Should I use Countrywide to remortgage?

jowie

csgohan4 wrote: »

Good ones don't require upfront payments. Usually payment on mortgage offer is standard. Perhaps explore others ones with inside or outside of your area.

Yeah I will do. They might not require an up-front payment, but it's still a lump sum of money which can be difficult to find. The local independent guy charges nearly £400. That's a lot to find in one go.

If your self employed, all the more reason not to use them. But the fact they lie and cheat to get business makes things worse and ensures their own practice remains questionable.

I'm not self-employed, so I don't have to worry about that. They lie and cheat? That's a fact? I'd be interested in hearing those cases then!

End of the day it's your choice and good luck. I await a MSE post on 'Help used Countrywide, can I claim a refund'.

That won't happen! I will factor their fee into my mortgage deal. If the total cost including fees doesn't work out cheaper over the term, I won't use them.

dunstonh

I'm not self-employed, so I don't have to worry about that. They lie and cheat? That's a fact? I'd be interested in hearing those cases then!

Look at the other countrywide threads. Such as this one that is running at present: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5337614

Even at corporate level they push it. They say they are the UKs largest broker doing 1 in 10 mortgages. and have 10% intermediary share ( http://www.countrywide.co.uk/about/financial-services/ )
However, they are not. SBG do 1 in 6 mortgages (quoted recently in the Daily Mail). Their site say 13% market share and 27% of the intermediary market and a more recent article in March 15 says 25% of the intermediary market. So, how can they claim to be biggest doing 10% of the intermediary market when there is another doing 27%?

jowie

Okay well here's a quick update (cos I'm busy at work)... I booked for someone at London & Country to call me today, spoke to a really nice bloke (with the same name), who took all my details, did some shopping around and came back with a decent option for me that includes no lump fees at all. I'm going to sleep on it, but I'm pretty sure that I'm going to call the Countrywide guy tomorrow and cancel!

Thanks for all your advice so far people :beer:

chanz4

jowie wrote: »

Okay well here's a quick update (cos I'm busy at work)... I booked for someone at London & Country to call me today, spoke to a really nice bloke (with the same name), who took all my details, did some shopping around and came back with a decent option for me that includes no lump fees at all. I'm going to sleep on it, but I'm pretty sure that I'm going to call the Countrywide guy tomorrow and cancel!

Thanks for all your advice so far people :beer:

what was the rate / deal

jowie

chanz4 wrote: »

what was the rate / deal

Fixed at 2.64% for 5 years, free valuation and no legal fees, so nothing to pay in a lump sum. And if the valuation fails, I haven't lost anything.

marksoton

jowie wrote: »

Yeah I will do. They might not require an up-front payment, but it's still a lump sum of money which can be difficult to find. The local independent guy charges nearly £400. That's a lot to find in one go.

I'm currently buying and these lump sums make me wince. But if you can't take the hit for £400 what's going to happen when you move in and the boiler fails. That's 2K odd straight away. Property buying is a reality check if nothing else!

davilown

Probably a stupid question but, with all the effort you're putting in to find a broker, why don't you just find and apply for one yourself? It's and easy process as long as you've got all your docs.

jowie

davilown wrote: »

Probably a stupid question but, with all the effort you're putting in to find a broker, why don't you just find and apply for one yourself? It's and easy process as long as you've got all your docs.

I did spend some time looking into direct applications. But in the end I thought I'd get somewhere a lot quicker and easier if I found a good broker, and L&C seem to be that. I had a few criteria that would cause me having to look around quite carefully. For starters I wanted to try and find a deal with no lump payments, but also my house is a BISF construction and so the L&C broker had to call round to find out which ones would agree to that in principle, which is a time-consuming process.

I knew that left to my own devices, I wouldn't have enough time to look into all the available deals. I was glad to find a broker to sort all that out for me.

jowie

UPDATE: TSB just approved and issued my new mortgage! 6 days that took from start to finish. So impressed with L&C. Only shame is I won't have a reason to use them again now for another 5 years!

:beer:

amnblog

I think you'll find TSB are due the glory.