DIY vs Broker

twobuckchuck

Hi all,

I have recently applied to HSBC for a lifetime tracker mortgage 80%LTV @ 2.49% + BOE base rate for the term. Today i honoured my meeting with my agents mortage advisor just to see what they had to offer in case i get to turned down.

I was very dissapointed as after his fee of £529 the best he offered was a 75%LTV 2year tracker @ 3.29% for 2 years then SVR currently 4.24%.

MY question is . . . . if my HSBC mortgage gets declined obviously i cant risk that happening again. If i apply for the same mortgage with any bank directly OR with a broker, am i more likely to be accepted with the broker??


Thanks

John

Yorkie1

The advantage to approaching a bank directly is that there may be non-broker mortgages available - I think HSBC is a bank where that is the case. The disadvantage of doing so is that each time you apply for a mortgage, it leaves marks on your credit record - too many of those and it will impact on your ability to get credit.

The advantage of going to a broker is that if there is anything on your credit record which may cause difficulties in getting credit, they will have the knowledge to identify where you might best find a mortgage suitable for you. They can also liaise with underwriters and perhaps that will indeed make a difference to whether you get offered one.

Are you expecting to be declined for any reason?

payless

Did you pay £529 upfront??

blueberrypie

twobuckchuck wrote: »

MY question is . . . . if my HSBC mortgage gets declined obviously i cant risk that happening again. If i apply for the same mortgage with any bank directly OR with a broker, am i more likely to be accepted with the broker??

You probably have a better chance of acceptance on the mortgage of your choice with a broker, but it's not because lenders give you "extra points" or anything like that for having applied through a broker. It's because a broker will know the characteristics of different lenders - will know which are more likely to approve if you are looking for a high multiple of your salary, or have a missed payment on your credit file, or if government benefits form part of your income, or you have dependents...all the many variations that can matter to one lender and not to another. So the broker will know better than you how to *place* your mortgage application. He/she will also know the best way to present it, how to describe your circumstances to improve the likelihood of acceptance. And finally, brokers know who to contact within the lending organisation if there's any chasing or convincing to be done.

twobuckchuck

Thanks for the replies, No i have not paid the £529, nor do i have any intention of doing so.

The only reason i am slightly twitchy about my HSBC application is because i was into my overdraft (£900 in £3500 overdarft) for 3 days at the end of last month and i had to send them 3 months statements. This only happened though because a few weeks ago i transfered £2400 to a savings account.

Thanks

John

koexelek

Yorkie1 wrote: »

The advantage to approaching a bank directly is that there may be non-broker mortgages available - I think HSBC is a bank where that is the case.

Spot on , and although I don't particularly like it from a personal business point of view, I respect their stance.

They openly put two fingers up to brokers, where as other lenders tell us "how important we are ", while offering better deals direct at branch level than we can offer.

Senior_Paper_Monitor

The overdraft issue (well within limits) should have no negative impact - in fact probably the opposite. Credit rating is not about being rich, but about being in control of its repsonsible use.

shimano

Check out both for sure, going direct saved me nearly 1% on rates, at the time the brokers were starved of the headline offers.

I consider shopping round for mortgages to include self research online and speaking to brokers, not just one or the other.

My application was pretty vanilla (no credit issues etc) so i personally wouldnt have needed the value add a broker may provide.

twobuckchuck

Thanks for the replies, fingers crosses for my HSBC application, should know in a couple of days.

Question now is:

If that should get delined do i dare try another application myself. The 75% LTV lifetime tracker @ 2.15% above BOE base rate with ING Direct would be my next choice.

OR with credit checks and the seller wanting to move relatively quickly do i have to go with a broker to secure a deal??

Thanks

Nick

Mila86

thx, it was interesting to me