Morgage Advisors/Brokers - how bad are they ?

GeorgeHowell

I have recently come indirectly into contact with one. They are apparently good at bird-dogging a mortgage application through and getting it accepted on reasonably favourable terms.

But in terms of the wider view, understanding some of the legal issues and complexities, ensuring consistency in communications, and being transparent with the client -- drop dead useless. Not sure how much is incompetence and how much duplicity -- maybe a bit of each

Are these people just ungifted amateurs motivated by nothing more than maximum commission and fees for the least effort ? Does anyone have any particularly good or bad experiences ?

_Andy_

Like any trade there will be good and bad.

dunstonh

Are these people just ungifted amateurs motivated by nothing more than maximum commission and fees for the least effort ? Does anyone have any particularly good or bad experiences ?

I dont know what the number of advisers is as unlike FAs/IFAs there is no register for mortgage advisers. However, it would be absolutely impossible to give any generalisation on quality because you have different adviser types (single tie, limited panel, whole of market and independent) and different types of distribution (sales or advice)

You will find good and bad. Typically its best to avoid banks (single tie) and estate agents (sales based).

timmyt

Unless you use an IFA (Independent Financial Adviser) who specialises in mortgages, then you have only yourself to blame.

Insist that the IFA tells you he looks at the whole mortgage market (I.e every single bank and building society) AND including those that only speak to the customer.

Bet most people reading this have gone to their own bank (:eek:) or Just listened to their Estate Agent's mortgage adviser (:eek: :eek:).

Good luck, and get an IFA to get sound advice.

GeorgeHowell

timmyt wrote: »

Unless you use an IFA (Independent Financial Adviser) who specialises in mortgages, then you have only yourself to blame.

Insist that the IFA tells you he looks at the whole mortgage market (I.e every single bank and building society) AND including those that only speak to the customer.

Bet most people reading this have gone to their own bank (:eek:) or Just listened to their Estate Agent's mortgage adviser (:eek: :eek:).

Good luck, and get an IFA to get sound advice.

It's not me that needs to be blamed. The mortgagee is a family member and I got involved via providing some general advice and help when the manure was about to hit the air conditioning. I have had no direct contact with this individual.

The mortgage broker in question is described as independent ie not tied to bank or estate agent, FSA registered, and was recommended to the mortgagee by another family member, who is a personal friend of said broker. Supposedly the whole market is looked at. This broker certainly secured a mortgage offer but failed to take proper account of funding circumstances of which they were made well aware from the outset.

I would not use such a individual if it were me, I would work from the internet, direct contact with potential lenders, and a solicitor.

A tied advisor might not be independent but at least they might know what they are doing.

GMS

GeorgeHowell wrote: »

It's not me that needs to be blamed. The mortgagee is a family member and I got involved via providing some general advice and help when the manure was about to hit the air conditioning. I have had no direct contact with this individual.

The mortgage broker in question is described as independent ie not tied to bank or estate agent, FSA registered, and was recommended to the mortgagee by another family member, who is a personal friend of said broker. Supposedly the whole market is looked at. This broker certainly secured a mortgage offer but failed to take proper account of funding circumstances of which they were made well aware from the outset.

I would not use such a individual if it were me, I would work from the internet, direct contact with potential lenders, and a solicitor.

A tied advisor might not be independent but at least they might know what they are doing.

The mortgagee is the lender so unless you are related to a financial institution then they are not family.

Your family member has seemingly had a bad experience with 1 adviser. This does not mean all advisers are the same.

If an individual is confident enough to deal with their own mortgage and understands the workings of it then they generally will do it themselves.

The title of your thread is unfair as there are many many advisers out there who assist clients and provide an excellent service.

GeorgeHowell

GMS wrote: »

The mortgagee is the lender so unless you are related to a financial institution then they are not family.

Your family member has seemingly had a bad experience with 1 adviser. This does not mean all advisers are the same.

If an individual is confident enough to deal with their own mortgage and understands the workings of it then they generally will do it themselves.

The title of your thread is unfair as there are many many advisers out there who assist clients and provide an excellent service.

Incorrect terminology acknowledged -- should read mortgagor.

The fact that usually it is the less confident will use them makes it all the more important that these individuals provide a professional and a complete service.

The title is not unfair at, it is a question not a statement. Answers in support of mortage brokers will have a lot more credibility if they are based on the experiences of ordinary punters, rather than chippy retorts from IFAs trying to defend their collective corner -- a common phenomenon on this forum.

GMS

We do provide a service to many different people, some financially astute and others not so. I have dealt with everybody from a first time buyer with no idea to professional landlords with millions of pounds worth of property. Whoever I deal with will be dealt with in a professional and courteous manner with all aspects explained to thm and all questions answered.

Paperwork is provided to ensure the advice given is transparent.

As for defending corners being a common phenomenon on this forum there are reasons for this. This forum is full of people who constantly state that brokers are rogues who are not needed and only out to pocket commission. Nobody works for free yet brokers are expected to, and this site encourages the use of a broker for information only to take that information and go direct to the lender.

