Is it really worth seeing a mortgage advisor?

robatwork

The analogy with a mechanic is wrong. You could liken it to someone who would FIND you an appropriate mechanic, then ensure your car gets to them, gets fixed, and gets back to your house OK. And then takes a fee for that.

And there's nothing wrong with that - but I would say it depends on your circumstances, financial astuteness, and willingness to put in the leg work.

I recently remortgaged and did lots of leg work plus had a chat with a broker. Turned out the broker couldn't do as well as the deal I had found, so I did it all myself. If your situation is difficult, you have a poor credit history, or the property is unusual, I would say a broker is the way to go every time.

cadon

I went direct, but I had the most straightforward set of circumstances possible. I think a broker makes sense where you need extra support, for example if you have a chequered credit history and the advice on which lender might take you will be invaluable.

davilown

Having just undertaken this along side a friend at the same time it all depends on your financial position.
As ACG said, if 4x income and a 'stable' job with little debt issue then I found it 'easier' doing it myself. However I did ask a few mortgage advisors that I know for their advice.
My friend is still waiting their mortgage offer 5 weeks later via a broker who is 'always going to look at this this afternoon'.
If you are anything outside ACG's 4x income then its probably well worth the money going via a broker - I used one for my first mortgage and they cost me a £150 fee - they advised that we should go direct as it was a better option for us.

davilown

SouthLondonUser wrote: »

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.

I've just been through HSBC direct and they were actually very good - fill in the form, upload the documents, chase a few times on the phone and mortgage offer was there in 2 weeks.

Lauralou79

We did it ourselves. I did loads of research beforehand as We were FTB. No bad credit, no debt and good deposit. Both in long term stable jobs and well under affordability and what we could borrow. I don't understand why people say it's a hassle. We had one short AIP appointment. Then a mortgage appointment of about an hour and a half. That didn't take up much of my time. The mortgage was approved quickly.
To be honest I found waiting for decisions, survey and solicitors far more stressful than applying for my mortgage.
However I do agree if you have more complicated or unusual circumstances, or affordability is tight/small deposit. Then a broker is worth their weight in gold.

HangTime

First mortgage we took through a broker, then went direct the second time. In my experience it is useful to have a broker when you are starting out and don't know much about the application process but beyond that, if you are an 'average joe' without unusual circumstances, going direct shouldn't be a problem.

Of the two I preferred going direct as the broker mucked up some of the details; to them you are just another number on a spreadsheet that needs to be got out of the way as quickly as possible, whereas applying yourself you can give it the requisite care and attention.
[I'm sure some brokers are better than others, but YMMV]

ACG

HangTime wrote: »

Of the two I preferred going direct as the broker mucked up some of the details; to them you are just another number on a spreadsheet that needs to be got out of the way as quickly as possible, whereas applying yourself you can give it the requisite care and attention.
[I'm sure some brokers are better than others, but YMMV]

If you go via a large call centre based operation, maybe.
But I vet my customers as much as they vet me. If I do not like someone, I do not do their Mortgage. I like all (or at least most) of my customers.

I can give you an example just last week, application submitted to a lender who does not accept pay day loans.

We have a customer who has a high interest loan, the lender tried to argue this was a pay day loan. When we proved it was not, they said they were not refunding the application fee as they have underwritten the case.

My advisor tried to resolve it and could not, so I was ready to refund the application fee ourselves (despite not being our mistake), however I got on the phone to the lender and argued for the application fee back as morally they are in the wrong.

I can give you many other examples where lenders take a similar approach and it is only because we care that we have got the right outcome.

amnblog

It is a lot more difficult for a mortgage broker to continue to trade on the back of shoddy service than it is for a Lender to do so.

That's for sure.

Our business really took off when we started addressing clients by name rather than spreadsheet row numbers.

kingstreet

amnblog wrote: »

It is a lot more difficult for a mortgage broker to continue to trade on the back of shoddy service than it is for a Lender to do so.

That's for sure.

Our business really took off when we started addressing clients by name rather than spreadsheet row numbers.

Yep, lenders and builders.

Lender phones and asks about 10/52536271-10 and builder phones and asks about Plot 17.

We phone and ask about Mr Jones.

dunstonh

Of the two I preferred going direct as the broker mucked up some of the details; to them you are just another number on a spreadsheet that needs to be got out of the way as quickly as possible, whereas applying yourself you can give it the requisite care and attention.
[I'm sure some brokers are better than others, but YMMV]

If you use a factory line broker service (like certain telephone ones this site recommends) then that is very much the case. However, most brokers are small local firms dealing with local people and do not operate on a factory line basis. It doesnt mean they wont make errors (just as DIY doesnt mean you wont make errors). However, you are certainly not just another number on a spreadsheet with those brokers.