Should I use Countrywide to remortgage?

jowie

I bought my first house nearly two years ago and used Countrywide to help me find a mortgage deal. At the time it was bundled with a few extras (such as making a will) and seemed like a good deal. I think it was something like £149.

Since my original two-year fixed rate plan is almost up, someone from Countrywide got in touch and came round last night to discuss a remortgage to try and get me a better deal. I'm all fine with him looking into it for me, but their fees seem quite high - £175 if I go with a deal they find, then £174 payable when the mortgage kicks in at the end of the year - £349 in total.

Should I continue on this path and consider how much they might be saving me by doing the long-term calculations, or should I shop around for myself? I'm very busy and can't afford to spend time going round banks having meetings. I was considering finding out what he had to suggest, then cutting him out of the loop and going direct (although I don't know if there are any legal/moral ramifications in doing so).

Does anyone have any advice or experience in these matters?

Thanks! :beer:

csgohan4

Why don't you compare what they have offered you to Best buy tables from MSE or London and Country and see if your getting close to them, assuming you are in full time employment and no adverse history.

jowie

Yeah I can do, but I've only just had the introduction meeting with Countrywide so far. My adviser has set up a meeting with me next Monday to go through his findings. I will then have to make a decision based on those findings.

csgohan4

I would advise not to use EA services IMHO, due to issues with quality of services and ripping off

dunstonh

General rule of thumb is to never use an estate agent adviser. With the exception of small local independents, they have a really dire reputation. Many are also limited panel for lending or single tied for insurance (which means higher premiums). They know they have a one shot chance to sell to you. So, its more of a sales process than advice process.

Use a local broker of your choosing. Not the EA broker.

jowie

I am a bit confused. This guy from Countrywide is still local. What's the difference? Where would I find a "local broker"? The mortgage I got through Countrywide before seemed like a pretty good one.

Pixie5740

I think "local" refers to a mortgage broker who doesn't work for a large chain like Countrywide. You can find a mortgage broker through https://www.unbiased.co.uk Is this Countrywide broker a whole of market broker?

My one and only experience of a Countrywide broker wasn't particularly positive. The mortgage they suggested was ok but it was the insurance that they tried to sell me that was the problem. I told them my monthly budget was £600, my mortgage payments were only going to be £325 so then she tried to sell me £275 insurance premiums a month. Some of the insurance policies I didn't feel I needed and those I did I could have got a lot cheaper elsewhere.

csgohan4

A local independant whole of the market Broker is what you need.

jowie

Okay thanks... I've gone on that website and found a guy local to me, left him a message to call me back

jowie

Pixie5740 wrote: »

My one and only experience of a Countrywide broker wasn't particularly positive. The mortgage they suggested was ok but it was the insurance that they tried to sell me that was the problem. I told them my monthly budget was £600, my mortgage payments were only going to be £325 so then she tried to sell me £275 insurance premiums a month. Some of the insurance policies I didn't feel I needed and those I did I could have got a lot cheaper elsewhere.

The insurance sell was the part I wasn't comfortable with. I did take out life insurance through them, but they tried to sell me a lot of other bits which totalled well over £100 a month. I ended up cancelling most of it with them and now pay about £35 a month.

jowie

So thanks to Pixie5740, I found a local independent adviser on unbiased.co.uk, who I called up and had a chat with. He sounded pretty good, however his fee was even more hefty - £395 (which can sometimes be negotiated down, apparently). It's the one-off payments I'm trying to avoid because I cannot afford them. At least Countrywide's is spread across two payments.

I'm currently and reading my way through this downloaded PDF: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/

I'm also going to investigate what kind of deal I can get online with a new deal through my current lender, Halifax: http://www.halifax.co.uk/mortgages/existing-customers/

Would prefer to sort this without having to spend out any hefty one-off payments, especially over the Christmas period.