London & country mortgages - free broker service?

Phill_-_Liverpool

I am just wondering whether anybody has used the above company and are there any catches?
Many thanks

(In addition, can anyone recommend a free mortgage broker service??)

dunstonh

It isn't free.

(In addition, can anyone recommend a free mortgage broker service??)

They wouldnt be in business long if they were free.

The closest you can get are either independent fee based advisers that rebate commission and include lenders that would not pay a commission or whole of market commission based advisers that only consider commission paying lenders. They may not add a fee on top (although in low value housing areas, small fees may apply as the commission is so low).

GMS

L&C get very mixed reviews.

Is your situation straight forward?

What are you looking for?

[Deleted User]

It is free to the applicant in that they take commission from the lender instead of taking a fee from you.

I've had a good experience with them so far (up to and including mortgage offer). My only complaint is that, having submitted my mortgage application, they pestered me a lot to buy all kinds of insurance from them as well. You can just say no to that though.

dunstonh

It is free to the applicant in that they take commission from the lender instead of taking a fee from you.

That isnt free then. Free would be rebating that commission as a fee based adviser would. Which is quite possible to actually work out cheaper.

If it was free, then a fee based adviser could not work out cheaper than "free" adviser.

northerner999

I used them with a remortgage attempt, which in the end saw me just get a new deal with existing lender. Their guy ended up with no commission but was brilliant with me and advised me to take a course of action that saw him gain nowt because it was the right thing to do.

Phill_-_Liverpool

GMS wrote: »

L&C get very mixed reviews.

Is your situation straight forward?

What are you looking for?

yes, i am with santander on svr 4.24%

I am looking to move to a better/lower rate.

my remaining mortgage is £54500, however, I dont know what the value of the house is to get the correct LTV?
I think the house value is between £65,000 -£75,000.
How could I find this out as the deals vary from LTV to LTV?

If I could find out the Accurate house value then i would be able to find my own mortgage as there are pleanty of comparisson sites out there.

i dont want to apply for a mortgage thinking i have a75% LTV for the surveyor to tell me I only have 80% (if that makes sense)

Phill_-_Liverpool

northerner999 wrote: »

I used them with a remortgage attempt, which in the end saw me just get a new deal with existing lender. Their guy ended up with no commission but was brilliant with me and advised me to take a course of action that saw him gain nowt because it was the right thing to do.

That sounds promising, thank you.

Jimbo1976

Phill

Go to a property portal, rightmove, zoopla etc and look for the house prices section. Once there look for sold prices. You will need to type in your postcode etc. This will give you a list of local sold prices. This is what the mortgage companies surveyor will use as the core measure of the value of your home. Ignore estate agents who will give an inflated value

GMS

Phill_-_Liverpool wrote: »

yes, i am with santander on svr 4.24%

I am looking to move to a better/lower rate.

my remaining mortgage is £54500, however, I dont know what the value of the house is to get the correct LTV?
I think the house value is between £65,000 -£75,000.
How could I find this out as the deals vary from LTV to LTV?

If I could find out the Accurate house value then i would be able to find my own mortgage as there are pleanty of comparisson sites out there.

i dont want to apply for a mortgage thinking i have a75% LTV for the surveyor to tell me I only have 80% (if that makes sense)

Santander SVR is 4.74%. Went up from 4.24% a while back.

Look for sold comparables on rightmove, net house prices etc. This is what a surveyor will do.

Be careful with comparison sites. They only show rate, not criteria.

Is your situation straight forward?

Phill_-_Liverpool

GMS wrote: »

Santander SVR is 4.74%. Went up from 4.24% a while back.

Look for sold comparables on rightmove, net house prices etc. This is what a surveyor will do.

Be careful with comparison sites. They only show rate, not criteria.

Is your situation straight forward?

my situation is straight forward in that my mortgage deal has finished and there will be no erc's. the house is solely in my name.

I looked on rightmove and zoopla and couldn't really get an accurate reading as I think 3 houses have sold in my street in the past 6 years and mine was one of them!!

think I might just give London & country a whirl, what's the worse that could happen??