trussle/habito vs broker

bakedbean78

Hello everyone,

I'm just about to remortgage my apartment in manchester and I'm debating whether or not to go with a conventional mortgage broker or an online broker like trussle or habito. As with most things i have been reading conflicting opinions and advice regarding this. I see many good reviews of trussle/habito but also people saying they are only good if you want generic mortgages and not if you require something more niche with specific criteria. This appears to be because they have a wide network of lenders but a pretty formulaic questioning process and little desire to actually go out and look for more bespoke products because this doesn't fit their business model. I currently have a buy-to-let style mortgage on my apartment and i will be switching to a residential and releasing equity to the tune of about 20-30 grand. Also I will want an interest only with an option to start repayments (not essential) and option to switch back to a rental mortgage some point in the future. Any views on the pros and cons of traditional MBs vs the new online ones? Thanks.

DottieDam

We initially went with Trussle and I would say they are pretty awful. It took them a week to get us a DIP and they set us up with a lender who wasn't willing to lend us the complete value of what we needed. They didn't suggest any other lenders but asked us if we could stump up more money.

Went to another broker, got a DIP immediately. This broker was really surprised Trussle went to the first lender given their pickiness and our situation (husband just started new job, been travelling for a few months, me being self employed). They had quite a few options for lenders for us.

My take away was the Trussle adviser was rubbish and didn't know his stuff. Or he really wanted the cashback from the lender they suggested. Either way, it made me not trust them.

ACG

Im not sure what you want exists Bakedbean regardless of whether you use an online broker or a proper broker.

Interest only is difficult at the best of times - not impossible.
Getting a lender to confirm they will allow Consent to let in the future is probably impossible (especially if combined with interest only).
Switching from I/O to repayment is potentially doable.
But all 3 combined I think is too much to ask.

dunstonh

I see many good reviews of trussle/habito but also people saying they are only good if you want generic mortgages and not if you require something more niche with specific criteria.

That is generally the case with all factory line services regardless of who they are. Easy borrowing with no issues can go through cleanly and simply. The more complicated stuff, such as when you are pushing limits tends to be where factory line services fall down.

This is in part to
a) no individual ownership of your case.
b) the targets to deal with a minimum number of people per shift.

Factory line staff tend to be lower skilled in general (noting that generalisations do have exceptions).

minimike2

Habito / Trussle ARE just brokers. It's just that they interface in a different way up front. There is really no difference in what sits behind the shop window.

IMO they are trying to look like they are digitising the broker market without actually doing so. And they are making a pretty bad job of doing the actual job they are meant to be doing too.

They are just another meat machine but with a fancy(?) front end.