and was always helpful when i called (twice). infact i had enquired about paying for the full structural survey and the surveying company themselves said no need to spend for the full survey as it is 6.5y old. i was impressed by their customer service as they recommended not to do the full survey even if they stood to get paid more money if i opted for that option (£390 which again is very cheap for a structural survey).

i dont think the service could get any better either from hsbc or the surveyor and i would be very happy to use their services agian for any mortgage even if they were marginally costlier than others at a future date. i'd rather pay for good service than opt for something a few pounds cheaper but struggle later with customer service.

although i cant say the same for the customer service of some of the jerks like in abbey, halifax, llyods, HBOS. some of them long ago had rejected me for even a basic bank account (although lloyds gave me a basic account but wouldnt give me a switch/maestro card then even though i had more than 10 grand in their savings account and getting a salary of more than 5k a month in my 1st job in the uk) just because i was new in the country and lived in employer provided accomodation and even provided my CRB clearances as proof of address verification etc and wanted to credit my salary slips and didnt want loans. i still remember the smile of the snooty !!!!! at abbey who laughed when she rejected my account opening application which i needed to pay in my salary into. all i wanted was a debit card so that i could buy tickets online as i worked long hours and couldnt get to the bank during office hours to draw cash and was reduced to taking loans from friends at work even though i had thousands in the bank as i didnt have a debit card and the cash card they issued was useless as they somehow never sent me the pin number inspite of numerous reminders. the jerk at abbey had told me they preferred customers with loans rather than people like me with good salaries + savings and who didnt want loans even though i didnt have any adverse credit against me. i couldnt believe the !!!!! actually said that to me. i for one will be celebrating when ever abbey goes bust :j like northern rock. !!!!!! like them value people who stretch themselves to the limit more than savers. for savers like me its best i stick to cautious conservative lenders like hsbc. only hsbc then had without any issues given me debit and credit cards and opened account without hassles and that in a power cut where they used candle light to manually fill forms and approve everything on the spot after going through my paper work. since hsbc wasnt there in scotland(then atleast where i worked) i had to travel more than 3hours by train to another city while visiting a friend and opened a bank account in the other city without hassles. similarly another friend of mine was reduced to living on loans from friends as no bank would open an account for him even though he was running around with cheques from employer for more than 10K, employer wouldnt give cash to tide him over and would only give cheque but he took over 2 months to find a bank willing to open an account for him to credit his salary into. i know quite a few people like this who had trouble opening bank accounts as all of them didnt have loans in uk or uk credit history as new in the country and wanted account to credit salary into (salary issued by govt owned employers for all of them) and many of them had trouble getting bank accounts and most got hsbcs accounts then as only hsbc saw our employment status and salary slips and gave accounts unlike the other jerks who were insisting on running after our non existent credit history in uk as we were new in the country. rant over. apologies for diverting from the thread but just wanted to say that hsbc is a cautious lender and prefers savers unlike many of the other banks who prefer the reverse and no wonder they are up shitscreek

skyjumper

thanks Bubblesmoney for the update

Don't worry about the ranting. I can 110% agree with you. gone through the whole process of what you have explained abouve, i too ended up with HSBC as they were the only ones ready to give me a basic Current bank account.

coming back to the original topic, i did try to pay the £180 for the home buyers report. but the same surveyore you have mentioned above, came back and paid my money back into the credit card from which u had paid, explaining that as I'm buying a New Built they will not be able to carry out anything but a stnadard survey and valuation. They were quite friendly and discussed about the various options and I ended up agreeing to this as I didn't have much choices.

I'm hoping to hear from them early next week and hoping that I would get a basic survey/valuation report from the surveyor- that was my query in the previous post--Will you get a hard copy of the valuation report or is it just a verbal communication through the phone?

I understand you got a copy of the report- buublesmoney- could you please specify if it's from the homebuyers's report or was it from the standard fee free valuation they did- how comprehensive was the initial standard valuation- was it just a page saying it's worth what the asking price is or something more than that

thanks in advace bubblemoney

Heyman_2

Skyjumper,

Mine was a remortgage, so I didn't get a copy of the Valuation report. Just got a letter from HSBC saying the valuation was 'satisfactory'.

