Local broker, L&C or direct?

absolute0

My other half and I need to make our minds up on a mortgage for our first house together. We went to see the in-house broker within the estate agents that we are buying from.

They were pretty much repeating exactly what I already knew and not offering anything that I couldn't get by going direct or via London & Country, plus they charge a £399 fee for processing the application and ensuring it gets turned around (we need to complete in 6 weeks). We have been told, by the in-house broker, that the mortgage provider that we are looking at, Coventry Building Society, takes some time to process and they have priority access - so can help get a quick turn-around.

Now we've spoken to L&C before, found them helpful, but have never used them for a mortgage.

So my question is this, what is the advantage of going with L&C compared to going direct? Will they help to speed up the mortgage process?

Let_Us_See

You pay your money (or not) and take you choice. Unless there are areas of concern, it is unlikely the mortgage processing time will be a problem, and given the deadline, I would be more worried about your solicitor gertting their act together, especially as many of them don't start work until a mortgage offer is issued.

ACG

There are brokers that do get preference with lenders. I have 1 or 2 i can call on if i need something rushing through so it may not be a lie.

I would imagine L&C have a fair bit of flack with the majority of lenders with them being one of the biggest group of advisors in the country.

(This is coming from someone that charges a feee and a higher fee than £399), if you can save yourself £400 and get exactly the same deal, why wouldnt you? 6 weeks should be plenty of time to get a mortgage through presuming your situation is simple enough and the property isnt a listed building or has strange clauses in the deeds.

Get a decent solicitor, the lender shouldnt have too much of an issue processing everything in time.

absolute0

Thanks for the feedback. My preference would be to save £400 and put it towards the legal fees

Our solicitor is pretty good, so I'm pretty happy that they will be on the case. We are in rented and it's a no-chain purchase.

Would L&C be any better than going direct?

Interestingly I've just noticed that the rate 3.59% that is on the L&C website isn't on the Coventry BS site (it's 3.99%) - so I'm assuming that this must be a preferred rate for brokers?

Plus I get 1000 clubcard points if I go with L&C via tesco compare

ACG

Certain companies get preferential rates.
We get rates that arnt available elsewhere and likewise other companies will get rates we dont have access to.

If your not paying for the advice, why not get someone to do the leg work for you? If you get the clubcard points too then its a bonus.

GMS

absolute0 wrote: »

Plus I get 1000 clubcard points if I go with L&C via tesco compare

That seals it then. £10 of Tesco vouchers!

Dave_Ham

There are better rates out there than this Coventry deal and whilst you will get through in time, Coventry are not the quickest..

L&C seem to get mixed feedback on here and it seems to depend upon who picks up the phone and hoping they have no holiday coming up post application.

Incidentally, how much is 1000 clubcard points equivalent to?

It appears quite generous given the procuration fee they will receive...

Good luck whatever way you go forward.

absolute0

The deal we have found is a pretty good 5 year fix with 15% deposit.
I'll ring up L&C tomorrow and see what they can offer.

Re: tesco vouchers, I'm not basing the mortgage around this, but £40 is better than nothing.

Let_Us_See

Personally, my first question to L & C would be is their website up to date?

absolute0

You are correct.

Spoke to L&C today and their website isn't up-to-date for Coventry BS, which is actually 3.99% rather than 3.59% BOO!

L&C did mention that Coventry BS are pretty good for turnaround.

Coventry is still looking like a good deal, but CO-OP are offering a slightly better rate of 3.89% @ 85% with no setup fees.

I just don't know what CO-OP are like for turnaround and would need to go direct instead?

Thrugelmir

absolute0 wrote: »

Our solicitor is pretty good, so I'm pretty happy that they will be on the case. We are in rented and it's a no-chain purchase.

What's the position of the vendor?