This forum has become something of a 'Rogue Traders' type medium to have a go at brokers in general. Personally I have issues with these types of TV programmes as for every rogue there are many good people. 'Good Traders' I suppose would make for boring TV and would not be watched.

The title of the thread Morgage Advisors/Brokers - how bad are they ? may well be a question but more of a closed one.

How bad are elctricians? How bad are plumbers? How bad are builders? All questions but all unfair in my opinion. Not all of these trades people are bad but there will be poor ones.

GeorgeHowell

GMS wrote: »

We do provide a service to many different people, some financially astute and others not so. I have dealt with everybody from a first time buyer with no idea to professional landlords with millions of pounds worth of property. Whoever I deal with will be dealt with in a professional and courteous manner with all aspects explained to thm and all questions answered.

Paperwork is provided to ensure the advice given is transparent.

As for defending corners being a common phenomenon on this forum there are reasons for this. This forum is full of people who constantly state that brokers are rogues who are not needed and only out to pocket commission. Nobody works for free yet brokers are expected to, and this site encourages the use of a broker for information only to take that information and go direct to the lender.

This forum has become something of a 'Rogue Traders' type medium to have a go at brokers in general. Personally I have issues with these types of TV programmes as for every rogue there are many good people. 'Good Traders' I suppose would make for boring TV and would not be watched.

The title of the thread Morgage Advisors/Brokers - how bad are they ? may well be a question but more of a closed one.

How bad are elctricians? How bad are plumbers? How bad are builders? All questions but all unfair in my opinion. Not all of these trades people are bad but there will be poor ones.

Another nice piece of propaganda, but then the IFA profession is in large part about selling, so that's not surprising. You may be ace, and had you been advising my relative it might have been all hunky-dory, I have no way of knowing. Nobody expects anyone to work for free and the vast majority of people will be perfectly happy with IFAs to earn decent fees and commissions, provided that in return they do the job properly.

This site is primarily for ordinary punters to share and seek information. No reason why fin. serv. industry members should not participate but they cannot expect immunity from a collective pummelling if some of their brethren operate in the Roy Rogers neck of the woods.

This is not a forum about home improvements and maintenance so there will not be many comments about plumbers and builders, whereas on forums concerned with those subjects no doubt there are many.

Poor and dodgy IFAs are potentially difficult to spot since they typically have the gift of the gab and a veneer of professionalism, which might cause the naive and the unsuspecting to assume that they can be relied on as much as, say, the solicitor. In reality they do not have any consistent professional standards or qualifications, and need only an FSA license to operate -- and we know how effective the FSA is in regulating things.

trulysaintly

George,

I've been a mortgage adviser for over 15 years - first of all working as an adviser, and then underwriter for two high street lenders including holding a lending mandate to approve mortgages up to £500k.

I'm fully aware of how my clients feel about my service, zero complaints in 15 years. That speaks volumes.

All advisers who operate in the mortgage market are monitored by the FSA to ensure that their advice is suitable and compliant.

There are 'dodgy' individuals in all walks of life, in all types of trades.

I wouldn't tarnish all builders with the same brush based on one experience, so why put us all into the same box?

As for the 'FSA licence to operate' - visit the FSA website George. You'll find on there that NONE of us can trade without the correct approved qualifications.

dunstonh

The mortgage broker in question is described as independent ie not tied to bank or estate agent, FSA registered, and was recommended to the mortgagee by another family member, who is a personal friend of said broker. Supposedly the whole market is looked at. This broker certainly secured a mortgage offer but failed to take proper account of funding circumstances of which they were made well aware from the outset.

I would not use such a individual if it were me, I would work from the internet, direct contact with potential lenders, and a solicitor.

Only a minority of brokers are independent. To get independent advice you pay a fee and get the commission rebated. Research has found that over half the people seeing tied/multi-tied agents actually thought they were seeing an independent.

So, was this one really independent or pretending to be?

A tied advisor might not be independent but at least they might know what they are doing

The knowledge of independents usually wipes the floor with tied.

rather than chippy retorts from IFAs trying to defend their collective corner -- a common phenomenon on this forum.

I am the only IFA posting on this thread and like most IFAs, I do not do mortgages. So, its probably better to not make such accusations.

Another nice piece of propaganda, but then the IFA profession is in large part about selling, so that's not surprising. You may be ace, and had you been advising my relative it might have been all hunky-dory, I have no way of knowing. Nobody expects anyone to work for free and the vast majority of people will be perfectly happy with IFAs to earn decent fees and commissions, provided that in return they do the job properly.

I'm sorry but you are now starting to post as if you have an agenda. First your thread was about mortgage advisers/brokers. Now it seems to be against IFAs.

For the record, IFAs have the lowest number of complaints with the FOS as a distribution channel despite handling the majority of investment and pension transactions. So, whilst no-one can claim perfection, things are not that bad at all.