To Mortgage Broker or not Mortgage Broker

Jrterror

Hello
I'm after a little advice.
I shall attempt to keep it short.
Our Mortgage deal has ended
I have a friend who used to be an independent financial adviser. I asked him if he's still doing it. No! But he referred me to someone else.
I was told to find the best deals and then this guy would see if he could find better.
I sent a list of the best deals I could find
One of them being a 5 year deal with Tesco. Fixed rate 2.13%. £683 per month. No fees etc.
I have received a text from my friend saying his mate can get me a 5 year deal 2.12% at £682 per month. He hasn't specified who the mortgage is with.

I'm thinking, so he finds a deal that costs me £1 less per month, but I would have to pay him £350 for setting it up.
I can't help think, it wouldn't even pay for it self.
I don't know what this mystery mortgage would revert to after the deal ends either
Is there any advantage on paying someone, who can only save me £1 per month?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks for reading

ACG

In your shoes, I would be thinking the exact same thing.

This broker has set them selves up as a price comparison service. They have not even done that very well by the looks of it - what are the fees? Arrangement fees(?), valuation and legal fees are usually free on remortgages but no mention of those? Any cash back etc etc?

I would not worry too much about the reverionary rate as most lenders will offer retention deals at the end of the Mortgage, but there is no harm taking it in to account.

The reality is that a broker will find you a good deal, they will make the application and deal with any problems that may arise - even the most straight forward of cases on the face of it can have problems.

But as for whether that is worth £350, only you can decide.

Jrterror

Haha. Thank you for your reply
The broker states

"5 year no fee (free legals, free valuation, and no product fee)
2.12%
£682 based on 23 years remaining"

The mortgage I found with Tesco was free legal, free valuation, no product fee, no booking fee, no arrangement fee.

Can't decide
Help! Haha

Luana

You could try to find a no fee broker and see if they can find you a better deal. But, I doubt they can go lower than rates you can find on MSE's best buys site...

I believe the main advantage of using a broker is that they are (or should be) able to get you the best rate/lender deal - given your particular circumstances. So not just the best rate, but the best rate for you. And also make the application process easier, once you give them the info and docs they need.

kingstreet

I'd say you don't need a broker.

Your appreciation of the broker role is limited to the £1 a month difference, so you are unlikely to need the expertise of lender placement and analysis of criteria which is 99% of the job.

The YBS, Tesco and HSBC brigade, what we call "vanilla" borrowers don't have to worry about fitting the lenders' round or square peg holes.

bertiewhite

2 threads on the same subject here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5834321/to-mortgage-broker-or-not-mortgage-broker

Jrterror

Hi. Sorry, I didn't understand any of that. Can you dumb it down please

Jrterror

Hi Kingstreet. Thank you for your imput. Sorry, I didn't understand any of that. Can you dumb it down please

kingstreet

kingstreet wrote: »

I'd say you don't need a broker.

Your only concern is the rate, not being declined due to your financial make-up.

Peelerfart

Hi OP,

If a broker says you don't need a broker, IMHO you should listen.

Good luck, you know what you should do don't you?