Really worried I made a mistake!

keeleyh

Hi,
I fell in love with a property and made an offer which was accepted (good I thought). Friday I went into the branch and spoke with a mortgage broker (with a fee of £600), got a mortgage with Abbey that also had a £995 fee and was happy with the rate. However just today I went to the property and was not too impressed with the locals (including immediate neighbours!). I feel I have made a hugh mistake, is there any cheap way out of this? I assume my £600 broker free is long gone, will the Abbey force any charges upon me if I cancel now?

nikkster_2

I'd say, at an uneducated guesstimate, you've lost your £600 (frankly I am scandalised by this, I have never heard of paying a broker for advice in this way) but unless you actually got your mrtgage through adn the moeny in your account that very day (impossible) you're not liable for any fees - you've just been quoted for one!

Jennifer_Jane

Also shocked you had to pay to speak to a mortgage broker.

When I changed mortgages, the fee to the broker was about £190 and that was when everything was signed and sealed. I've not heard of having to do this before and am also scandalised. I just wouldn't have that kind of money to spend on speaking to people.

I think you should take that further, but unsure where you would go. Good luck!

Jen
x

keeleyh

Thanks for your replys. The broker/advisers fee was upto 1.5% of the loan amount, I have the paper work here and it says..

"An initial fee of £0 is payable at the outset regardless of whether a mortgage is purchased, plus a fee of 1% on application of your mortgage. The total fee shall not exceed 1.5% of the amount of your mortgage. We will also receive commission from the mortgage lender in addition to the fees you pay. These fess are subject to the terms and conditions of your signed fee waiver agreement." then below that are 2 boxes, the checked box says "No refund of the initial fee you have paid"

I do wonder about how its worded, and the fact above says 0% initial fee.

opinions4u

nikkster wrote: »

frankly I am scandalised by this, I have never heard of paying a broker for advice in this way but unless you actually got your mrtgage through adn the moeny in your account that very day (impossible) you're not liable for any fees - you've just been quoted for one!

Jennifer_Jane wrote: »

Also shocked you had to pay to speak to a mortgage broker.

So where a mortgage aborts, who should pay the broker for his/her time? Should they work for free?

The broker does appear to have disclosed all charges up front, and the OP has agreed to them. If your employer said they'd pay you £600 for doing some work, and the turned round and said you should pay them back, would that be fair?

keeleyh wrote: »

"An initial fee of £0 is payable at the outset regardless of whether a mortgage is purchased, plus a fee of 1% on application of your mortgage. The total fee shall not exceed 1.5% of the amount of your mortgage. We will also receive commission from the mortgage lender in addition to the fees you pay. These fess are subject to the terms and conditions of your signed fee waiver agreement." then below that are 2 boxes, the checked box says "No refund of the initial fee you have paid"

I do wonder about how its worded, and the fact above says 0% initial fee.

As you also imply that you have applied, then surely 1% is payable under the terms of the agreement you signed.

The Abbey fee may or may not be refundable. It depends on their terms as well. I'd strongly suggest you contact the broker asap to stop them passing that fee on to Abbey. Ask nicely if they'll refund anything (or agree to hold their fee pending an application for the next property you fall in love with).

Mrs_Bumble

So are you going to look for another property?

If you find another property then the chances are that you could salvage the product fee with Abbey.

"An initial fee of £0 is payable at the outset regardless of whether a mortgage is purchased, plus a fee of 1% on application of your mortgage. The total fee shall not exceed 1.5% of the amount of your mortgage. We will also receive commission from the mortgage lender in addition to the fees you pay. These fess are subject to the terms and conditions of your signed fee waiver agreement." then below that are 2 boxes, the checked box says "No refund of the initial fee you have paid"

You haven't paid a fee upfront then? So the mortgage broker up to now has worked for free and is expecting to be paid on completion.

So are you going to continue to look for a property? Ask the broker to just hold the application for now and then you won't have lost anything will you.

From my perspective, you will see from my signature that I do have a bias, I think it would be nice if people did give a thought for all of the different scenarios which can mean that a broker puts a lot of time and effort into something and ends up with nothing.

confused31_2

How bad was the immediate neighbours??

Whatever you do dont buy it, its not worth it , the last thing you would want is crap neighbours, are they really that bad?

If they are that bad its worth losing a few quid, walk away.

keeleyh

confused31 wrote: »

How bad was the immediate neighbours??

Whatever you do dont buy it, its not worth it , the last thing you would want is crap neighbours, are they really that bad?

If they are that bad its worth losing a few quid, walk away.

If they were doing what they were doing when I viewed the property I wouldnt have put an offer in.

I have accepted the fact that the £600 is gone (the broker did mention if it falls through, the fee wont be charged a second time if I looked into other properties). As I understand it from my online searches, some lenders charge a withdrawl fee if you cancel between being accepted, and actually taking the mortgage, anyone know if Abbey do this? Hopefully the fact I will be cancelling within just 4 days of being approved will do me some favours.

benjo

Im sorry for your bad luck Re: the neighbours - but your situation doesnt sound a disaster.

You havent really lost your money to the IFA you have just paid him early- effectively your next mortgage dealings will have already been paid for if you use the same broker.

Fingers crossed that the Abbey will be sympathetic to your good sense in pulling out now when you explain the situation to them - goodluck in finding your dream home.

getmore4less

Just keep looking for another place, put the application on hold and renegage when you have found a place. check with the IFA that this is OK it should be it happens all the time, something come up that stops the sale.

Next time shop around a bit for an IFA that is cheaper or do some mortgage hunting yourself, it is not that hard unless you are looking for a deal on lenders limits.

maninthestreet

keeleyh wrote: »

If they were doing what they were doing when I viewed the property I wouldnt have put an offer in.

I have accepted the fact that the £600 is gone (the broker did mention if it falls through, the fee wont be charged a second time if I looked into other properties). As I understand it from my online searches, some lenders charge a withdrawl fee if you cancel between being accepted, and actually taking the mortgage, anyone know if Abbey do this? Hopefully the fact I will be cancelling within just 4 days of being approved will do me some favours.

So what were the doing?