New Homes Mortgage Helpline

englishrob

Anyone got any good or bad feedback about the company New Homes Mortgage Helpline (NHMH)?
I've been offered a mortgage through them which is comparible as going through the lender directly, but the seller is "advising" to use them to help speed things along.

Any advice would be grateful. Thanks.

G_M

This is your mortgage not the sellers. If you don't know the company and can get the same deal direct, go direct.

Kyrae

Are you buying a new build and the builders want you to use New Homes? Not sure if its the same company but ours advised us to use one called 'New Homes Mortgage Services' and we had nothing but trouble. When we first rang them they said fine no problems, we have plenty of offers available and quoted some rates from high street banks that were affordable to us. So we put down deposit with builders etc, and made an appointment to meet with a New Homes advisor at our house. The guy turned up very late and then looked on his computer and said there was only one company that would offer us a mortgage. Turns out the person on the phone had put the mortgage in one name whereas we wanted a joint mortgage with one income, something we knew that was going to be harder to find. We weren't happy but the rate was still affordable so we said go ahead and apply for us, then got a letter through in a week or so saying we had been refused the mortgage. New Homes never told us why, despite many phone calls and them promising to call back and not doing so. The advisor also applied for life insurance for both of us, and when the forms came back to sign he'd put that my partner works less than 10 hours a week when he works full time, and we're left wondering if he also screwed up our mortgage application and input incorrect information. The guy was very unprofessional, he couldnt connect to the internet on his laptop and had to use our computer network and he asked if we could print all the documents out on our computer printer (about 30 pages) as he didn't have any way to print them.

On top of all this, if you read their key facts you'll see that they charge a £99 fee for applying for a mortgage on your behalf, and a £250 fee when your mortgage is approved unless you get life insurance with them and the fee is paid by commission from the insurance company instead. This was pointed out by the mortgage advisor, i'll give him credit there, but when you book the appointment and talk to the company over the phone, they never mention that there are charges or fees for their service.

The company you're being advised to use may be a different one, but i'd still recommend finding a local mortgage advisor that a friend or family member have used and were happy with, or going straight through the lender. After we told New Homes that we no longer wanted their help, we applied directly through a lender and were approved in less than a week, so I don't think using a mortgage advisor necessarily means they'll speed things along.

Hope that helps

swordsman2007

You are better off using a local broker.

Firstly they do not tell you about their fees until they are on the doorstep. They charge you more than the mortgage company's own valuation fees. It has not been any quicker using them than our previous experiences in applying for mortgages. Steer clear if you can.

M_and_A

Swordsman2007 sums it up. I completely regret getting them to arrange my mortgage. Although, "Steer clear if you can", may not be strong enough! Simply, "steer clear"!

michellej1980

I am completing purchase on a new build apartment tomorrow. I was advised to use New Homes Mortgage Helpline and have had no problems. They did everything for me and did it quickly.

However, there are things I think you need to be aware of.

Don't let them arrange your property valuation. I paid £395 when I later discovered that my mortgage lender would have charged almost half that. I learnt this too late.

Don't let them try and force you to buy mortgage protection, life insurance, home contents insurance. Do you own research and find the right deals. The quotes they will give you will be much higher and what they don't tell you is that they get commission on each of the policies they sell you. I was given a quote for contents insurance at £27 a month for a two bedroom flat. I have just found insurance for £54 a year.

They also try and get you to pay £295 for a 'lifetime' membership fee so that if you need any mortgage/financial advice in the future you won't have to pay again. I declined this which irritated my FA who said I would therefore have to pay a £95 fee for the advice they were giving me that day. I agreed. However, I was called the next day to say they would not be taking this charge so I have not paid a penny to them.

Whatever you decide, good luck!

M_and_A

michellej1980, it seems you have got a bit of a bargain if they haven't charged you the £95 they charge everyone else! Despite that, customers have to be "on their toes" to avoid problems, and you have given some great examples.

It's not a surprise to me that they caused you to 'overpay' for the property valuation. In my case, they benefited from my lack of mortgage/financial experience. Perhaps those with experience won't fair so badly!

PasturesNew

Strangely odd number of new entrants, being very vocal ... spam?

lou11ise

* * * * * * WARNING * * * * * * *
DO NO USE NEW HOMES MORTGAGES HELPLINE AS ADVISORS!!
They will screw you over like they did me.

They charged me £345 for a ‘lifetime membership’ that I did not agree to! Also they say their normal fee is £145

ALL MORTGAGE ADVICE IS FREE
THEY GET THEIR PAY FROM THE LENDER!

Do not use them, I wouldn’t recommend them to my worst enemy!

OJWCGW

We told our New Homes Mortgage Helpline advisor we must set up new mortgage to avoid our Early Repayment Charge. He neglected to do this properly - there are ways of doing this if you stay with the same lender - and now we are stuck with a large unexpected bill. I should have ignored Linden Home's instructions to use this company, and set it up direct with the lender, this has now cost me thousands of pounds rather than saving me anything. So angry!!