First chat with mortgage advisor

AlecEiffel

Hi all,

Me and my wife are having our first chats with mortgage advisors this afternoon. It's an informal chat (on our part) just to see what they could lend us etc, we haven't decided to put an offer in anywhere yet, just assessing our options.

Will they be able to give rough details without doing the credit check (we have two appts) as I don't want them to bombard our file with searches at this stage of the game. Obviously they can use figures given the same way as I could online, but they would obviously go into more detail on personal circumstances etc. Just don't want to hit too many searches before we actually apply.

Sorry first time doing this!

Thanks.

ACG

My first meetings are usually to go through a factfind (takes around an hour), i can then give an idea as to what is and isnt possible without doing any credit searches.

Once you find a property, thats when i would do credit searches etc to get you a decision in principle and do an application once the offer is accepted. Personally i ask ym clients to get a copy of their credit reports ready for when i meet them due to the amount of times i hear people say their credit history is perfect only to find something different.

Conrad

It's always a tough call because you can talk endlessly about rates and deals but then when it comes to credit score get a decline.

In the last few weeks I've had several new enquirers telling me they have a high credit score and no issues, only for them to then fail score for various different reasons.

In terms of affordability, again without a proper lenders credit score being done, it's always a stab in the dark. Sure you can look at lenders affordability calculators but they are very rudimentary and not to be relied upon.

So by all means have chats with brokers but really don't get too hung up on comparing rates until you've found a house and are ready to hit the start button.

Wh05apk

We all work differently, but ultimately should be steered by what you want, I would normally get an agreement in principle done after the first meeting, at least then you will have a fairly good idea of what you can borrow, before you start looking at properties either outside your budget, or far less than you could afford.

amnblog

From previous posts it seems you may not get what you seek.

One poster suggesting they need an hour for a first meeting, another suggesting the condition of the credit file is more important than rate.

If you just want a guide as to what you can afford and what it might cost I would have though you can do that is five minutes over the telephone without any credit scoring or fuss.

Once you have an objective settled, then you can look at the practicalities in more detail.

If the mortgage broker won't give you the service you want in the way you want it go elsewhere.

AlecEiffel

Thank you all for the replies. I have been reading them but been out and about so apologies for the lack of reply.

We have had our chats and were given indicative figures of borrowing levels packages available based on deposit, incomes, and our outgoings (credit checks not done obviously but we have clean records), so a bit like a glorified version of what you get online but with a personal input obviously.

They explained when a credit check would be done and timescales involved etc, along with the fee structures for the whole process.

The process itself isn't as scary as it first seems but obviously it's early days.

Thanks all for the input.

kingstreet

Please confirm your "advisors" are whole market at the very least.

They don't charge enormous fees, below £500 if commission take on top; they don't push you into expensive and poor quality conveyancing and insurance products.

In short, you aren't using any national estate agency chain advisors, are you?

AlecEiffel

kingstreet wrote: »

Please confirm your "advisors" are whole market at the very least.

They don't charge enormous fees, below £500 if commission take on top; they don't push you into expensive and poor quality conveyancing and insurance products.

In short, you aren't using any national estate agency chain advisors, are you?

One whole market, the other my own bank. Today was to get a feel for the process, what may be available to us, and the way the system works. Each showed a variety of products (the bank their own obviously, the other guy a variety from people I've heard of and some I hadn't) based on the info we provided. Today wasn't to get a mortgage approved or even for us to decide who we may go with to source a mortgage, it was for our education and information so we could understand our options, and it was free and no obligation etc.