Habito Discussion

djpix99

I've used Habito and Trussle for remortgaging over the last few years. I used Habito first and found the process very straightforward. I'm currently just competing a remortgage with Trussle and found them to be poor. During my Trussle application I was emailed by the mortgage adviser using a Yahoo email address which I found very unprofessional and to get my application in by the end of the month they put their preferred solicitors details on my application rather than ask me for my solicitors details.

sparetomato

Unfortunately I've fallen out with Habito at the first hurdle.
After registering with the site for myself to start the enquiry the site has demanded my partner's email address so that they can create an account for her. We do not wish to create a separate account at this stage as we are in the very early stages of looking at a remortgage, have what we feel is a good mortgage in mind and want to see if a broker can beat it.
I enquired using the online chat as to why they needed to register and create an account for her at this initial stage and they claimed it was for "Fraud Prevention". It seems more like a ploy to sign up multiple users.

dunstonh

sparetomato said:

Unfortunately I've fallen out with Habito at the first hurdle.
After registering with the site for myself to start the enquiry the site has demanded my partner's email address so that they can create an account for her. We do not wish to create a separate account at this stage as we are in the very early stages of looking at a remortgage, have what we feel is a good mortgage in mind and want to see if a broker can beat it.
I enquired using the online chat as to why they needed to register and create an account for her at this initial stage and they claimed it was for "Fraud Prevention". It seems more like a ploy to sign up multiple users.

There is some limited fraud prevention potential in having two separate email addresses.    Purely speculating, its possible that its a software issue.   Both parties to the mortgage should be supplied the details.  With face to face meetings or postal where it is addressed to Mr & Mrs xxxx, that is easily covered.  With remote online transactions, if you only one party you cannot be sure the other party is seeing it.   So, by having both individual email addresses, the firm can cover its backside.

mageliken

I am going through Habito at the moment. For my situation their suggestions are basically matching the MSE cheap mortgage calculator, but as Habito get their fees from the lender and I'm getting the same product I'm happy going with them. They are checking they have all of the right documents. I'm guessing/hoping they can deal with the lender better than I would be able to, knowing what they will want. Generally I find the online chat works well - I get a little impatient but replies aren't usually that long. My "mortgage expert" was chatting to me on Saturday to get all documentation in order.

I had gone with a Nationwide recommendation and it was going to take up to four days to submit to Nationwide. I noticed yesterday Nationwide's rates had gone up so gave Habito a nudge. They reached out to me 45 minutes before their chat even is advertised as being open this morning, and two and a half hours later they've checked affordability with a new lender, checked some figures that lender is asking for, and I've accepted their new recommendation with Coventry. It's a bit more expensive (~£200 over 5 years) and early repayment charges are higher but it is what it is. Glad to hear I'm not back at the start of the submission queue, so today or tomorrow it should be submitted 🤞

hannah2283

I've just had to switch from using Habito to the EA broker. HSBC wanted remedial works done before they would offer the mortgage - no one (me, surveyor, EA thought this was a good idea or the normal way forward in this situation), I asked Habito twice to look at other lenders, they said no, this problem will occur with everyone (for context the repairs are wall ties on a Victorian terrace and very standard in the area), only when I asked them the third time and said I had spoken to another broker did they relent. But it took a while and they came back with a 5 year rather than 2 year deal so I've gone with the EA broker instead who is submitting an application with Santander. I really didn't want to walk away from Habito but it ended up being a situation where I got a few mixed messages and where local knowledge was needed (local broker knows it isn't a big deal etc) and also to act quickly - I'm an FTB and there's no chain.  I would say with Habito they're great if everything is straightforward - particularly if there are no issues with the property so worth considering if you think it's going to be all ok.

broga020

I used Habito and thought they were mediocre. I did like that it all can be done online , but I found that once you’ve picked your mortgage you are passed on to admin and then the mistakes start. They don’t seem proactive either. Ultimately I found out the offer had been issued five hours before habito did simply because I checked the lenders tracker site. Habito hadnt even looked. They also applied for the wrong amount of mortgage which could’ve been an absolute disaster if I hadn’t spotted it. I wouldn’t use them again. I was a simple case and it shouldn’t have been difficult but they made too many mistakes and are not proactive enough. They are free though. 

pill68

So Rude!
Just got off a "chat" with Dave from Habito who must have been having a bad day - He seemed to take pleasure in telling me why it would be difficult for me to get a mortgage even though I am trying to apply for a 20% LTV mtg and have no bad credit.
All his comments were unhelpful and negative. 
Would not recommend.

sparker999

Called Habito looking for a Retirement Interest Only mortgage. They don't handle them. OK, but if you are retirement unfriendly, please make that clear up front instead of wasting our time.

simon_or

It looks like Habito is in trouble, please check and confirm that they will be able to properly cater to the MoneySavingExpert customers who come through the MSE link on the list of recommended brokers.

@MSE_Tony @MSE_Martin

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6375374/habito-mortgage-brokers-in-trouble#latest