Apply for mortgage myself or use a broker

JamesN

Hi

I’ve been pondering using a broker or applying for the mortgage myself. I’m clued up when it comes to mortgages so don’t need advice. So I’m looking for other benefits of using a broker. They may have more deals on, but for the ones I’m looking for, you can apply direct. So again, no real benefit.

I’m swaying towards just doing it myself as it’s one less person to deal with. Plus the one I spoke to didn’t call me back when they said they would (did when I chased) and hasn’t responded to an email either. Doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.

Have I missed any major benefits or shall I just sort it myself?

scholesfan88

If you feel your application is straight forward and you've done your homework on the best deal then there's no reason why you shouldn't go direct if you dont mind dealing with the lender direct.

I'm going through the buying process myself and I'm currently using MortgageGym. A fee free broker like L&C and they've been really good so far.

I find it easier for the broker to deal with any queries from the lender and do the leg work, plus they'll chase up the EA and solicitors etc...

JamesN

scholesfan88 wrote: »

If you feel your application is straight forward and you've done your homework on the best deal then there's no reason why you shouldn't go direct if you dont mind dealing with the lender direct.

I'm going through the buying process myself and I'm currently using MortgageGym. A fee free broker like L&C and they've been really good so far.

I find it easier for the broker to deal with any queries from the lender and do the leg work, plus they'll chase up the EA and solicitors etc...

On my last mortgage I had a poor experience with a broker. They took 3 days to submit my application at which point the rates went up at a cost of £500 to me over the term. They weren’t bothered about it and had no excuse for the delay in submission.

I was speaking with someone from l and c. They didn’t give me the impression they wanted my business because I asked a few questions I reckon they assumed I may not go with them so they stopped bothering.

ACG

Are the brokers you are speaking to fee free? I think brokers in general are quite busy at the minute. If you are trying fee free brokers they are probably snowed under. We charge and limit the amount of business we take on so that we are always around.

But to answer your actual question, you say it is one less person to deal with, we deal with the initial case via our account manager, we also deal with the case when it is with an underwriter, we would be able to send over certified ID to the solicitor and give them answers to their questions should they need it. So rather than being one less person, typically we are the only person you would deal with.

We have access to products you can not access so probably do not even know about them.

We can crack on with everything whilst you are at work and then catch you up on everything when you are finished - rather than trying to answer calls/call back at lunch or after work like everyone else does.

We will review your application before it goes in and pre-empt as many issues as we possibly can. We will never be right 100% of the time on every case, but experience tells us what is like to get picked up on.

We will be on hand to answer your questions and push people to keep things moving.

I am not for one minute saying you should or should not use a broker. I am saying that we are not a price comparison service. Any idiot (and that is not aimed at you) can find the cheapest deal. That part of the job takes 10-15 minutes for us. The bigger part of the job is researching the other parts of the case and packaging it up so that it hopefully does not touch the sides.

Andysandy

If your situation is straightforward and you're not particularly enthused about using a broker, there's no harm in going direct.

However, to my mind, using a broker (preferably fee-free for normal cases) is a no-brainer. They make money only when your purchase completes and so are happy to do all the legwork and progressing when needed. Plus they have a far better chance of getting to the bottom of issues if/when they crop up during the process.

For more complicated cases, they're a godsend. Case in point is a recent BTL purchase that my broker was struggling to get placed due to the limited lenders that matched my situation and the rental calculations involved. 2 weeks after I'd almost given up, my broker emails me saying that BM Solutions are relaxing their criteria from 1 July and that my case will fit after that. Fast forward to today and I have an offer accepted, a mortgage offer from BM and conveyancing is in progress. This was very unlikely to have happened if I did DIY.

I've also had tax [STRIKE]advice[/STRIKE] related suggestions from my broker which have saved me hundreds of pounds over the years.

Of course, as you would expect, these things depend a lot on how good the broker is, I'm fortunate to have a good one. I would suggest asking for word of mouth recommendations.

JamesN wrote: »

Hi

I’ve been pondering using a broker or applying for the mortgage myself. I’m clued up when it comes to mortgages so don’t need advice. So I’m looking for other benefits of using a broker. They may have more deals on, but for the ones I’m looking for, you can apply direct. So again, no real benefit.

I’m swaying towards just doing it myself as it’s one less person to deal with. Plus the one I spoke to didn’t call me back when they said they would (did when I chased) and hasn’t responded to an email either. Doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.

Have I missed any major benefits or shall I just sort it myself?

Vampgirl

Our remortgage should be pretty simple except that we are redeeming our HTB equity loan as part of it. I've done lots of research and identified who needs to do what and when so I was umming and ahhing about using a broker - particularly after talking to L&C who came back with exactly the same deal I'd already identified myself online. It didn't really seem like the broker really added anything.

However we also had a face to face consultation with a local broker who came recommended by many neighbours who knows our locale extremely well and has a lot of experience with customers redeeming equity loans. He was able to make some suggestions to approach things differently and found us a better deal which will save us around £450. He also provided excellent guidance on the equity loan redemption process so I'm now much more comfortable that its all going to go to plan. He is fee-free, but even if he wasn't then I'd say he is worth be willing to pay a reasonable amount for his services....assuming it does all go through ok of course ;-)

SouthLondonUser

Even if you know all about mortgages and you can apply directly for the mortgage you want, don't underestimate the fact that a good broker will save you time dealing with lenders' questions, and sometimes with a smoother process, too.

My last mortgage was with HSBC. I got it through a broker because, to get it directly, my partner and I would have had to show up in person at the same branch at the same time, on a day between Monday and Friday. Since we work far from each other, that would have meant at least one of us should have taken half a day off work. No way.

[Deleted User]

I'd echo the above, brokers have a way of dealing with questions in the best way.

The worst situation is if the lender questions say a bank transaction, and the customer comes back with such an obscure answer it either doesn't help (so needs to be clarified) or opens another can of worms and so needs to be clarified.

A broker could take that same customer answer and state that the transaction is to do with X, and also please note.....

Every item of clarification adds hours (most likely days) onto the process

I think that even an average broker is a benefit. So if you get a good/excellent broker, it's a win-win. It's only if you happen to have a poor broker (in terms of knowledge, case placement or service) that you'd ever regret going with a broker, in my opinion.

If a good broker packages a case well and it goes straight to offer, that's saved you days (potentially weeks) that might have otherwise been spent going to and fro

Also, there are the extra protections re: an advised service. Very unlikely to actually come to anything for the majority of people - but if you had a genuine claim and the advise was found to be sub-standard, those protections are a massive boost later down the line. If you just go execution-only, you won't get those same protections

itzmee

I work for a mortgage lender and speak to brokers every day, so I am pretty clued up about mortgages. However when I applied directly to my bank for an AIP I was declined due to undeclared commitments, even though we didn't have any. I found a fee free broker who got an AIP accepted for us for more borrowing than I could have, along with the best exclusive rate and also a better term as we are lending into retirement. We got a mortgage offer within about 10 days of applying and are now waiting to complete. So yes, I would definitely use a broker as it benefitted us.

SouthLondonUser

Incidentally, many banks could save a fortune on broker fees if only their process was a little more reasonable and efficient. Eg HSBC would have saved those fees if it had allowed my wife and me to show up separately, at branches near our respective places of work.

haras_nosirrah

I have had a case today where the client went direct to lender and was declined

We have placed with the same lender and got an accept

I have had another case where the lender max borrowing was 9k short than we needed on agreement in principle. Through speaking to the underwriter we have managed to increase the max lend to within 1400 of what we needed and the client can cover the shortfall

Having a broker onside can be worth the fee that we charge