What do you look for in a broker?

AndrewSmith

Careful_girl wrote:

Hi grumpy one, tis going well.:beer:
Oh No I have hijacked a thread! Quick i am running scared!!!!:eek:

And so you should, especially when I drop in for that coffee and Tiramasu armed with my JCB

kenshaz

What do you look for in a broker?
competitive exclusive deals,which is the ethos of this site,that is what the majority of money savers wish.:money: including Martin

MortgageMamma

5.......4........3........2.......1........

I can count forwards too

kenshaz

MortgageMamma wrote:

Thanks for your comments JamesD and Kenshaz.

So - I know this will cause some debate but I have to ask - Am I right in thinking that you think a broker should take on a case, search the true whole of market, and recommend a lender and product that does not pay commission, without remuneration? How would you feel personally as the consumer in doing that?

Off to do school run but back soon

I would not feel very happy,but I would have put the factor into my business plan on a percentage basis:money:

AndrewSmith

I actually completely agree with Kenshaz on this point.

It cannot be the fault of the client if the broker does not have access to the most suitable product for that client, as such the client should not be expected to pay for what is, after all, a shortcoming in the broker market on the very rare occasions this happens.

MortgageMamma

Andy you have hit 1,000 thanks. You must be doing a sterling job mate.

payless

Quote:
Originally Posted by payless
But that makes assumptions thats aren't always the case - assumes fee based is always either on top of or in excess of the ( possibly rebated) commission... there is nothing to stop an adviser working on a fee based ( with full rebate ) or commission (with partial rebate) offering a full advice service and still working out cheaper than those examples.

kenshaz wrote:

Many brokers charge both fees and take commission. However, to call themselves an ‘Independent Mortgage Broker’ they must offer an option to pay fees only, with any commission earned available to be rebated. Yet in practice this is bunkum as what tends to happen is this: they offer to allow you to pay either a “1% fee in full and they will rebate their 0.35% commission” or alternatively they’ll suggest you can just pay a “0.65% fee and keep all the commission” in other words, no difference.

Just quoting from Martin's articles all the time does not mean I am wrong ... ( he states "many" ... but IMHO implies its the norm for brokers to charge a fee AND take commission.. my experience implies otherwise ) Fact is I am right , as previously highlighted , in some cases its possible to get to get fully advised / protected independent mortgage advice on a fee basis ( or reduced commission) which is cheaper than on a (call centre ?) WoM Fee free option , and in some cases even cheaper than the " no advice " routes"/ cashback routes .

Its peoples preception / media that makes fee basis look so bad, so that brokers don't go there .. but remember "independent" means offering fee basis , it does not have to be the only option.

UK007BullDog

Totally agree with Andrews and MM remarks.
That is why I have not been here much either.

What some people forget to understand is that we are have spent a lot of time, effort and money to get where we are. We had to pass exams to get the certification. We have to pay money to the FSA, we need to pay accountants, if we have an office we need to pay rent or a mortgage on that, there is a cleaner who needs paying, admin staff. We have heating and other utility costs. The software is not free either nor are the computers for sourcing the mortgages, we need to pay out a lot of money for insurances which are compulsory. If we are part of a network we need more exams and get tested and also have to pay the network.

So we have to see where the money comes. We have now decided that the basic information will be free but if we take a client on they will have to pay a fee and we will be keeping the commission as well. We also send people with really tiny mortgages back to their current lenders as we get no money but it will cost us doing that mortgage. We give them basic advice and we will do them if asked but would prefer not to deal with them.

Another thing I would like to set right is that a broker will not just be looking at price, i.e. the cheapest mortgage. We also have to look at the property type and the persons credit record. Some best deals mortgages just will not do for a certain property and then we end up on the phones to find out which lender will actually look at the property. Which means we save a client a lot of time doing the basic work. We cannot rely on the sourcing software alone. Plus we do have the clout with some of the underwriters so can give hopeless cases a lease of life, if the client were to do it direct they would not be able to get anywhere.

