Do I need a broker?

Tobster86

I hope to buy my first home soon, and my requirements are pretty basic:
-House, freehold, around £130k. Not new builds (ideally something like a 2 bed Victorian terrace).
-90% LTV.
-25 years, allowing early repayments/overpayments.
-£28.4k salary, same permanent contract for four years (though may change job soon, marginal salary increase but starting again time wise).
-Single (though I'd like to do something about that too!).
-Lender to have a reasonable ethical profile. Whilst I don't expect the Bank of Lentils, I'm not touching HSBC, Barclays etc with a bargepole.
-Currently in house share with very small outgoings; £400 rent and £20 broadband. Free of all credit and debts. Cycle to work. Own a car that I use primarily social & domestically.
-Credit history good, bar two consecutive late payments of about £5 in 2009 (due to a misunderstanding when closing an old credit card).

From my own searching, Nationwide seem to be quite amenable to my requirements, have reasonable rates, and are fairly ethical.

Is there any reason why I should use a broker to try and do better than them?

heytoki

Some people say that mortgage brokers have access to products that we dont have.

I would go with a broker. Actually, i am buying and i am using one.

ACG

On the face of it, it all stacks up ok.

Im sure there are more ethical lenders than a large company that buys up smaller building societies and merges them presumably making a lot of people in those communities redundant but I suppose in the grand scheme of things if theyre not investing arms dealers in the middle east then its fairly ethical...

I dont think you will NEED a broker. Its personal preference, as a first time buyer would you want someone on hand to guide you, prepare you on what the next steps are and what to expect? Being a straight forward case does not mean it will all go swimmingly, there are exceptions.

kingstreet

ACG wrote: »

Im sure there are more ethical lenders than a large company that buys up smaller building societies and merges them presumably making a lot of people in those communities redundant but I suppose in the grand scheme of things if theyre not investing arms dealers in the middle east then its fairly ethical...

Co-op got rid of anyone in Britannia Town (Leek)?

Curious. On topic too...

ACG

Good question. I think there were some casualties but probably not as many as there could have been. The merger happened before I went to work for them so im not sure how much of an impact it had.

termhero

Think if you're asking the question, I would always say Yes to use one. You have to be 100% confident in what you're doing to not use one I think.

Just my personal opinion of course.

amnblog

I suspect the broker will have to be 'ethical' as well?


How will that be assessed?

ACG

I dont think there are many brokers who invest in arms dealers... even in Manchester :P

Fizzy11

Oh I don't know!

timberley66

Hi... may I ask... where are you based??