is there such a thing as a free Mortgage broker?

nmjams

Hi, i'm looking to buy my first home, i have deposit sorted and an AIP with HSBC.

Today it struck me i could be missing out on a better deal elsewhere so i'm looked into seeing a broker. Are there any brokers that don't charge but get their fees from the lender? i have a 10% deposit and money for legal/surveys etc but i don't really want to spend more money than i really have to.

I'm buying on my own, have a HTBI and i'm worried a little about costs

cheers in advance

Contemptuous

Yes, such brokers do exist.

AnotherJoe

Yep, my daughter used a broker like this.

Barney72

Hi there we bought a new build and went with the mortgage broker that's deals with the builder and he charged the Halifax with his fee so it did cost us nothing to arrange the mortgage and help to buy element

dunstonh

It should be noted that no fee (commission only) can actually be more expensive than a fee option.

Lemonsqueezer78

dunstonh wrote: »

It should be noted that no fee (commission only) can actually be more expensive than a fee option.

It may help more if you could explain this statement...

Newbiebuyer2016

We got two opinions. One from a broker who charged £500 then we got a second opinion from L&C who didn't charge.

L&C said they would call back in 5 mins with a figure on the mortgage and we didn't hear from them for over 24hours.

We decided the £500 was well spent in the end on a broker who helped us through dealing with Leeds and a slightly difficult circumstance.

Both brokers offered same mortgages to us.

dunstonh

It may help more if you could explain this statement...

Fee with commission rebate/offset means that for larger mortgages, the offset can result in a rebate of commission that is greater than the fee.

e.g. if fee is £750 and commission is £1000 then the fee option results in a £250 rebate. Whereas the commission only option "free" option means no rebate.

eschaton

Search around yourself and you might find better for free.

When I bought me current house back in 2005, I decided to use a broker as I was working to tight timescales (6 weeks till I moved and my own house was just on the market the day my offer was accepted) and I was very busy at work. The fee was £150.

He applied to Nationwide for a 2 year fixed rate deal but they offered £6k less than I needed which was no good. He then went searching again and around 5 days later I was still waiting.

I went online and searched myself and found a base rate +0.99% tracker with First Active. Online line it said they would accept me. I phoned up and all was sorted within the hour. Worked out well in the end as I saved £150 and have been paying 1.49% for years now.

I binned the broker but he still charged his fee via my solicitor which they quickly refunded when told to.

MortgageMamma

there are plenty of fee free brokers, but I will give you the facts.

Fee free brokers work on volume mostly and can often have a lot of cases on the go at once. That means your fee free broker can be pushed for time. If you are quite money savvy and have straightforward circumstances and not the anxious sort this could be a good option for you.

Fee charging brokers often have less cases on the boil as they earn more from the ones they do take on. You could potentially, and I say potentially get better service and this may be a good option if your case is a little more complex. Many fee charging brokers can add their fees to your mortgage, a typical fee is £495 plus lenders commission.

There is also an option called an independent option where you pay an upfront fee and have the lenders commission (if any) rebated to you. This can work well if the commission would be over say £1,000 or you have a high value mortgage. Taking this option also means the broker will consider lenders who do not pay them commission.

All very confusing I know!

David_White

I agree with MortgageMamma, but I am naturally biased as I charge a fee.

There will always be exceptions, however I view the sales model of a non-fee broker as stack 'em high sell 'em cheap.

More often than not you get what you pay for in life.