Mortgage broker - is this a reasonable deal?

Emskii

I am in the process of buying my first property, and have contacted an independent mortgage broker and he has quoted me £595 in fees for arranging the mortgage.
I selected this broker based on favourable reviews on checkaprofessional dot com

The mortgage would be offered through Accord Mortgages who can get me a loan of £146,000 over 35 years with a fixed interest rate over two years of 3.29%. (with a 10% deposit) Does this seem a reasonable deal?
Having just looked for reviews on Accord Mortgages, the response appears to be mixed. Should I be concerned as if I have any issues, should the mortgage broker be dealing with any issues as I am paying for his services?

One of the estate agents I am dealing with has recommended that I get more than one mortgage quote. She has suggested that the rate could be beaten but the broker she is suggesting is part of another financial company whose reviews do not look favourable either, although their fees are half the price.

Is it worth me getting another quote? Or should I still with dealing with the original broker which appears to have good reviews?

Cheers

dunstonh

Having just looked for reviews on Accord Mortgages, the response appears to be mixed.

You could see that with every lender going.

Should I be concerned as if I have any issues, should the mortgage broker be dealing with any issues as I am paying for his services?

The broker is there to hand hold you through the process and help deal with issues that arise.

One of the estate agents I am dealing with has recommended that I get more than one mortgage quote. She has suggested that the rate could be beaten but the broker she is suggesting is part of another financial company whose reviews do not look favourable either, although their fees are half the price.

The estate agent would say that as they want their share of the commission. Whereas if you are employing an adviser to work on independent basis, this normally means (but not always) that it is solely fee based and commission is not a factor.

Is it worth me getting another quote?

You will need to see what your commitment to the independent is first. Usually, once it gets to a point, you are committed for some fee. That is the consequence of working on fee basis, rather than commission.

ACG

I would not touch Accord with a barge pole - as a broker. They require far too much work for even a straight forward case.

However, your paying a broker (£595 doesnt seem too unreasonable to me) they will be the one going through the pain of dealing with them.

How does the estate agent know the rate can be beaten? They do not know your situation im assuming so there could be cheaper rates out there but they may not be suitable or available to you. I also dont see the point in having 2 mortgage quotes, your broker will have a sourcing list of all of th products that fit your criteria.

tvfreek

£595 seems reasonable and would be something an experienced broker would charge.

Accord offer very cheap rates so doubtful a much lower rate is available if you compare the same type of product.

You might find a cheaper broker but you've already read good reviews about this broker so unless you really want to try and same £100 maybe £200 why bother.

Best of luck

Emskii

Thanks for all your comments - really useful.
Think I'll stick with the original mortgage broker!

Loopy28

My broker charges £350. I saw that the cheapest around was £250 and the most expensive was £750.

My broker is also getting nearly £700 from my lender so nearly 1k in total for my mortgage business. Not bad for a couple of 1 hour meetings with me and some other admin work. Perhaps less than 10 hours work in total for 1k....maybe I am in the wrong job.

Thrugelmir

Loopy28 wrote: »

Perhaps less than 10 hours work in total for 1k....maybe I am in the wrong job.

Probably not as it's a very simplistic view you are taking. The costs of running a business mount up.

dunstonh

My broker charges £350. I saw that the cheapest around was £250 and the most expensive was £750.

But was that for an independent or whole of market adviser?
Was that for commission offset/refund or commission plus fee?

My broker is also getting nearly £700 from my lender so nearly 1k in total for my mortgage business.

So, if the OP is paying £595 and getting commission offset/rebate then that is actually better value.

Not bad for a couple of 1 hour meetings with me and some other admin work.

If only that was true. I would go back to mortgage advice if it was.

Perhaps less than 10 hours work in total for 1k....maybe I am in the wrong job.

You are assuming that the income is the same as the profit. That is not how business works. You have forgotten the costs.

betmunch

Loopy28 wrote: »

Not bad for a couple of 1 hour meetings with me and some other admin work.

This made me laugh out loud in the office after a particularly annoying conversation about compliance.


Thank you.

ACG

£1k for 10 hours work... If only.

10 hours a week and im on £52k a year. Not bad for a part time job.

nubbins

How much work actually goes into a normalish no hassle mortgage application. My broker has made around £2200 (from the lenders) from two recent mortgages for myself. I have never met him and most of the communication was through email. I don't begrudge him one penny as he has been priceless but I cannot see how he would have spent more than 10 hours on each application?