Mortgage advisor - new to this site

thenorthernmortgagemonkey

Hi

Im a mortgage consultant and have just registered as some interesting threads on this site.

How are other advisers finding things at the minute? Be interesting to hear from others...

koexelek

I'm a broker who has just registered too.

Wish I'd discovered the site earlier, as I could talk about mortgages all day long

I'm still doing OK and covering my monthly costs, so I can't complain too much.
However, where I would normally turn 8 leads out of 10 into business, these days it's more like 3 out of 10.
Just can't place a lot of cases...

100% and 100% plus non existent
95% lending very expensive
Buy to Let income multiples won't fit
Self cert mortgages harder to get
High fees meaning remortgaging often is not worth it
Dual pricing from lenders meaning borrowers sometimes get a better deal by cutting out the broker

If you want to borrow 50% loan to value, have an exemplary credit rating and want to borrow well within your income multiples, you probably don't need the services of a broker at the moment.
Thankfully ( from a broker point of view) cases are not always as simple as that though, so many clients do need our help .

thenorthernmortgagemonkey

Yea the conversion of enquiry to business is what ive noticed fall for 2 main reasons 1) better deals direct - allegedly - according to the 'non-advising' staff at the high street branches and 2) fewer applicants being eligible for a mortgage.

I've found the Halifax vendor gifted extremely useful for first timers (except the Halifax are a pain to deal with). Im based in an estate agents so sorting these kind of deals out works really well.

I totally agree with you about clients needing our help and not as easy as simply a rate shopping exercise but it can somtimes be hard to get this through to the clients.

When do you think lenders will start offering 100% deals again?

How long do you think the Dual Pricing can continue before the FSA steps in and does something about it? Its clearly not fair on clients if we cant advise them on the best deals.

koexelek

53 minutes on hold to the Halifax the other day.
However, my record this year is 1 hour and 7 minutes to C & G :eek:

On the dual pricing front, I've been told by some good friends of mine who work for lenders, that borrowers will be expected to take several insurance products ( which are more expensive than available on the open market) if they want to get their best deals, otherwise they " are less likely to pass the credit score " :rolleyes:

i'm telling my clients to take every insurance the lender offers if they go direct, then come back to me when their mortgage has gone through.
Hopefully then, I can get them better deals and they can cancel the lenders insurances.
If the lenders want to play dirty with us, I'm happy to use simliar tactics against them.. and it's all in the clients best interests

I think if lenders are going to offer different deals direct than via brokers, they should be made to do one thing or the other.
I have more respect for lenders like HSBC ( who have no interest in dealing with brokers) rather than a lender like Nationwide, who try to suck up to us on one hand, but then stab us in the back by tyring to offer better deals direct.


Can't see 100% mortgages back for a while, to be honest. With stagnant/falling prices. lenders will be too worried about negative equity

thenorthernmortgagemonkey

Yea cant fault you for getting the protection business back. Thats a little dirty of the lenders but i know its what there like, ive worked for 2 of them lol.

You just need to be careful that the client wont get charged for cancelling the policies. Ive just been trying best as possible to retain the protection business f the customer gets a better mort deal direct.

53 minutes.. jeez! I think my record is about 45 minutes this year, that was with abbey!
Agreed about the 100% ltv, will be a while, especially as house prices arent expected to start picking up again until late next year. Oh well, it may encourage people to save a deposit if nothing else!

thenorthernmortgagemonkey

As for Nationwide... I think its just embarrasing when you recommend one of there products and then the customer turns around and says i can get it cheaper.. Not just Nwide though, its most of them.

They need to decide, either they want brokers or they dont. I feel they will be a lot worse off without us, there is only so much a first time buyer can do when finding a mortgage, i think going to over 150 lenders to a) see if they are eligible for there products and b) compare the rates should be done by a professional. Dual pricing kind of makes this impossible and no good for broker or client ( or lender eventually i dare say).

neverdespairgirl

thenorthernmortgagemonkey wrote: »

When do you think lenders will start offering 100% deals again?

Let's hope it's a very, very long time.

Wutang_2

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Let's hope it's a very, very long time.

For you maybe - when they reappear (which will probably be a long time) just ignore them and let those who can advise 100% properly recommend them.

Ian_Griffiths_Halifax

I think that 100% mortgages will return earlier than you think.

The Lenders are greedy and if they see an opportunity to do something that nobody else is doing, then they'll have a niche market.

They'll just load the risk ie, higher interest rate forcing people onto Interest Only or Part/Part mortgages, High Lending Charges, big Arrangement fees etc.

I give it less than 12 months and they'll start by giving it to 'Professional Occupations'.

koexelek

thenorthernmortgagemonkey wrote: »

Yea cant fault you for getting the protection business back. Thats a little dirty of the lenders but i know its what there like, ive worked for 2 of them lol.

You just need to be careful that the client wont get charged for cancelling the policies. Ive just been trying best as possible to retain the protection business f the customer gets a better mort deal direct.

The lenders don't usually charge the clients for cancelling insurances at the moment...........

.... but I agree that it's only a matter of time :rolleyes:

koexelek

Wutang wrote: »

For you maybe - when they reappear (which will probably be a long time) just ignore them and let those who can advise 100% properly recommend them.

Agreed. It's easy for people to be smug if they only need a low loan to value mortgage themselves.
It's not so good if you are a first time buyer stuck in the rent trap though.
100% mortgages have worked very well for people in the past, when property prices have been rising.
I have many clients who I arranged 100% mortgages for a few years ago, who are now sitting on £100's of pounds of equity.
Without those mortgages, they would still be renting now, with no hope whatsoever of buying.

I will agree though, that with house prices stagnating/falling, a potential 100% borrower needs to look at buying the property as a long term home, not something they can sell on and make a quick buck on in a couple of years time.