Yes, I am busy too. For instance I help those whose income multiples do not fit the automated system but after having done a thorough financial analysis can see that they could afford a mortgage. For instance if someone can pay rent in the amount of £1100 per month then they can afford a mortgage of £850 any day. However income multiples would not have it. A good chat with the underwriter....... they got a mortgage.

I always ask people if they are very rich and work for charities if they start to argue about the commissions or fees we might charge. Because we have bills to pay and we would love to stay fees free but it is not possible. Also the FSA would love to get the lenders stop paying commission and we just live off fees. Now those fees would be quite high for those who have very small mortgages.

Those couple of lenders not showing up on the searches as they do not pay commission are not the most competitive anyway so would not lose sleep over them and the client can go to them directly if they so wished.

As we are with a network we get a percentage of the commission depending on the mortgage amount. So it makes no difference which lender we chose when most pay 0.35% anyway, so the argument that we are fees driven is not correct since regulation. We have to show a very good reason why we went with a lender.

Some weeks ago some lenders now pay us a commission if we tell clients to stay with their lenders. This got attacked as well by some people on here. I think it is a good thing as now we are being paid for advising clients to stay with the lender. However the lenders have made this new arrangement so complicated that I doubt they will ever pay out a lot to advisers.

I send clients back to their lenders, give them tips, help as much as I can and never get paid a penny for it. Once a lady came back with a box of chocolates as a thank you for not doing her mortgage but to speak to her lender directly.

Yes, we have relationships with solicitors, surveyors and estate agents, but all is above board and there to help the client get their mortgage quicker. We do not get any paybacks, however if we did it would be recorded and paid into an account and we would pay tax on that. How many handymen out there do that!?! Not many, going by the self certs I have done for self employed people. Everything has to be above board or one would lose the license to work in the Financial Services industry, or even go to jail or be fined. As has happened to quite a few firms lately, which means the chaff is sorted from the wheat, which is good for us reputable brokers.

I am just unhappy that I have to justify my profession each time I come on here when I just want to help to point people to a possible solution. So have not been here for a while, but read a book instead and looked at the cost of doing another course which will cost me around £250, then the cost of traveling to the test centre and probably losing one days work. All so that I can stay on top of developments.

Don't start me on the mystery shoppers that take up a lot of time, and where I will not earn any money at all. Then the time wasters (maybe we should start charging £750 for basic advice like another local broker is doing), who we give best advice and then goes direct to the lender, just cannot comprehend that as we were completely fees free.

The deals on the Internet are for dream clients, with dream income and dream credit records and a dream property in a dream postcode area. For the rest of the 99% of the population they will not get those rates. So why bother with the Internet. I tried it out myself and after filling out lots of forms got the message an adviser will have to call me. So why not go to a broker, sit in front of them and tell them everything to get the best deal suitable for them?!

For those moaning about being offered insurance by brokers, we are FORCED to mention it by the FSA. We need to document in our files why the client refrained from taking life, critical illness or some sort of payment protection insurance. If something happens to the client and we cannot prove we offered, advised and pulled quotes for the client we are in the proverbial deep end. So while the client feels hassled, we feel hassled too but have to do it or lose our license if we cannot prove we did offer it.

The little brokers are being squeezed out and before we know it there will only be large super brokerages left. I get calls all the time from the "big boys" and if things get any more regulated, harder then I might just join one of those and only deal with High Net Worth clients. I too have bills to pay, a mortgage etc. so feel quite affronted by all this negative stuff about brokers.

Anyway, finished moaning now. Jumping off my soapbox. It's nearly 9 pm and time to watch a film.

MortgageMamma

wow that was quite an outpour! I can;t wait for some smart !!!! to come along and dissect that one. I'd stay away from the self certing handymen if I was you!

mclaren_2

im not a morgage person but, i can sence alot of tension going on in here