Mortgage and Moving Fee Question

buzzby

Hi

I have just purchased a house and I am getting a bit worried about the fees that are totalling up.
I purchased a house for £142000
I put a 10% deposit down which left a £127800

But so far we have paid out £2250 in fees.
This seems a bit steep.

Is it usually this much?

Chris

herbiesjp

Can you give a breakdown of what the fees are for?

buzzby

Hi

Thanks for the reply.
The breakdown is:
Survey £280
Searches £320
Mortgage broker fee £675
Soliciter Fee £1255.22
Also a mortgage arrangement fee for £1499 (this was in the mortgage)

This is actually more than the £2250 I said!

It seems also all is not right with the person who got our mortgage, and we are making a complaint.
The soliciter has told us to 1st complain to his company, then to the financial onbudsman if no joy.
Are there any website that can help with wording of letters as I'm no very good at that sort of thing.

Any help would be greatful

Chris

cattie

Survey & searches are standard charges. Mortgage arrangement fee is a charge you pay for that particular favorable mortgage product.

Your solicitor fee will, I hope include the stamp duty, which is 1% of purchase price. The rest should be made up of his legal fee & any disbursements & charges for filling out land tax form. Has solicitor given you a proper detailed breakdown of costs by way of a completion statement so you know exactly what you have been charged for & how much?

I can't comment on broker fee as I've never paid one myself, but am sure one of the experienced mortgage people here will be able to say whether that fee is reasonable.

buzzby

Hi

There was no stamp duty on the property as it was exempt from it.

Chris

herbiesjp

Are they rebating the commision to you that they get from the lender? Or are they keeping that as well as the fee you are paying?

That is the broker I am talking about

dunstonh

Why do you want to complain? What rule breach do you think has taken place?

The figures are about right. You have paid a broker fee which you didnt need to do although its not massive and ok if commission is rebated of offset against it. The solicitor is about £300 over the odds for a first time buyer.

Was the survery a valuation, homebuyers report or structual survey? The price suggests mortgage valuation or homebuyers report.

Arrangement fees of £1499 are not uncommon now with many lenders. Its the price you get for getting a lower fixed rate. For a 5 year fix, it may be worthwhile. Anything less and unless you have a large mortgage, you wont make that up with the cheap rate. A slightly higher fix rate with a £250-£499 fee may be better.

buzzby

Their keeping that aswell as far as I know. If you mean they are getting a fee from us and a fee from the lenders.
Also what is the average for a soliciters fee. Is it around the £1200 mark.

Thanks

Chris

MarkyMarkD

Well, the broker fee isn't (IMHO) reasonable if your position is a straightforward one. In most cases your broker will be getting around £500 from the lender on top of the fee they are charging you.

But then again, you chose the broker and signed up to their fees so you are stuck with it.

You also chose a mortgage with a high fee - £1,499 is high. It is debatable whether it's worth paying that level of fee on a mortgage of "only" £127k. But again, that's what your adviser has recommended and we don't have the understanding of your situation that your adviser does.

dunstonh

Their keeping that aswell as far as I know. If you mean they are getting a fee from us and a fee from the lenders.

Ok, you chose an expensive broker. Had the commission been offset against the fee, it would have been fine but fee and commission is expensive.

Also what is the average for a soliciters fee. Is it around the £1200 mark.

I was checking the file of my mortgage broker earlier in the week and the solicitor charges were just under £1000 for a first time buyer including everything except stamp duty.

What is your complaint with this mortgage broker?

buzzby

dunstonh wrote: »

Why do you want to complain? What rule breach do you think has taken place?

The figures are about right. You have paid a broker fee which you didnt need to do although its not massive and ok if commission is rebated of offset against it. The solicitor is about £300 over the odds for a first time buyer.

Was the survery a valuation, homebuyers report or structual survey? The price suggests mortgage valuation or homebuyers report.

Arrangement fees of £1499 are not uncommon now with many lenders. Its the price you get for getting a lower fixed rate. For a 5 year fix, it may be worthwhile. Anything less and unless you have a large mortgage, you wont make that up with the cheap rate. A slightly higher fix rate with a £250-£499 fee may be better.

Hi

The rate he managed to get is 6.9%. I dont know if this is that competetive.

The complaint is that, since getting the mortgage through him we have only received a few bits of paperwork about the mortgage. (We supposed to exchange in under a week) Paperwork with the wrong details on. (they say ignore it, it doesnt matter).
It just seems somethings wrong.
Are there any independent advice companies we could phone and talk to?

Thanks for the help

Chris