Kensington Mortgages - Unhappy with broker

Mezza1979

Hi All

Kensington have completed the mortgage valuation visit on the house we are buying.

We used an Independant Finacial advisor to source the best Mortgage deal but some of his current (amd past) behaviour is making us very wary.

The valuation was completed last Friday morning. he text us !!! at 9.40pm last night to ask us when we wanted to exchange contracts (we are selling a house also). I called him to find out why he was asking and he informed us that Kensington are happy with the outcome of the valuation (although we have yet to see any paperwork confirming this) and now aprantly they are pushing us to exchange quickly in order for them to transfer the money. is this normal? he says kensington are always like this ??

We are only 3.5 weeks along from accepting the offer and instructing Solictors. Local seraches are not back yet on our purchase or our buyers purchase of my house. The Broker told us we can speed things up by asking our buyer to buy indemnity insurance in leis of waiting for the seraches to come back! Why the hell should we push our buyer to do that when its only been 3.5 weeks??? We smell a rat!

I should mention that the FI we used was recommended to us by the owners of the house that we are buying. He deals with all their financial details. Houses, businesses etc

Our buyers lender has not done the mortgage valuation on my house yet so to be chasing us at 3.5 weeks seems very unrealistic.

When we told the FI that he said, in a very !!!!y tone.. 'oh, well you're miles off then from exchange then!

Not happy that we are his paying customers and he's treating us like this.

Am i over-reacting here?
Should we be concerned that he seems to be acting on our sellers behalf and pushing us?
We have outstading questions on the house that are being addressed via sol's at the moment so in no way will we be rushed to exchange. We're worried now that maybe he knows something about the house we don't yet and is trying to rush things along on behalf of the sellers.

Surely its unreasonable

Thanks all. feeling very very stressed by this right now.

dunstonh

Our buyers lender has not done the mortgage valuation on my house yet so to be chasing us at 3.5 weeks seems very unrealistic.

You need to speed your buyers up as I would be concerned about that. Mortgages can turnaround easily and frequently in about 4 weeks now. To be 3.5 weeks along and no valuation is a concern (unless its a desk based valuation or drive by).

Am i over-reacting here?

I cant really see any problem with what he is saying or doing. Indeed, it is good to see he is keeping you updated with progress.

Should we be concerned that he seems to be acting on our sellers behalf and pushing us?

Most people want the chain to go as fast as possible. You seem to be bucking that trend by trying to go as slow as possible. Maybe you should communicate that to him.

Surely its unreasonable

You seem to be creating conspiracy theories about all these things. So, your views do seem a bit unreasonable. However, an adviser-client relationship needs communication to work effectively. Why not tell him your concerns about the property and what speed you want to take rather than creating stress and concern where there almost certainly is none.

ACG

Your complaining because he is too fast?!

Im smilling here now... EVERY client wants everything to be done in an instant so its normal to push things along in my eyes. If you have told him your not looking to complete before a certain date - fine, but even so there is nothing wrong in having everything in place for then.

I think you are presuming hes just after a quick buck and so have put your barriers up maybe?

Honestly, if you could see our job we have clients on the phone every 5 minutes asking where it upto and why they havnt heard anything etc etc. I sometimes text or email clients at that time of night - i dont expect a reply but at least you know hes not just a 9-5 person, who switches off even if something needs doing.

Crashandburn

Can't comment on why Kensington has been chosen as the best lender, but your story makes a change to most stories about brokers on here who are hard to get hold of or slow with processing matters.

Sounds like he's overly keen but nothing wrong with that.

Perhaps remind him that he's acting for you and not his long standing clients.

Let_Us_See

It is strange that he is pushing so hard and expect there is something in the vendor's background requiring an early exchange - perhaps the chain (if there is one) is under threat and requires positive action.

With the estate agent working for the vendor and you utilising the vendor's financial adviser you have not exactly helped yourself to a position of strength.

Kensington would certainly not be positively seeking a quick exchange and completion and you are right to be suspicious.

kingstreet

Did you pick a solicitor independent of everyone else?

You have the vendor's adviser, the vendor's agent and the vendor on one side with you on the other. It would be nice to think you would have someone completely on your side in your corner.

Mezza1979

Yes, Our solictor is working solely for us.

We are not trying to slow things up at all. Not sure where you read that given i have not said that at any point. What i was trying to explain is that we should not feel rushed to exchange when neither us nor our buyer is ready. We need to feel comfortable with our purchase as does our buyer.

The EA told us 6-8 weeks maximum from the beginning , as did the FI. Now we're being pushed at 3.5 weeks. That whats unresaonable.

I'm sure it has a great deal to do with the Finacial advisor not getting his referal fee from the lender till we complete on the mortgage application but the fact still remains to call us in a less than polite tone chasing us to exchange 3.5weeks in is not on.

We used our sellers recommended mortgage man because we didnt see any reason not to. Maybe this was a fault of ours but hey! I've never sold a house before and didnt consider this to be a problem! my mistake!

The house we are buying is a private sale (No EA) which is why we feel that the FI is seemingly taking on the role of being the inbetween for us and our sellers (without being asked by us). We have communicated with them via sol's We don't need or want the FI acting as a go-between.

We do not trust him. he has made some very unprofessional personal comments about his opinion of our sellers and its another matter that has made us really concerned about him.

Mezza1979

i should add... the chain is as follows

Our buyer is a Investor (Buy to let mortgage) so no one moving in as such till he finds tenants to let it out.

We are moving into the purchase property which is empty. had been tenated for 4 years. the last tennants contract ended a month ago. So naturally the vendors want an ASAP exchange & Completion because currently they are paying 2 mortgages (this house and the one they live in)

Let_Us_See

OK, what's done is done, and put it down to experience. Simply request your adviser to stick to mortgage advice, and whilst you are not trying to positively slow the process, I find the longer it takes the more can go wrong!

Finally, I must ask, is there a reason for Kensington as a lender? Not everyone's first port of call.

Mezza1979

Our first port of call was the Halifax (based on the advisors advice). We were told that they declined us based on credit score. Experian have NO record of a credit check ever being carried out!!! which also makes us suspect that he is not being honest.

Then We were told by the Mortgage advisor that Kensington could offer virtually the same deal to us as halifax. Therfore... we went woth them (based again on the advisors advice)

My partner has a perfect credit score and mine is good (mine has a default on it from 2008 for £100 but other than that nothing else negative)

ACG

I agree Kensington is quite a way down the list unless there is some adverse involved.

Every buyer i have ever had would move in tomorrow if they could. So the fact your happy for it to take 6 weeks goes against the grain. Your the exception rather than the rule. Tell them your not looking to complete before such and such a date - whether that be because you have to pack ro whatever the reason may be. He will/should leave you alone and stop rushing you.

Have you thought that he might think you want a quick completion and unless hes told otherwise hes going with what the other 99.9% of people do want?

It might not be his or your mistake, it may just be a misunderstanding.