Openworks mortgage brokers

tododo

Hi all

The girlfriend and I are finally thinking seriously about buying our first house (scaring me to death).

Anyway we recently had a motgage boker visit us to give us some advice. (we have been reading a lot of stuff and heared that this was a good idea)
We asked the questions that Martin recommends on this site (thanks by the way) regarding brokers covering mortgages available.....ie are they whole of market.

Basically the boker said that they werent whole of market as some lenders are not an option due to say geography ie building societies in scotland wont lend to us when we are in S Wales. OK that made sense.

Another question I asked when he brought some figures round was is he able to get a percentage decrease off the current rates of lending ...... better than if say Iwere to walk into a bank and do the mortgage myself.

I maybe wrong but I was suprised when he said he was unable to get any better deals. I thought thats what they were there for.

Anyway he then explained that his role was to "fight our corner" during the house buying process......whatever that means......but he did seem genuine enough. The cost by the way for these services on completion of the mortgage was £195

My question is really has anyone had any dealings with Openworks.....they are apparently a subsidary of Zurich Bank

Any advice is grealty appreciated duuring this stressful time

homer_j_3

Whole of market means that he can advise you on a wider selection of lenders than those who are limited to a select number of lenders. He is not whole of market for those reasosns. If he provided you with a terms of business and Initial Disclosure Document, it should tell you there what service he offers and costs etc. Just check that.

Mortgage advisors are there to ensure that you get the most suitable product for your needs and situation. They are not there to get you discounts off high street lenders rates, however, some can but that depends on the brokers company. Not all can. They will have access to products that you may not find on the high street, which is where brokers come into their own.

His role is not anything to do with the house buying process, his role is to ensure that you get a mortgage that is suitable for your needs to help you fund your house purchase. Your solicitor is employed tp protect you legally and ensure that you are not getting stitched up.

I am sorry but he sounds like a muppet who cannot be bothered to be professional and explain things to you and as first time buyers you should expect the advisor to explain things properly to you

I can't comment on the company but I would be a little worried with what had been said to you from the information provided.

LITTLEMISSFLOWER

Hi There We Have A Broker From Openwork And We Dont Have To Pay Him Anything. I Can Say He Has Been A Rock For Us.We Are Having So Many Problems With Life Insurance.he has spent many hours making sure we understand everything and we get weekly updates on whats going on.
if you dont feel your getting a good service change your broker. :eek:

LITTLEMISSFLOWER

i will try to help you with anything i can :rotfl:

dunstonh

A tied advisor can be very good or very bad. An independent/whole of market advisor can be very good or very bad. However, one thing a tied advisor cannot be is independent and nothing he says otherwise can change that.

Always see a whole of market advisor. Do not let any spin from non whole of market advisors persuade you otherwise. It is complete rubbish. Although you do have to laugh at the "location of lender" as a reason given to why independent is not worth it.

stanmoresaver

tododo wrote:

Hi all

The girlfriend and I are finally thinking seriously about buying our first house (scaring me to death).

Anyway we recently had a motgage boker visit us to give us some advice. (we have been reading a lot of stuff and heared that this was a good idea)
We asked the questions that Martin recommends on this site (thanks by the way) regarding brokers covering mortgages available.....ie are they whole of market.

Basically the boker said that they werent whole of market as some lenders are not an option due to say geography ie building societies in scotland wont lend to us when we are in S Wales. OK that made sense.

Another question I asked when he brought some figures round was is he able to get a percentage decrease off the current rates of lending ...... better than if say Iwere to walk into a bank and do the mortgage myself.

I maybe wrong but I was suprised when he said he was unable to get any better deals. I thought thats what they were there for.

Anyway he then explained that his role was to "fight our corner" during the house buying process......whatever that means......but he did seem genuine enough. The cost by the way for these services on completion of the mortgage was £195

My question is really has anyone had any dealings with Openworks.....they are apparently a subsidary of Zurich Bank

Any advice is grealty appreciated duuring this stressful time

I share an office with an openwork adviser.

For investments and insurance they have a "best of breed" offering- effectively they are tied, so personally i would not buy through them.

Their offering for mortgages is "whole of market", well according to the IDD he has just had to change. They can charge a fee up to 1%. As a consumer, i would consider using them if i weren't a broker, and it is all down to how you feel with the individual representative. To be far to him/her, explain that whilst you are happy to arrange your mortgage through them, you will arrange any associated insurance you want/need through an independant broker.

HTH

SS

Lenderman

Openwork is basically a network organisation offering complaince and support to financial advisers. They were formerly known as Zurich Advice Network and, prior to that, Allied Dunbar (a more familar name). Not all Openwork advisors were Allied Dunbar advisors. Hope you're still following me.

Basically, a large and well respected organisation but, it will really come down to the individual you're dealing with. I work for a national lender and deal regularly with many advisors under the Openwork umbrella. Most are excellent and many will charge fees (e.g. one charges £395 as standard). However, there are a couple of their guys who, to me, appear less clued up.

Good Luck

tododo

Thanks for all this info guys

We are taking this whole process very slowly.... we are not rushing into anything at the moment

Ive been put off going through Openworks also as we had a message from the openworks office to see if we have found a house yet....this was only a few days after his last visit to us giving us the best mortgages he found ........which he basically guided us towards the Bank of Scotland (just thought id mention)

In addition he has given us a solictors quote I think which the openworks office recommend.

This put me off a bit because one of his arguments was that banks try to get you to do everything with them and therefore con you but on the otherhand he "could" be doing a similar thing

We havent really started looking at properties yet as we want to understand the mortgage market a bit first.....thanks for all the advise