Broker question

Lego5853

Hello,

We are FTB who are buying through a broker. We're looking at a sub-prime mortgage which they believe they can help us with.

They asked for all documents- ID, statements, payslips etc., which we duly posted to them. ID returned within 24 hours. So far so good.

They've had everything that's been asked for since Monday, but we haven't had any sort of DIP yet. I emailed today asking for an update as was at work so couldn't phone. Will likely get a reply on Monday now.

They did say they asked for everything up front to be "lender ready", being sub-prime we know it won't be the simplest case in the world. They haven't actually explained the next step in the process (hence my email).

Is it reasonable to think that they are getting all the ducks lined up and be ready for a full application rather than just getting a quick DIP which may or may not hold up to a full app?

They've suggested we hold off looking for a property until we hear from them, which is fine. I would have thought if they were going to find a DIP they would have done so by now?

Or are they just dragging their feet? The broker has an online log in area on their website where we can see our documents etc. along with a time spent on case" clock, which has 12 hours on it so far (I can imagine most of this was trawling through our paperwork lol).

I have faith in them but am trying to understand how they might be working, any insight (especially from other brokers) is much appreciated!

ACG

There is no way they have spent 12 hours and done nothing.
Obtaining documents upfront is fine - this should also have included credit reports?
Personally I do not like to obtain a DIP until a property has been found, the only exception to that is if I am in any doubt. I go through the documents and credit reports and line up a lender who I have confidence in, but do not do any credit checks until you have found a property.

Nothing in a week is pretty poor.

And I say that as a broker where 80-90% of my clients have adverse.

Lego5853

Thank so for the reply. Yes, it does include credit reports for us both in the documents.

I do think we should have had some sort of positive indication already, so will start pressing them.

That being said, I wouldn't expect a broker to put 12 hours into a case they didn't think they would have success with.

Lego5853

Additional-

Any chance they have gone through the documents, went to a lender on our behalf and are now waiting for them to get back to the broker?

ACG

Theyve not done 12 hours work on it.
Someone has logged in and not logged out I bet.

If a company specialises in something, it means they do it every day. Once they get your credit reports, they will already have a good idea of who it will fit with, so the research is primarily just confirming a few points. If they have done more then 3 hours research at this stage I would be surprised, but they have not done 12 unless they are doing something wrong.

Lego5853

I have just noticed on my credit report that there has been a soft (single) and a hard (joint) search recorded by Halifax Mortgages on 6th March.

Last activity on my broker account log in was on 7th.

As I say, I've not heard from the broker since around that time, so can I now safely assume they are waiting for Halifax to make a decision?

Any idea on Halifax's average turnaround times? (Subprime application))

Many thanks.

Lego5853

Sorry, it seems they are both soft searches - administration review and a quotation search.

ACG

Were you not aware they were doing a DIP?

Lego5853

Well yes, that's what I'm expecting. I would have thought if a soft search had been done and it had been successful the broker would have let me know by now. If a fail, they should be moving on to another lender, but there's no other searches showing.

Broker is getting a phone call tomorrow I think!

Lego5853

Broker has been in touch. Found a lender who would consider my poor credit. Unfortunately won't accept us as OH is under 21 (with an untarnished credit record). Kinda ironic really.

The search continues!

ACG

What adverse do you have? (ie default/£200/06/2015)
Percentage wise, how much is your deposit?