When to see a broker

chickaroonee

Not sure if this is a silly question but here goes..

We're due to put our house up for sale in the next couple of weeks, just finishing off some jobs round the house first. I'm trying to get as many quotes and things in place first while I can, as ideally we would like to move quite quickly due to a baby on the way (and of course, finding a buyer dependent!!).

I am trying to locate a mortgage broker and was about to email some local IFAs to find out their fee structure/if they look at the whole market etc. Is it best to meet with the broker before the house is on the market, or would they not want to see us until it is? I'd ideally want to meet ASAP so we're clear on exactly what we can afford to move to, but I don't know if the broker would want us to have our house on the market.

Does this even matter and am I over thinking this?! Thanks.

LilacPixie

My place is not on the market yet but i have met with a broker I did this for a few reasons. Firstly we have a complicated situation being I have bothemployment income and self employment income but only 2 years completed accounts for the SE income, my OH gets a basic wage plus bonuses for each complete job so income is variable. Basically I did not want to market our home without knowing for sure that we were able to get a mortgage of an amount we require.

chickaroonee

Thanks Lilac that's really helpful. Did you pay anything to see the broker, or do they get their fees from commission?

LilacPixie

I went to a fee free one. I used him before when buying this place so I feel like i can trust him KWIM.