My mortgage journey with Accord

hieveryone

Hi all,

When I applied for my mortgage through my broker, I Googled and found some awful reviews about Accord all over the place, which sent me into total meltdown!

Forum members here weren't too complimentary about them either, which again, made me totally worried.

Anyway, thought I'd document my journey here for reassurance for others applying.

7/1/15 - AIP
16/1/15 - Full application.
22/1/15 - Valuation.
28/1/15 - Offer.

I reckon that's pretty straightforward - 8 working days from application to offer :T

Very pleased and can (semi) relax now!!

Any questions please feel free to ask me.

chazall

That's reasuring currently awaiting offer they instructed survey few days back was yours a simple mortgage ? At what point should I relax so nervous

Paully232000

Same here, heard some horror stories on here about accord. However from first giving all our details to the broker to getting full offer of mortgage took 30 days. This was the amount of time detailed as an average on the accord site so was aware could take that long and happy with the result. This was 12 months ago.

chazall

That's really good things been going pretty fast so far for us. Lots of paperwork sent to them via our broker who seems to talk to underwriters regularly which I think helps, I'm hoping that once the valuation has been done that will be it, I think I'm nervous because so many bad story's of mortgages being rejected on here well good luck anyway thanks for making me feel slightly better

Paully232000

I suppose that on here you are going to get more problems that praise, just due to the nature of the site and that people are more likely to come for advice when things go wrong than otherwise. Great advice here , just something to be aware of.

ACG

Maybe they have pulled their finger out and sorted themselves out... still a bit too early for me to use them again.

There is only 1lender I wont touch and its them.

Paully232000

ACG wrote: »

Maybe they have pulled their finger out and sorted themselves out... still a bit too early for me to use them again.

There is only 1lender I wont touch and its them.

Just out of interest, not having a go, but what do you do if you know that accord would be best for a clients needs for whatever reason. Do you tell the client that there is a better deal but you don't use them?

amnblog

Most lenders can be a problem to deal with if you are not familiar with working with them.

Other lenders that I have heard brokers take a negative view of regarding service include:

Leeds
Barclays
Coventry
Nat West
Santander

All of these lenders are fine to work with once you know what to expect.

I know brokers who do lots of business with Accord but their reversion rates are too high in my view so I don't use them too often.

kingstreet

amnblog wrote: »

I know brokers who do lots of business with Accord but their reversion rates are too high in my view

... and mine.

What happens if your circumstances change and you can't remortgage, or they are offering no customer retention products when your initial deal ends?

You're stuck on 5.79% or equivalent, when going with Nationwide at maybe 0.2% more would see you on 3.99%, or its equivalent.

Every time I discuss this with my clients, they think the remaining twenty-odd years of their mortgage is far more important than the first two or three...

ACG

Paully232000 wrote: »

Just out of interest, not having a go, but what do you do if you know that accord would be best for a clients needs for whatever reason. Do you tell the client that there is a better deal but you don't use them?

It depends what their needs are.
If their need is a purchase and they want the property asap then how can I justify a lender who in my experience drags their feet, asks for the kitchen sink in paperwork is pedantic about the smallest thing and in general are just a nightmare to deal with?

The deal is only part of the story, look at a lot of the psots on here. People stress out when buying a house and a lender asks for further paperwork, they think they have been declined. Would you rather pay an extra fiver a month for 2 years and get your house that bit sooner with less stress?

If their need is a remortgage then that would be a different story but thankfully I have not got crossed that bridge yet.

However, as has been mentioned, accords SVR rate is quite high. So if the clients cirucmstances change and they are stuck with accord cheap upfront may cost more in the long run.

As most of my clients have adverse, I would be reluctant to stick anyone with Accord. I do have to write the clients a letter to explain who had cheaper rates so its not like I am hiding anything.

hieveryone

Thanks for all comments, interesting reading.

chazall, it wasn't so straightforward as such, I have some historic bad credit which had me totally worried.

I'm not sure why there would be a problem re-mortgaging at the end of the fixed period ACG - can you elaborate on that? Both of our jobs are very secure, and (touch wood), can't see circumstances changing much.

We are going to overpay every month as we have budgeted a figure £200 above what the repayment figure is, so hoping that will bring down the LTV significantly. Will ask for more info on that nearer the time.

Would be interested to know why re-mortgaging would be a problem.

Thanks