Martins View On Using Mortgage Brokers...

kingstreet

You receive your maturity statement and discharge forms from the endowment provider.

You return them with any required documents.

You receive the funds from the endowment provider.

You obtain the settlement figure from the mortgage lender including details of how to settle.

You settle the mortgage.

The lender has the charge removed from the security property.

Lungboy

Just how whole-of-market are brokers? By that I mean can they see all the special offers that banks might have? For example, Santander advertise that they give special rates for staff that work at their partner universities. Would a whole-of-market broker be able to see those offers, or do they need to be investigated personally on top of the broker's search?

dunstonh

Just how whole-of-market are brokers?

Whole of market will typically mean commission paying deals from lenders which are available to the market place.

Independent mortgage brokers will consider non-commission paying deals if you employ them on fee basis.

However, not all branch specific deals may not appear on the research tools.

Lungboy

dunstonh wrote: »

Whole of market will typically mean commission paying deals from lenders which are available to the market place.

Independent mortgage brokers will consider non-commission paying deals if you employ them on fee basis.

However, not all branch specific deals may not appear on the research tools.

So in my Santander example, it would be best not to rely on a broker being able to see those kinds of offers, and go to speak to the bank myself?

ACG

Its probably safe to assume there would be no harm in doing that.
Although I suspect a broker could probably get you a better deal than santander even with the discounts..they are not a lender I come across often being at the top of the rates table.

JennyKo57

I would like to stress that if websites such as Money Saving Expert are recommending the services of brokers, or providing links to their services, then they should regularly vet the level of service provided: we have used one broker referred by the site and it has provided, without doubt, the worst and most incompetent and inefficient level of service we have experienced during 40 years' of financial transactions. All MSE website users beware: caveat emptor - do your own due diligence and do not rely on MSE referrals.

amnblog

To be fair MSE cannot control the service level for each individual case handled by this recommended firm (you know who you are).


MSE's role is to bank the cheque.

dunstonh

I would like to stress that if websites such as Money Saving Expert are recommending the services of brokers, or providing links to their services, then they should regularly vet the level of service provided:

Something similar was raised in the past where Martin responded directly to a question as to why small local firms didnt make his list. He responded that the small local firms would not have the capacity to handle the number of referrals that this site could generate and therefore only larger firms were listed.

we have used one broker referred by the site and it has provided, without doubt, the worst and most incompetent and inefficient level of service we have experienced during 40 years' of financial transactions. All MSE website users beware: caveat emptor - do your own due diligence and do not rely on MSE referrals.

The companies recommended tend to be factory line services. i.e. deal with your call, pass it on and then onto the next person. They are not great for hand holding or in difficult cases. Local firms are so much better for that sort of thing.

lauren_hb

I know this is an old thread but didn't want to start a new one.
We know we want to use a mortgage broker but what is the best way to go about finding one?
We don't know anyone who's bought a house using one, only one couple who used the one based within their estate agents which I here is a no no. So we can't go on recommendations!
I've heard of sites such as vouchedfor and unbiased but how reliable are these?
Also when would be a good time to contact a broker? My partners contract goes from fixed term to permanent at the end of February/beginning March. We've got our deposit in place and have done for a while now.
Thanks!

ACG

I would say take a look on google, call up one or 2 and have a chat with them. Then go from there with it.

Vouchedfor and unbiased are services paid for by brokers, im not sure they are really an indication of good or bad brokers.