Just for other people's info though - the surveyor was happy to verbally give me a ballpark figure for what he thought it was worth on completion, which was good news :T

H.

skyjumper

thanks Heyman,

In my case it's a new built and is expecting some lower value than the asking price. I'm hoping that HSBC will get bak to me and tell me the valuation report. But I would like to get a hard copy myself to get back to the builders and see what they can do about it

thanks for the reply

bubblesmoney

skyjumper wrote: »

thanks Bubblesmoney for the update

Don't worry about the ranting. I can 110% agree with you. gone through the whole process of what you have explained abouve, i too ended up with HSBC as they were the only ones ready to give me a basic Current bank account.

coming back to the original topic, i did try to pay the £180 for the home buyers report. but the same surveyore you have mentioned above, came back and paid my money back into the credit card from which u had paid, explaining that as I'm buying a New Built they will not be able to carry out anything but a stnadard survey and valuation. They were quite friendly and discussed about the various options and I ended up agreeing to this as I didn't have much choices.

I'm hoping to hear from them early next week and hoping that I would get a basic survey/valuation report from the surveyor- that was my query in the previous post--Will you get a hard copy of the valuation report or is it just a verbal communication through the phone?

I understand you got a copy of the report- buublesmoney- could you please specify if it's from the homebuyers's report or was it from the standard fee free valuation they did- how comprehensive was the initial standard valuation- was it just a page saying it's worth what the asking price is or something more than that

thanks in advace bubblemoney

i got a paper copy of both the valuation report and also later the home buyers report+valuation. i had specifically mentioned to the hsbc mortgage advisor that i needed a copy of the valuation report for my records and he had assured me that i would get one. so maybe thats why they sent me a copy of the valuation report.

the standard valuation covered most bits of what was covered in the home buyers report but the home buyers report covered he same points in a more verbose manner and also a few points not covered in the valuation

MishterTea

Hi all,

My current mortgage with the Halifax switches to SVR at the end of November so I've been looking round for a new deal. The HSBC lifetime tracker special +0.79% with £599 fee is very appealing. I can't find anything to beat it. I've therefore read this thread with great interest.

Yesterday I went to my local branch to enquire about this mortgage. Mainly, as Heyman experienced, to determine what would happen to the upfront fee if my LTV happened to now be above 90% (based on the valuation of my house 2 years ago I am just under 90% but with current market volatility who knows..). The advisor put some details into her computer but this mortgage did not show up in the available list (even though it had a full page spread in the September Offers brochure I read whilst waiting and is still online). After she spoke to a colleague I was basically told that I could only apply for this by phoning them. Has anyone else experienced similar?

Lunch-time today, I tried using their online chat system to speak to an advisor and quickly ask about the LTV issue. I was told yes, I could potentially lose my fee. Where were you told to the contrary, Heyman? Should I just push ahead with the application via. phone and question it when they ask for the fee? Heh.. it would be a double kick in the teeth to be told "Sorry sir, your house has dropped below the value it was 2 years ago, oh, and we're keeping your £600 too".

Cheers,
- Rich

Bleg

Very good thread. Thanks for all the information it answers alot of the questions I was about to ask. We have today signed on the dotted line for the HSBC +.79 lifetime tracker. I did alot of research and it was hard to beat. My only worry was how quick the HSBC appointed solicitors would move. We switch to our current lenders SVR on the 1st.Oct. Our mortgage adviser confirmed that the only fees we would be asked to pay would be the bank transfer charge which I believe is £30. We were in and out of the branch within the hour. Feeling very pleased with myself at the moment.

manikm

did u arrange an apt first - i phoned them today and was told someone would ring back - they didnt.

bah!!

i'll have to bowl into a branch tomorrow

Bleg

yes it was by appointment.

manikm

thanks, i used their online chat system tonight, to arrange someone to call me back tomorrow.