Estate agent mortgage searches

aqueoushumour01

A bit of advice for a first time buyer if you can help - I was told by some estate agents that they have an 'independent' person who can get the best mortgage quote by looking at all providers in the market. This service is provided free. Im always sceptical of free lunches, so where's the catch? Am I better off asking providers myself or can I genuinely obtain a better quote that way??

Dan_1976

Seriously, this may gone on forever once I leave!

Anyhow, if it is free he/she cant be independent as independent refers to fee charging brokers. the point is they are not drawn to commission payments over good/best advice.

HE probably means whole of market, this means they have a good range of products available.

Have a look at some of the stickys on this forum. EA brokers have a bad rep if they are employed by the EA.

Really you better off getting a recommendation from a family member or friend.

happybroker

aqueoushumour01 wrote: »

A bit of advice for a first time buyer if you can help - I was told by some estate agents that they have an 'independent' person who can get the best mortgage quote by looking at all providers in the market. This service is provided free. Im always sceptical of free lunches, so where's the catch? Am I better off asking providers myself or can I genuinely obtain a better quote that way??

check how many lenders the EA's adviser has available to them...some only have about a dozen or so and claim to be whole of market which is a shame.

VIGILANT22

Dan_1976 wrote: »

Seriously, this may gone on forever once I leave!

Anyhow, if it is free he/she cant be independent as independent refers to fee charging brokers. the point is they are not drawn to commission payments over good/best advice.

HE probably means whole of market, this means they have a good range of products available.

Have a look at some of the stickys on this forum. EA brokers have a bad rep if they are employed by the EA.

Really you better off getting a recommendation from a family member or friend.

DAN...what is your problem understanding independence...pls refer to The FSA MCOB Handbook on independence
MCOB 4.3.7R(1)(b) means that a firm wishing to hold itself out as independent will need to give a customer a purely fee−based option for paying its fees. However, the firm may in addition provide the customer with other payment options, such as a combination of fees and commission.

If after reading that if you're still in doubt Martin Lewis has posted here

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/best-mortgages-cashback#step2

Then scroll half way down the page to :

You'll note at no point have I used the word 'independent', that's because with mortgage brokers that term's got some slightly strange regulation behind it, read more about Independent Mortgage Brokers
Click on Independent Mortgage Brokers and it will bring up the below...
After reading this I hope people will stop posting independant means whole of market as it is misleading consumers....

Why independent is mostly irrelevant Many brokers charge fees AND take commission. However, to call themselves an ‘Independent Mortgage Broker' they must offer an option to pay fees only, with all the commission earned being rebated to the customer. Yet in practice this is bunkum. What tends to happen is this: they offer to let you pay EITHER a "1% fee in full and rebate their 0.35% commission" OR they'll suggest you can just pay a "0.65% fee and keep all the commission". In other words, not a lot of difference.
Worse still, it means a truly whole of market broker fees-free broker (only taking commission), can't call itself independent, even though it is providing the same advice and is cheaper.
So while independent is a good short-hand to getting a decent broker, using the three questions in this article should hone it better.

VIGILANT22

Simply....For an adviser to call themselves Independent they must be able to offer the following:


No Fee. We will be paid by commission from the lender.
A Fee. We will also be paid commission from the lender.


If an adviser is fee free only, they are not independent....but could be WOM = Whole of Market

Dan_1976

Vag, if a EA is telling a client they have a free independent broker she is either breaking MCOB rules or she is wrong. In the real world what do you think is most likely to be going on here?

I understand the rules thank you very much, but the problem with the rules is many are either ignored or do not work in the real world.

VIGILANT22

The KFI has to reflect what service is being offered..why can you not accept what independent means...it's not a hanging offence to be wrong!

Yes I do believe an EA is independent...pls pls do not mistake this as Whole of Market..it means they follow the 3 payment methods which allows you to be independent..

I will repeat again an advisor who offers fee free only....is not independent yet they could be whole of market.....

and you can be independent without being whole of market...you could be representative of the market as in many networks.....ie Intrinsic, PTFS,

Dan_1976

Vig I am not stupid, I know what the terms mean. But you have to put your manual down if you can get it out of your backside and look at what happens in the real world.

The OP stated that the EA not the broker, said they are free and independent! You know that cant be true, they have to follow the 3 golden routes to heaven! As i said, she is either just telling porkies, or breaking MCOB rules!

GEt off your soap box

smartpicks

[L=stocks-advisor.!!!!!!!!!!!!/stockpenny[/L]

VIGILANT22

Dan_1976 wrote: »

Vig I am not stupid, I know what the terms mean. But you have to put your manual down if you can get it out of your backside and look at what happens in the real world.

The OP stated that the EA not the broker, said they are free and independent! You know that cant be true, they have to follow the 3 golden routes to heaven! As i said, she is either just telling porkies, or breaking MCOB rules! GEt off your soap box

I don't need any manual!.....
Quote: "I was told by some estate agents that they have an 'independent' person who can get the best mortgage quote by looking at all providers in the market. This service is provided free.".....
EA not breaking any rule, they are just informing services they have available in the office (the EA didn't offer advice)...also (and I am not EA supporting) EA's...but they did say a quote was free..didn't say anything about arranging....

It is nothing to do with "what happens in the real world"....if you're not independent you cannot describe yourself as independent ..simple as..and all your justification for altering the terms etc is farsical to say the least.

Dan_1976

oh my god! You really are sad!

It took me 6 months to stop EA staff refering to me as an independent, I was just saying that you have to check. Maybe the way I said it did not confirm with your rule book?

We know a very small amount of info from the op. So lets just wait and see what they say.