Estate agent offering pre-arranged mortgage - good idea?

Christyt

An agent in Brighton offers pre-arranged mortgages with Natwest which are pre-approved but which are portable (pending valuation of course) and which you don't have to use if you decide you want to get a better rate elsewhere without penalties.

Obviously the rate you get might not be the best but he says in a very competitive market like Brighton, he says it's worth it to be able to say to buyers, I've got a mortgage in the bag and not have to wait up to 12 weeks for mortgage approval.

I've got about 60% deposit and need to borrow just over 2x my salary and am chain free so I'm pretty ideal as a buyer as it is.

Is there a catch to this I'm missing? Or is it a no-lose option as it sounds?

Grateful for any advice...

brit1234

Check out other offers as well from the other lenders. There is a large chance you can get a better offer elsewhere.

Leon_W

Just sounds like they get an Agreement in Principle with NatWest which, quite frankly, anyone can do either direct or through a broker.

There may be more suitable products than a NatWest mortgage however and you'll have a credit search on your file for not much benefit. Tread carefully.

Christyt

Thanks for the replies - sorry for the delay - been busy mortgage sorting. In the end didn't go for the pre-arranged deal. It didn't affect me being on their priority list (though i'm sure they promote buyers who sign up over those who don't to sellers). Got a deal with First Direct in the end. Tried London and Country who i'd used twice before - but they don't cover First Direct and couldn't find a deal to compete. Good luck everyone.

xyellowx

op in your posistion you should be able to get the best deal on the market wouldnt touch the e/a advisor with a barge pole

dunstonh

Obviously the rate you get might not be the best but he says in a very competitive market like Brighton, he says it's worth it to be able to say to buyers, I've got a mortgage in the bag and not have to wait up to 12 weeks for mortgage approval.

What a con. Thats just an attempt to get sales in house. A disgraceful tactic and one that is typical of many estate agents. You can get an agreement in principle from any mortgage adviser and lender.

TrickyDicky

So moving in 12 weeks earlier is worth paying £1000s more on your mortgage?

See a whole of market broker. They will probably get you a much better deal. Whats wrong with waiting 12 weeks to save all that money in interest payments? Buying a house is not the same as buying something down in the supermarket!

luckyfool

TrickyDicky wrote: »

So moving in 12 weeks earlier is worth paying £1000s more on your mortgage?

See a whole of market broker. They will probably get you a much better deal. Whats wrong with waiting 12 weeks to save all that money in interest payments? Buying a house is not the same as buying something down in the supermarket!

That's not the agent's argument, it was that if you have a mortgage agreed and lined up ahead of time then if you find your ideal property the vendor is more likely to choose an equivalent buyer who already has a mortgage lined up over someone who may or may not be able to get a mortgage and might take longer to complete (if indeed they can). Standard estate agency financial services sales pitch, and of course it has a small kernel of truth to it.

betmunch

This is a bit better than an AIP, its a service offered through Connells and Sequence group EA's.

They have an agreement with NatWest and Skipton that they will send in a full application apart from the Property and Solicitors details and the client will be fully underwritten, then the lender will wait for the property to be added.

A savvy Countrywide agent could also do this unofficially with a much wider choice of lenders if they wanted to but they dont.

Its actually a very good system, but it gets their hooks into you. Which is the bit I would want to avoid.

If I was you, I would just get the AIP and stay the Hell out of the Connells/Sequence mortgage advisors reaches!