Estate agent mortgage advice - any use ?

swayzak

hi

We have put an offer in for a property & our C&G 5 year discount rate comes to an end in July.

Spencers (the EA) have tried to interest us in their in-house adviser and apparently they can get "preferential" deals with some mortgage providers.

Can anyone advise on this ?

thanks

swayzak

pania

Hi Swayzak,

I used to be an estates agency broker. Usually, although i'm not speaking for all agencies, stating preferential deals is usually a way of getting you infront of the advisor who can then "close" on you to get the business.

It may well be worth going along and seeing what they have to say, it's usually a good idea to have all your dealings in one place, ie house sale, house purchase, mortgage and conveyancing so if anything goes wrong in the loop everyone else is immediately aware.

Check the status of the advisor, whether mulit-tied (oftern referred to as panel) or independant.

Also and i say this to alot of people, this is a massive financial transaction, do your business with the person that you trust, not the one that puts the most pressure on you. You'll get a feeling about the advisor and you'll know straight away whether they are the right ones to handle your business.

bottom line, go along and have a look and make your decision from there, but don't be pushed into anything.

Hope it works out well.
Best regards
P
(PS i am a mortgage advisor however nothing on here should be taken as advice as i do not know your circumstances. This is just opinion on the questions posed.)

swayzak

pania wrote: »

Hi Swayzak,

I used to be an estates agency broker. Usually, although i'm not speaking for all agencies, stating preferential deals is usually a way of getting you infront of the advisor who can then "close" on you to get the business.

It may well be worth going along and seeing what they have to say, it's usually a good idea to have all your dealings in one place, ie house sale, house purchase, mortgage and conveyancing so if anything goes wrong in the loop everyone else is immediately aware.

Check the status of the advisor, whether mulit-tied (oftern referred to as panel) or independant.

Also and i say this to alot of people, this is a massive financial transaction, do your business with the person that you trust, not the one that puts the most pressure on you. You'll get a feeling about the advisor and you'll know straight away whether they are the right ones to handle your business.

bottom line, go along and have a look and make your decision from there, but don't be pushed into anything.

Hope it works out well.
Best regards
P
(PS i am a mortgage advisor however nothing on here should be taken as advice as i do not know your circumstances. This is just opinion on the questions posed.)

thanks

So are the "preferential" deals (compared to going elsewhere) likely to actually exist ?

toonfish

pania wrote: »

it's usually a good idea to have all your dealings in one place, ie house sale, house purchase, mortgage and conveyancing so if anything goes wrong in the loop everyone else is immediately aware.

This is the classic estate agent line I'm afraid

It's a good idea as long as you don't want the best of every option. If we acquire a new client I can tell fairly often which local "independent" estate agent adviser arranged their last mortgage. That tells its own story.

homer_j_3

I work in an EA environment at the moment and I know that we do have some exclusives at the moment - they are not going to blow your mind in terms of them saving you loads of money but sometimes - no arrangement fees or smaller arrangement fees are the norm.

The issue with brokers operating in the EA environment is that they are normally under a great deal of pressure to sell and get the deal. They are also many that have very restrictive panels which means that you are immediately disadvantaged with them before you start.

Countrywide EA's (Bairstow Eves & Entwistle Green in my area) have 9 lenders.

I have just under 40 lenders that I can access.

The EA next door to me charges a fee because they have to pay a kickback to the EA for the business they supply and are panelled also to about 15 lenders.

The questions that I would ask are to the EA you are thinking of approaching are:

1 - Do you charge a fee for your advice?
2 - How many lenders do you deal with - can you supply me with a list of these please?

This will let you know exactly what you are getting. If you have to go in and see them for this information and you can take 60-90 mins of your time to go and do a first appointment with them then do it. Get the information but DO NOT LET THEM CREDIT CHECK YOU!

