Mortgage advice

Shack_attack

I'm currently in the process of looking at mortgages and engaging a particular broker.

The mortgage we're looking at is the Woolwich Springboard as we have a family member who can help us out initially.

The question is, there isn't an arrangement fee and the broker charges £100 to put the application in, then a further £400 when the mortgage completes.

Is there any benefit of going through an advisor rather than going direct and saving ourselves effectively what we could put towards the legal fees?

Any help / personal experiences would be appreciated

amnblog

Have you already signed up for the brokers terms?

Shack_attack

Not as yet, we haven't signed anything

amnblog

But your broker introduced you to the product?

Shack_attack

Yes, we had a meeting with him for about an hour and he took all our financial information away, then recommended this product.

It was my opinion that brokers get fees directly from arranging the mortgage, but obviously in this case Barclays don't charge a penny.

Is there any advantage to using him for the service rather than going direct?

Leon_W

It's a very complicated product and for that money I'd take advice from your broker.


Your "helper" will need separate legal advice and there are a whole nest of possible problems with it that could come back and bite you on the bum later. As an example.... Are you aware that your "helpers" deposit is not protected by the FSCS ??? I'm not sure an "independent" Barclays will be pointing such things out in quite the same way as a broker who will make you consider all the pitfalls.

amnblog

Shack

You have just outlined why Brokers are cagey about the information they provide to borrowers.

It sounds as if you met with the broker, had the brokers terms explained, gave the impression you were happy with them, and were advised and recommended a product.

You are now trying to get the product without the brokers further help simply to avoid paying him/her as per their terms?

Is that about the size of it - or have I missed something?

Shack_attack

Leon_W wrote: »

It's a very complicated product and for that money I'd take advice from your broker.


Your "helper" will need separate legal advice and there are a whole nest of possible problems with it that could come back and bite you on the bum later. As an example.... Are you aware that your "helpers" deposit is not protected by the FSCS ??? I'm not sure an "independent" Barclays will be pointing such things out in quite the same way as a broker who will make you consider all the pitfalls.

Hi Leon,

We are aware that their money isn't protected. He has banked with Barclays for 30 years and worked with them directly in the past so he has fully investigated the terms and conditions and knows the ins and outs.

The broker didn't actually point this out to us.

Shack_attack

amnblog wrote: »

Shack

You have just outlined why Brokers are cagey about the information they provide to borrowers.

It sounds as if you met with the broker, had the brokers terms explained, gave the impression you were happy with them, and were advised and recommended a product.

You are now trying to get the product without the brokers further help simply to avoid paying him/her as per their terms?

Is that about the size of it - or have I missed something?

Hi Anmblog,

We met with the broker back in November and at that time we told him we wouldn't be actively looking until Feb / March as some of our money is tied up until the end of March.

We gave him some basic information as to our financial situation, we weren't tied in at all and he immediately recommended the Woolwich springboard mortgage and 1-2 others which didn't fit our circumstances.

I don't mind using a broker / paying for their services if they offer real added value to our situation.

What I refuse to do is pay £500 for a recommendation that I'm sure with a couple of internet searches and more research we could have found ourselves.

The original question I was asking was, if we went with this particular mortgage, is there anything specific they could add in terms of value that would be beneficial (negotiating with the Woolwich / getting better rates etc.)

If things are fixed and it is a very straightforward application, purely information based then I struggle to see what I'm paying £500 for?

Dave_Ham

Sounds like you have made up your mind and are looking for reasons to validate your thoughts.


Given many of the "informed" people on here are brokers, I think you would be hard pushed to validate your idea here.


As with anything in life, sometimes you only appreciate the true cost of something when presented with the alternative.


Try and book an appointment with Barclays/Woolwich and then attend the meeting, your opinion may change.

Shack_attack

Dave_Ham wrote: »

Sounds like you have made up your mind and are looking for reasons to validate your thoughts.


Given many of the "informed" people on here are brokers, I think you would be hard pushed to validate your idea here.


As with anything in life, sometimes you only appreciate the true cost of something when presented with the alternative.


Try and book an appointment with Barclays/Woolwich and then attend the meeting, your opinion may change.

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your honesty and I have heard some horror stories about the Woolwich in the past.

This deal though for what we want is absolutely perfect (I'm trying not to count my chickens though).