How many mortgage advisors did you see when you bought your first house?

whoschuffed

How many mortgage advisors did you guys speak to before settling one to deal with for your mortgage application?

I've spoke to one broker at London & Country through recommendation of a friend and they have been mega helpful so far and very convenient. A local estate agent convinced me into talking to one of their brokers too but i'm just wondering how beneficial this will be?

I know its wise to speak to more people to get a second (or third) opinion on things but I'm just wondering if this is still the case when you are already dealing with a broker who can access all of the market etc (or so they say)?

mymuk

I tried L&C first, seemed helpful enough but they just didn't want to know when the first place I was interested in was above a shop.

Local independent (Gunnrollo) was far more useful and helpful and knew exactly which lenders to go for.

El_Torro

I saw two. Ended up not going with either of them as the mortgage I found was better than any they found for me and the provider didn't deal with mortgage brokers (i.e. didn't give them a commission).

I agree that if the broker you've already seen is all of market then I'm not sure there's much benefit of seeing another.

[Deleted User]

We used one recommended to us. He was rubbish and didn't help at all with the mess our mortgage firm made of our application (e.g. Managing to loose recorded post and faxes with our financial details enclosed).

Second time around I tried another recommended broker. They were a bit rubbish too. I've decided to not bother with brokers anymore. Applying for mortgages yourself isn't rocket science.

I've also learnt that 'Whole of market' is a rubbish lie. Ask a broker to get you a First direct mortgage if you want a laugh

zhetrin

the mortgage advisor usually have some arrangements with mortgage companies, so you might want to take this into consideration as there might possibly (and highly likely) be conflict of interest (personal commission vs getting the best deal for you). regarding "access to all market" then again it's their way to get your attention and make sure you don't go searching anywhere else since you get "everything" through them.

my advice is try to get 2-3 opinions from other mortgage advisors, see if they are aligned with each other, or not (they might even contradict each other) before deciding on this matter. or using a more independent platform without human intereference. I personally find this website called weinvest. However, I stay in Singapore and as far as it goes, it targets Singaporeans/people who live here. But you can always take a look in case they decided to expand or if you can find any similar platform in your country.

Kynthia

There are brokers who only offer mortgages from a few lenders, which isn't great and they often work at an Estate Agents. Then there are whole of market ones that make their fee from commission and therefore only deal with lenders that pay this. These cover most of the lenders out there and are free to you which is pretty good. Then there are independent brokers who you pay a fee to and they will find you the best deal out of all lenders. If there is any commission paid by the lender they recomend they refund it to you, so it doesn't influence their decision.

Out of all of these there are good ones and bad ones. Some will specialise in new builds, self employed buyers and those with bad credit. On the whole I've found them very helpful dealing with the lenders and all the paperwork.

Loopy28

I would definitely see at least two whole of market mortgage brokers. Like anything, some brokers are better than others. Also look at companies who only deal directly as you may get a better deal. If you do go direct though, first speak to them and ensure you have an AIP as there is nothing worse than relying on getting that rate to apply and be rejected.

Most EA brokers do only have a selected range so you might not get the best deal although no harm in seeing them if you wanted to just in case.

My friend saw a broker through her EA broker who are part of the sequence group and the best 90% LTV 2 yr fixed that they recommended her was over 5%!!!

London and Country are whole of market and charge no fee so that is a massive bonus. They seem to prefer straightforward cases though where the sale has already been agreed, although they will email a Decision in Principle. They are very much for the hard sell on related insurances though and after I made an enquiry with them, a conveyancing firm kept phoning me that they had passed my details to but I had not been asked permission for this, so wasn't too happy as had not given marketing consent.

kingstreet

ringo_24601 wrote: »

I've also learnt that 'Whole of market' is a rubbish lie. Ask a broker to get you a First direct mortgage if you want a laugh

Whole of market wasn't a term designed by brokers. It was the usual fudge by the regulator.

Over the years whole market was used, we described ourselves as "whole market for broker products" or "whole market for commission paying products" to help our clients understand what was intended by the term.

We also explain(ed) that they should separately research direct lenders and products, such as HSBC/FD, YBS etc to ensure they got a complete view of the lending market if they didn't appoint us on an "independent" basis, where they pay a fee for advice and any commission would be rebated to offset the fee.

This is what our current Terms Of Business says, now we are no longer stuck with the wording from the FSA's prescribed Initial Disclosure Document;-

Whose mortgages do we offer?

We are not limited in the range of mortgages we will consider for you but not deals that you can only obtain by going direct to a Lender.

I don't think we can make our service any clearer, or less ambiguous.

katsu

We saw one. They were recommended and used by family so we went with that.

Penelopa.Pitstop

I was forced by agent to see his broker but he couldn't beat the product I already found myself. A few years later another agent was forcing me to see his broker and again he couldn't beat the product I found myself.

[Deleted User]

Penelopa.Pitstop wrote: »

I was forced by agent to see his broker but he couldn't beat the product I already found myself. A few years later another agent was forcing me to see his broker and again he couldn't beat the product I found myself.

See.. that's my problem - if someone is in a 'good' position (i.e. has enough deposit, has a good credit rating, has the right salary for a mortgage) then what is the point of a broker if the 'client' has enough brains to use a comparison website or browse various websites of mortgage lenders? At some point, the broker needs to make some money in the form of commission - and that cost has to ultimately come from somewhere. If you find a product that the broker 'can't beat' then its most likely because there's no commission for them.

Come on brokers - defend yourself. What is the point of your service for a client that is able to use the internet properly and fill in forms with confidence?