Mortgage Broker or Direct?

anotheruser

A family friend of mine says you don't need a broker these days but I read on here, many do use a broker, although all of those seem to have some sort of complication.

My situation is this:

• Looking to get a joint mortgage for around £130,000.
• Online calculators say this is achievable with current income.
• Wife only been in her job a month, but it is permanent.
• I'm in a permanent job - both full time.
• We don't have many outgoing - normal bills, £20 Internet, £20 mobile contracts.
• We have a credit card that is paid off every month.
• First time buyers looking at a 10% deposit mark.
• Neither have defaults or anything. I did have one payment blip from an old contract (4+ years ago) but had a demand letter and paid it.

Not checked out credit scores as yet.
I assume it's okay for us to approach mortgage people directly?

kingstreet

Yes. Just avoid those with a minimum employment period greater than your partner's.

ACG

There are many reasons to use a broker, help you find a competitive rate, help you overcome any complications, tend to be easier to contact (rather than a call centre), a dedicated person to overcome any blips in the application - which can happen even on the most straight forward of cases.

That being said, you would probably be able to place this yourself with some erseach, as kingstreet says just check the lenders employment criteria to ensure you fit with them.