Broker or Direct?

strawberries1

I've decided on a 5yr term thanks to all the good people of MSE!

I'm now torn between these two;

2.14% broker deal with #500 fees or
1.94% direct with #749 fees.

The difference over 5yrs is #1,030.

It's an amount I could use to buy furniture but then I get a mortgage broker to guide me through the application.

The other question is whether Nationwide has better retention rates than HSBC for their current customers?

Thank you.

glosoli

Going through an application directly isn't difficult, and as long as you are dealing with a competent bank Mortgage Adviser, they would guide you through the application like any other competent broker would.

ACG

30 minutes ago I booked in an appointment with someone who applied to HSBC and was declined. 3x income, remortgage and no bad credit...

Im not here to say broker is the best route or not, that is not why I come on this site. Your situation sounds quite simple and I could understand completely if you applied directly, but even the most straight forward of applications can turn in to a nightmare.

MickeyDaMouse

I've bought three houses in the past and remortgaged twice too. I've always done it myself on all occasions but one where we used a rubbish broker who was useless. I've previously used HSBC on three occasions for mortgages.

I'm currently buying a property now and we're using a broker again and this one is really good. We had them recommended to us by friends.

So far they've got us a rate that wasn't advertised to the public and that the bank did not appear to do direct. They've also got it capped over 5 years when the bank direct only offer us 3.

I've filled out mortgage applications in the past and they're not hard at all, but they can take time. However my broker did the lot this time. She turned up at night at my house, asked a few questions, had a friendly chat and took copies of my documents. That was it. All done. Much quicker and easier than doing it myself.

From this point on I'll always use this broker.

Personally I'd recommend using a broker, but finding out who's good from friends and family. Ours didn't cost us a penny but is being paid nearly £500 from the bank.

strawberries1

ACG wrote: »

30 minutes ago I booked in an appointment with someone who applied to HSBC and was declined. 3x income, remortgage and no bad credit...

Im not here to say broker is the best route or not, that is not why I come on this site. Your situation sounds quite simple and I could understand completely if you applied directly, but even the most straight forward of applications can turn in to a nightmare.

That's strange they claim to have just come down to x 4.7 from x 5 income.

strawberries1

MickeyDaMouse wrote: »

I've bought three houses in the past and remortgaged twice too. I've always done it myself on all occasions but one where we used a rubbish broker who was useless. I've previously used HSBC on three occasions for mortgages.

I'm currently buying a property now and we're using a broker again and this one is really good. We had them recommended to us by friends.

So far they've got us a rate that wasn't advertised to the public and that the bank did not appear to do direct. They've also got it capped over 5 years when the bank direct only offer us 3.

I've filled out mortgage applications in the past and they're not hard at all, but they can take time. However my broker did the lot this time. She turned up at night at my house, asked a few questions, had a friendly chat and took copies of my documents. That was it. All done. Much quicker and easier than doing it myself.

From this point on I'll always use this broker.

Personally I'd recommend using a broker, but finding out who's good from friends and family. Ours didn't cost us a penny but is being paid nearly £500 from the bank.

Thanks! Those I know say they went direct and a 2 who used brokers used fee charging brokers. I feel my situation is pretty straight forward not to warrant a fee charging one.