First time buyer, mortgage question, help.

samwilzrhcp

Recently had a meeting with a mortgage advisor at my local estate agent and all went well, we (me and partner) would be eligible for a mortgage. We have viewed a few houses and will be viewing more. Now i am not really clued up on the ins and outs of mortgages and rates and all the facts and figures etc.
I am really confused at the minute as i have been told not to get a mortgage through the mortgage advisor. and to look at different banks, now why would this be better? would it be better?
It is so overwhelming and i can keep up until i see all the different numbers and % and what not and i just get confused. It all seems easier to do it through the mortgage advisor at the estate agent because they seem to do it for you.
Any help is appreciated.

[Deleted User]

They will do it all for you, including offering you a deal that will focus more on their commission than your interest rates. And of course will also allow the estate agents (and your vendor) to know how much you could afford to pay.

Avoid. Either do it youself or see a proper broker.

ACG

Its probably a bit late now anyway, but there are 2 reasons why its good to avoid estate agent based brokers.

1) Are they working in your best interests? The estate agents pay their wages and pass them leads all day long. Where would your loyalties lie? I used to work in an estate agents and they used to lean on me for info about the clients to see how much they could borrow - this allowed them to work out how far they could push the buyer.
2) Estate agent brokers get nice easy enquiries all day long. If your scenario is out of the ordinary, they may not have the skill and/or time to find the best way around it.

None of these may be true in your case, but those are the 2 main reasons i can think of to avoid estate agent based brokers.

But likewise, banks have sales targets to meet and theyre not usually known for giving the best "advice". They have a limited number of products to offer from - so why would you limit yourself? The way i look at it is would you go to Argos for a new TV if they only sold one brand of TV? Or would you go to Dixons next door where you will have a better choice?

samwilzrhcp

Thankyou for your reply's. So for first time buyers like ourselves doing it through the estate agent would be better?

Also, my partner is a teaching assistant and she is on a rolling contract, recently renewed until March of next year. Will this make a difference? She earns 19000 before tax. We obviously told the mortgage advisor this and didn't seem to be a problem.

Dan-Dan

samwilzrhcp wrote: »

Thankyou for your reply's. So for first time buyers like ourselves doing it through the estate agent would be better?

Suggest you read ACG`s post in a bit more detail

ACG

Going to a whole of market or independent broker AWAY from the estate agents its going to a much better option than using the estate agents broker.