Should I be getting a second opinion on what my broker advises?

User1312

Yes I've compared them properly - there's no cash back on the Halifax deal and both have similar product fees.

And broker no1 didn't give the Halifax deal as a reason for choosing them, he placed more emphasis on Halifax as a lender rather than the deal itself.

The only "non usual" aspects is the self employed part, a few recreational gambling transactions on statements, and I've gone couple hundred £'s into my £1500 overdraft in 2 of the last three months for about 6 days before payday. And we're being gifted some of the deposit. Otherwise everything else is usual and both have good credit scores, minimal debt and haven't missed a payment.

Broker no2 thinks all of the above means we should have a choice of lenders dependant on best deal, broker no1 thinks all above means we should sacrifice a good rate for leniency...

amnblog

Someone is comparing apples with oranges here?


I don't believe Halifax have a 2 yr F at 2.69% that's sounds more like a 5 year fix at 85% LTV.


Another broker is taking about saving £150 a month.


£1,800 a year! how much are you borrowing?


Even at £250,000 that sounds like you are comparing a rate close to 1% under the Halifax rate.


Somewhere we have our wires crossed. No wonder you are confused.

User1312

Now I'm confused ha! Borrowing £211,500.

Forgetting the specific deals we're comparing, what I want to know is if another broker is confident of securing us a better deal after seeing the same info; are we risking a rejection from another lender because we already have produced two AIP's with Halifax?

Thank you

amnblog

Halifax AIPs are soft footprint which means they only leave a trace to members of Lloyds Banking Group.


Therefore, they should not complicate other options.

dunstonh

Forgetting the specific deals we're comparing, what I want to know is if another broker is confident of securing us a better deal after seeing the same info

You cannot forget the specific deals. If broker 1 is talking 5 year fixed and broker 2 is talking 2 year fixed (for example) then you would expect the 2 year fixed to give a cheaper monthly payment initially. However, only time will tell which is the best deal. Paying less is not the only indication of the quality of the deal. If interest rates are higher in 2 years time, that 2 year fixed could end up being poor value for money compared to the five.

Fixed rates are there for the certainty of payment amount. You could also need to consider remortgage costs in 2 years time on top of the current deal costs. (over a 10 year period, two 5 year fixed deals would be vs five 2 year deals wtih costs each time).

User1312

They're both 2 year fixed deals, both differ only slightly for product & valuation fees (a difference of £200 or so), and both for 90% LTV. Their only major difference is the rate which means with Broker 1 our payments would be £130-150 higher than Broker 2.

Broker 1 has provided an alternative deal with a rate inbetween the 2; but said he would be reluctant to go with that deal because of already having done two AIP's with Halifax, and because that specific lender has a long turnaround time.

Broker 1 has not provided a deal as competitive as Broker 2. Broker 2 doesn't understand, after seeing all our documents, why Broker 1 is so keen on Halifax.

amnblog

Sounds to me like Bkr1 is trying to dodge some work.

dunstonh

Broker 2 doesn't understand, after seeing all our documents, why Broker 1 is so keen on Halifax.

Is broker 1 whole of market? (not panel based). Maybe broker 1 cant get that deal.

There are some deals that are unique to certain distribution channels/companies. However, most deals offered to mortgage brokers are the same across all mortgage brokers unless the broker is restricted in some way. Mortgage brokers have, in my opinion, a daft classification as to what whole of market means. It does not actually mean whole of market. A panel broker could refer to themselves as whole of market even if they offered a fraction of the mortgages that a true whole of market broker could offer.

silvercar

User1312 wrote: »

.....

He also said that the rate broker no2 has mentioned is Ipswich BS which he doesn't work with.

.......

As for Halifax being a soft search, I've looked at my report since and both the AIP in Nov and the one last week show up in searches - that's what I was worried about.

Salient points.

Broker no1 can't get you what on the surface appears to be the better deal as he doesn't work with the lender.

So you know you have 2 searches on your file in 7 months.

User1312

I just wanted to update this thread in case anyone comes across it later on.

We ended up going with Broker no2 who could offer the better rate; it wasn't as low as he initially suggested (he initially thought we could get a 1.69% rate, we ended up on a 2.19%) but it was still lower than the best broker no1 could do, and came with cashback.

When I asked Broker no1 why we weren't offered that product with that lender; he said he wouldn't advise changing now as it could affect our credit score and that lender won't be as lenient, but also said "we can go for it if you want, let me know".

We decided to take the 'risk' with the new broker + lender, and have just been told we've passed credit and affordability checks - just waiting for the valuation now before the offer.

Quite disappointed that Broker no1 (whom we paid!) ultimately didn't 'advise' us either way - just said if you want to go with a better rate/product then fine we will, without giving us strong reasons why. I feel much more comfortable with my fee-free Broker no2, and wish I'd found him earlier!!