Broker

ellywellywoo

How does one decide on a good broker ?
Is it down to just recommendation or is there a way of finding out who is the best ?

Hoping to be in a position to buy within the next year.
I’m self employed partner is employed.
We will have no debts when we apply but partner doesn’t have the best credit rating.
Due to ill health had to shut his business down. Now working again as paye employee.
Had debts with bank and credit cards. He has reached an agreement with them all and they accepted offers which he has now paid off.
But we know that this will show up on credit checks
Deposit we hope will be around 220,000
House buy approximately £380,000
Joint income approximately £48,000
Figures approx as still have house to sell and we are not looking st properties until we have sold

Need a broker that can try and get us a mortgage if possible

dunstonh

How does one decide on a good broker ?

The majority are.

However, there are different business models and that can influence choice.

Estate agent based brokers are best avoided unless the EA is a local independent using a local broker. If its a chain, then avoid (old fashioned salesforce types work with chains).

Large online brokers are a bit like factory lines. They have time pressures to get through cases and usually hand them off to back office staff. The quality of the staff is often not high as the working environment is not as nice a localised broker. However, for simple cases, this method works fine. For complicated cases or potential issues, you frequently see posters here refer to problems they have had.

Localised brokers tend to be the more experienced ones. They have served time in banks, insurers etc and rely on local word of mouth/reputation to maintain their business. The only issue with some of these is cost. You expect a relatively small cost but some get greedy charging a percentage of borrowing. That type is best avoided.

I’m self employed partner is employed.
We will have no debts when we apply but partner doesn’t have the best credit rating.
Due to ill health had to shut his business down. Now working again as paye employee.

Localised broker would likely be best.

ACG

General rule of thumb, large firms with salaried/targeted staff are usually relatively new brokers or the ones who only want the easy cases.

You want a broker who only gets paid if you get your mortgage, you both want the same outcome then, which may be for different reasons but at least you know you will not have someone wasting your time.

If they do not ask for copies of your credit reports when you explain you have adverse, I would knock them on the head. But maybe see if friends/family can recommend anyone.

csgohan4

Or you could try some of the brokers on here and see if they want business, I got my broker on here. Although he wasn't local, he was the best for finding me the best mortgage at the time. It's always more than low interest rates but also the speed and likely success of mortgage