This is a common trick used by my friends at Countrywide and they try and tie people to using them because they know as soon as they see a half decent broker the client will realise how unattractive their setup is!

swayzak

homer_j wrote: »

I work in an EA environment at the moment and I know that we do have some exclusives at the moment - they are not going to blow your mind in terms of them saving you loads of money but sometimes - no arrangement fees or smaller arrangement fees are the norm.

The issue with brokers operating in the EA environment is that they are normally under a great deal of pressure to sell and get the deal. They are also many that have very restrictive panels which means that you are immediately disadvantaged with them before you start.

Countrywide EA's (Bairstow Eves & Entwistle Green in my area) have 9 lenders.

I have just under 40 lenders that I can access.

The EA next door to me charges a fee because they have to pay a kickback to the EA for the business they supply and are panelled also to about 15 lenders.

The questions that I would ask are to the EA you are thinking of approaching are:

1 - Do you charge a fee for your advice?
2 - How many lenders do you deal with - can you supply me with a list of these please?

This will let you know exactly what you are getting. If you have to go in and see them for this information and you can take 60-90 mins of your time to go and do a first appointment with them then do it. Get the information but DO NOT LET THEM CREDIT CHECK YOU!

This is a common trick used by my friends at Countrywide and they try and tie people to using them because they know as soon as they see a half decent broker the client will realise how unattractive their setup is!

thanks - that's very helpful

MortgageMamma

I dont know why countrywide even bother doing business with a panel of nine lenders. I've taken so much business from them its like taking sweeties from a baby.

However there are some very good estate agency brokers. Some brokers choose to work via estate agencies as they like to have a basic salary and leads on tap. There have been times when I've considered it myself.

MM

toltec_2

We had an experience with an estate agent.

The client phoned us up and told us how the estate agent had told him several very nasty things about our company in order to pursuade him not to use us, had advised him to use their mortgage broker instead and promised him a mortgage at half the price of whatever fees we were charging.

Them offering to beat our AIP we don't have a problem with (something they could barely get within 1% of using their mostly subprime panel). But trying to scare a client into taking a worse mortgage from them by blackening our name and suggesting he'll lose the house and his money if he uses us not them is extremely nasty way of doing business.

I wonder if it's standard practice of estate agents, or any brokers have had the same experience.

toonfish

toltec wrote: »

We had an experience with an estate agent.

The client phoned us up and told us how the estate agent had told him several very nasty things about our company in order to pursuade him not to use us, had advised him to use their mortgage broker instead and promised him a mortgage at half the price of whatever fees we were charging.

Them offering to beat our AIP we don't have a problem with (something they could barely get within 1% of using their mostly subprime panel). But trying to scare a client into taking a worse mortgage from them by blackening our name and suggesting he'll lose the house and his money if he uses us not them is extremely nasty way of doing business.

I wonder if it's standard practice of estate agents, or any brokers have had the same experience.

I've had very similar with 2 local agents - a warning letter threatening legal action put a stop to them both. I had another one recently that wouldn't accept a clients offer without them making an appointment with their adviser, despite having an agreement in principle in their hand from our office.

They told the client that it was the "Ombudsman's Rules" that they had to interview and financially assess each prospective buyer. I enjoyed that 'phone call, although none of their staff would own up to it.

My dream is to produce a full page advert in the local press telling the tales, but I suspect I'd never get away with it.

Rick62

Also if you are buying a house you want a mortgage adviser that is first representing your interests and second is not going to give details of your finances to the EA.

The only advice you'll get from the EA broker is buy buy buy (from our EA) and they will be either overtly or with a wink telling the EA how much more they can push you on the price. Get your own good broker and he'll be able to advise on dealing with the EAs and negotiating the best result.

homer_j_3

not being funny but I have never ever told anybody to buy a property through the EA . Yes it is nice but if the house for my clients is one that is not selling through us - then so be it.

I tell every client that buys a house through the same place I work - Pay what you feel is right and no more. The EA staff get told that they will only ever get their best price.

If an EA gets paid a % of the fee then selling for an extra 000 can mean literally an extra £1 to the person achieving the sale.