Is it really worth seeing a mortgage advisor?

therealbane

Hi All,

So in an age where you can do everything online, is it really worth seeing a mortgage advisor/s to see what they can offer you?

Some places say you will only find the best deals direct.. some say mortgage advisors have special deals available to them..

What did you do?

Pixie5740

There's more to it than just looking at the rates. You need to be able to match the right borrower with the right lender. The type of property, construction and location also play a part in deciding the right lender. Turn around timescales might also be a consideration. There's no point going for the lowest rate if you need your application turned around quickly and the lender with the lowest rate is being a bit slower than usual.

lspell1

Hi,

Depends on your circumstances and how financially savvy you are. Even if your circumstances are plain Mortgage Advisors are good value. To name a few pros they know which lenders are providing the most efficient service, they might have access to certain products which have incentives attached and they will be able to do everything quicker than you would.

Going direct certainly wouldn't find you the best deal, unless you went round and checked every lender in the market.

TakeItAsRed

I went to directly to my local TSB branch. Progressed all the way to about 1 week from Exchange. Then it fell through. The in branch adviser didnt do the application correctly and we missed out on a home.

I then went to a broker, who secured a different property with the same lender in no time at all.

In my opinion, find a good one, even if you have to pay a high price, worth their weight in gold i think.

Toonsy

Don't forget the stress and hassle they kind of absorb on your behalf. With a good broker you know they're working for you to sew it all together.

Having recently remortgaged myself with no broker involvement my one regret was not knowing what to do and fudging through it with the help of Google and me asking some daft simple questions on here that I wasn't sure of. I also feel the process would've been quicker with a broker as they'll know what paperwork etc to hold onto and can deal with that rather than in my circumstance someone requesting something, me sending it, then another request for something else etc etc.

It's like a mechanic. Most people could fix most things on their car but they put it in a garage because a mechanic knows what they're doing and will so things quicker and more efficient as they have the tools and expertise compared to just me using a spanner and a hammer on my drive way.

ACG

If you are "vanilla" employed long term, 4x income or less, no major debts not looking to do anything unsual you can do it yourself. There is no definiteive as to who would be cheaper - sometimes brokers/sometimes direct.

A broker will take away the hassle, no 2 hour appointments on the phone (sometimes twice), you are not having to chase on your dinner hour etc and someone will basically just take it from you and get on with it. You also have a helping hand if there is an issue - even vanilla cases can have problems.

It depends what you want. One thing I tend to find is when I discuss options with clients. Very few want the very very cheapest. Cheapest rates (usually) equals longest waits - because there is so much demand.

Also some lenders are fussier than others, so when buying would you rather pay an extra £2 a month and have an easy application of save £50 over 2 years but have a few hours headache with an anal underwriter?

A broker can help navigae all of that for you.

But if you are pretty plane, then yes you would likely be able todo it yourself.

therealbane

So if you had already started a mortgage application online, could you still sit with a broker to see what they can offer? Or is it a case of one route at a time?

SouthLondonUser

Short answer: yes. Not so much when time is not of the essence (eg you are remortgaging and have plenty of time to find another deal even if one bank declines you), but yes, big time, when time is key (eg buying a property).

In summary, my advice is: a broker makes sense, even when you shouldn’t need one, because they can save you time. And time is valuable. Never listen to a broker acritically, though: of course do spend a little time doing your own research, identifying a couple of mortgage products you think could work for you, and then compare them with what the broker can find you. Unless you are after a very unique product that accepts direct applications only (e.g. First Direct’s interest-only offset), apply via a broker even if you could theoretically apply directly, because, again, a broker saves you time and frustration.

I used to think that I’d never need nor use a broker because my situation is pretty straightforward and, at the risk of sounding cocky, I’m not financially illiterate. All the mortgage application hell I have gone through made me change my mind.

I used to think that applying via a broker if you know what you want and your situation is straightforward was like paying for a tax accountant if you are an employee with a very straighforward tax situation and all you have to do is an online self-assessment: most of the time would be spent gathering the information anyway, so why bother? I was wrong.

I mentioned it in other posts but, here’s my experience:

When I bought my current property, I almost lost it because Nationwide, to which I had applied directly online (no advice), lost my documents as many as 3 times. Yes, you read it right, they lost them 3 times.
I am now in the process of remortgaging. I applied to Nationwide again (I had in the meanwhile remortgaged to the Chelsea Building Society), online, no advice. The IT system froze. I got an approval in principle, but the system wouldn’t let me submit an application online because my address caused their IT system to crash. Yes, the address of the same property they lent against 4 years ago. Of course it took me many hours on the phone listening to splendid jingles while on hold to understand what on Earth was going on. The only options? Branch (none in our area) or telephone application, but the waiting list for the latter was 2 weeks.
We decided to apply via HSBC. I bank with First Direct, my wife with HSBC, so it should be very straightforward, right? Wrong. Again, more IT troubles. My wife and I kept getting contradicting information on the kind of data we had to supply. The IT system wouldn’t recognise that my wife is an HSBC Advance customer, and therefore entitled to a lower fee, even though we very clearly entered her banking details (how hard is it to verify??). The “continue” button was greyed out and we couldn’t finalise our application. Why we don’t know, nor did the countless people we spent countless hours talking on the phone to managed to explain it. In the end, HSBC recommended we went to a branch, but explained we might have to go twice: once for the application, a second time to “discuss”. What’s there to discuss? I already know what I want, you either approve me or not. No, it doesn’t work like that, we have to “advise” you, if you don’t want advice do it online. I tried, but the stupid IT system wouldn’t let me!

This is why we are now going through a broker. It is paradoxical. I shouldn’t need one. I am applying to HSBC via a broker, even though my wife is an HSBC customer, because the HSBC application process is pure hell otherwise. HSBC will pay the broker a fee. We will probably pay a higher fee ourselves, because I’m not sure HSBC customers get the lower upfront fee when they go through a broker. But I don’t care. My time is too valuable, and I have already wasted too much of it.

Note that affordability has never been an issue. There has never been any question on our income, expenses, proeprty valuation, etc. It’s just the Bizantine IT system of the banks which have made our application a nightmare. Had we been trying to buy a property, instead of remortgaging one, we’d have most likely lost it by now.

fewcloudy

therealbane wrote: »

So if you had already started a mortgage application online, could you still sit with a broker to see what they can offer? Or is it a case of one route at a time?

I'm not a mortgage broker, but I would say it probably depends how far through the process you are. And as others have said, it depends how straightforward your case is.


Even when you think things are straightforward it doesn't mean that they are. Expect the unexpected etc. And if problems or issues arise, I want someone in my corner who has been there, seen that, knows what to do, can advise me, just sort it out.


I'm on property number 5, plus a remortgage or two along the way. I have a good understanding of mortgages, but I use a broker. To be exact, the same broker!
I think it's fair to say we've been good business for each other. He's saved me many thousands of pounds over the years and continues to do so. And according to the paperwork, he receives money from the lender for acting as my 'intermediary'.


What's not to like?

ACG

Do one at a time. Its a waste of your time, the other persons time and could cause problems doing 2 at once.

therealbane

All we've done so far is get a AIP from Virgin, then started the application process. They've sent out the application documents for us to sign and returned.

Would we be ok to sit with a broker at this point to see what they can offer?