An Open Letter To Mortgage Brokers.

Pedronis

Brokers eh? I remember the 80's and the start of the financial services industry. Since the downturn in Mortgage availaibility, I bet the vast majority of them are real BROKE(rs) due to comission only wages.... Hmmm, about time too, the garbage days are over, get a respectable job, and gat a life !

Plasticman

Threats and abuse over Icesave, threats (of legal action) from Carol Vorderman and now death threats from brokers. It's good to meet somebody even less popular than me

terrierlady

whilst selling a new home a customer inquired re a suitable mortgage(not a first time buyer) I explained i wasn't able to give advise as not qualified to do so he replied well you should be; after some thought:rolleyes: i asked him if he brought an off the peg suit and he said yes. i said did the shop assistant explain how long to make it .quality of cloth and type of thread /zip etc used? he said don't be stupid why would they. i said same point. we are just sales people, to discuss the best deal for you speak to a qualified person Whilst Martin can and does advise us he does not TELL US which is best for us, just speaks in general and points us in the right direction.
I for one have saved money from his advise, also from payless and various others on this site. Thankyou all for the time you spend replying to all our questions.

mumof5boys

Talk About Handbags At You Lot!

Joe_Bloggs

@payless and all
I don't see why Which ,members should be able to have a greater legal standing and impact that the collective efforts of the MSE members. Perhaps they are co-ordinated better. Perhaps this is a half baked idea. Perhaps we need to organise support in some way. Should there be a council of members that rivals Which ?
J_B.

Dualcyclone

I found this website some time ago, and have always used it as added value to my own personal inclinations; and its a great website and I thank Martin for providing us with this fantastic, and free, advise that he makes for us off his own back.
:money:
Brokers who make threats are simply gasping for breath in a tidal wave of distruction this market has made; Martin is certainly not the blame here! If these brokers feel threatened, so they should!! If they feel threatened its simply because they're unable to provide the best deals, which is why so many people come to this website for advise.

I took Martins advise when I set up ISA's with Icesave for my parents; its certainly not his fault the bank went belly up - and it was my choice that decided my parents money would do well there; and it has! They'll get their money back soon, unfortunately at the cost to the British tax payer, but cest la vie, who isn't being propped up by the tax payer right now?

Unhappy brokers; don't bite the hand that feeds you!

And Martin, forget the minority of people that dislike you when you have an army of people that support the great work you do - keep it up!

Graeme7777

Hi,

For a while I've thought that Mortgage Advising sounds like an interesting job. However, when I've looked at job advertisements most seem to be focused on candidates who can sell rather than offer advice. Of course any business must make sales to survive but I do wish that the prime hiring criterion would be the willingness and ability to offer sound financial advice.

That said, I wish all of the mortgage advisors on this site who offer us good, free advice all of the best in these tough times!

ataylorrl

Hi

I found MSE some time ago and take a great interest in reading Martin´s weekly e-mails and the joe bloggs fora.

I also use my own noggins and don't take everything he or anyone else says as Gospel.

If Martin posted that the best and quickest way to warm my hands up after venturing out into the cold during the credit crunch was to put my hand over my new energy efficient gas hob whilst lit, would I do it? No, and would anyone else? No, not unless they were totally lacking in common sense and believed everyword someone said without thinking for themselves as to whether in their own personal circumstances it was a good idea.

Come on, people, use your common sense! This site is for advice and cannot be the right answer to millions of people´s problems. Use it as a guide for goodness sake, like it was intended!

Keep up the good work, Martin & helpers! Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to all, Brokers or not!

dunstonh

For a while I've thought that Mortgage Advising sounds like an interesting job. However, when I've looked at job advertisements most seem to be focused on candidates who can sell rather than offer advice. Of course any business must make sales to survive but I do wish that the prime hiring criterion would be the willingness and ability to offer sound financial advice.

Thats because those that advertise and happy to take on new recruits need sellers before they need advisers. More established firms rather than salesforces want advisers. This is why so many in the industry have been calling for a split between sales and advice. The FSA came close to giving us that split but the salesforces lobbied and the FSA backed down.

harryhound

Should I feel the need for financial advice; I definitely would NOT seek it from a [strike]muppet[/strike] tied advisor in a bank.

I think I would look for someone on here who seemed to give good general free advice over many months, see if they were fee based and then send them a Private Message.