Mortgage broker qualifications question

PhilJenn

Hi all, first post here so hopefully I'm posting in the right section!

I'm a first time buyer and looking for a mortgage advisor/broker, preferably fees free.

So I read the MSE FTB guide 2017 and have noted the three questions to ask brokers.

I'm wondering though, would the question 'are you qualified?' be relevant if speaking to London&Country? I think that some advisors may not be qualified yet as gaining training through their company, so therefore should I be requesting to deal with a qualified individual (ie. CeMAP) or can I be confident that I'll be given the same quality of advice given the company they work for?

Many thanks in advance!

Phil

amnblog

You should not be offered mortgage advice from someone who is not 'qualified' Phil. It is against FCA regulations.

There is no regulatory requirement to be experienced.

Be careful what you look for as 'fees free' may not be right for you.

tain

PhilJenn wrote: »

Hi all, first post here so hopefully I'm posting in the right section!

I'm a first time buyer and looking for a mortgage advisor/broker, preferably fees free.

So I read the MSE FTB guide 2017 and have noted the three questions to ask brokers.

I'm wondering though, would the question 'are you qualified?' be relevant if speaking to London&Country? I think that some advisors may not be qualified yet as gaining training through their company, so therefore should I be requesting to deal with a qualified individual (ie. CeMAP) or can I be confident that I'll be given the same quality of advice given the company they work for?

Many thanks in advance!

Phil

We've recently spoken with L&C regarding a first time mortgage. We didn't ask if the person was qualified (presumed they were due to the size of L&C), but they were definitely inexperienced. They gave us advice they were 'certain' of, and it was only when I kept pushing and disagreeing that they spoke to a manager who agreed with me.

Tl;dr - as amnblog said, being qualified is nothing compared to being experienced and knowledgeable. Go with recommendations.

David_White

tain wrote: »

Tl;dr - as amnblog said, being qualified is nothing compared to being experienced and knowledgeable. Go with recommendations.

Can't echo this enough, CeMAP is necessary for the job but by no means makes you good at it.

You could go from zero knowledge to passing CeMAP within a few weeks if you were good at studying or sat through a course.

amnblog

David_White wrote: »

You could go from zero knowledge to passing CeMAP within a few weeks if you were good at studying or sat through a course.

..and you'd still only be good for making the tea in my office.

kingstreet

It's probably more pertinent to ask someone if they have CAS rather than their level of qualification.

CAS = Competent Advisor Status.

This means I have the necessary qualifications, have observed the correct number of observed interviews; have undertaken the correct number of interviews when I've been observed and have been signed-off by a supervisor to give one to one advice without having to be observed or directly supervised by a mentor or supervisor.

TBH this is still not a measure of experience. Mortgage advising is like driving. You learn 'once you've passed your test', so to speak. In our market, knowledge of newbuild maximum loans to value, offer/product expiry periods and treatment of builder cash incentives is something which builds with experience, rather than out of a book or a training course.

PhilJenn

Sorry for the late response everyone, thanks for your input!