Do I still need to go through my broker post offer?

London_Golden_Girl

Hello and sincere apologies if there is a thread on this already. 

I’m a first time buyer, buying alone and having a hellish journey. I went through a paid mortgage broker to and managed to secure a mortgage with NatWest. However, my original purchase is taking too long due to restriction complications and now coronavirus, will take months if not years to fix. So, I have found another property and want to switch the mortgage over to the new property (which costs £10k more) but my broker is being quite difficult about this and claiming that I need to pay him some fees again. I’ve already paid him the full fees so he’s been reluctant to provide any further support. He insists I have to go through him for mortgage enquires but he’s a nightmare now. 

I’m really worried I will lose the second property and end up with nothing after almost 8 month process since draft contracts. I just want to get on the ladder!!

Am I able to go straight to NatWest to make changes? Also, has anyone been in this position and can offer some advice? 

Many thanks 

Sistergold

London_Golden_Girl said:

Hello and sincere apologies if there is a thread on this already. 

I’m a first time buyer, buying alone and having a hellish journey. I went through a paid mortgage broker to and managed to secure a mortgage with NatWest. However, my original purchase is taking too long due to restriction complications and now coronavirus, will take months if not years to fix. So, I have found another property and want to switch the mortgage over to the new property (which costs £10k more) but my broker is being quite difficult about this and claiming that I need to pay him some fees again. I’ve already paid him the full fees so he’s been reluctant to provide any further support. He insists I have to go through him for mortgage enquires but he’s a nightmare now. 

I’m really worried I will lose the second property and end up with nothing after almost 8 month process since draft contracts. I just want to get on the ladder!!

Am I able to go straight to NatWest to make changes? Also, has anyone been in this position and can offer some advice? 

Many thanks 

Hello there
I am really sorry that you are having a difficult time with your broker. I am just replying so that you can receive some encouragement as getting through a mortgage I actually found the experience worse than when I went through my divorce. So I also got my mortgage last year as a single woman. The experience was horrendous especially when I started because my first broker was an adviser from hell. He made me to answer the same questions in 5 different ways I think just because I was single and a woman. I think he was a bit sceptical that I could see it through. After bearing with him for some time I just terminated his services. I had already gotten a house I loved but the mortgage process was not moving. Any way I just went to another mortgage broker in a totally different estate agent. The first mortgage broker was in-house to the estate agents through whom I had gotten the house this I found was just working against me although apparently it was supposed to make whole process quicker.  I then still held on to that house found a broker in a different estate agent and he was great! 

With the second broker he made an application for me with Santander, I got the mortgage which had a great rate but had a condition which I needed to fulfill before they could release the money. As I found this condition a problem as fulfilling it was not all within my control (very long and potentially boring story for another day) I asked my broker to get me a mortgage without such a condition. 

Anyway yes when a mortgage broker does new mortgage application you will need to pay a top up fee. I had to pay a top up application fee but it was a fraction of the original fee. When he applies again he already has all your info but he will do a new application and the new bank might ask him for more information as there are slight differences in their requirements and their underwriter might just want more things answered so this is more work for the broker. So the broker will be doing more work after a successful offer and he will need to be paid for it but not as much as the initial fee. What I must say though is this fee if you need a new application done after the first successful application should have been highlighted to you in the first place with the broker! So if I paid my broker £499 for my first application when I got the mortgage with Santander his work had been done then I asked him to find another mortgage for me so I then had to pay say £99 for him to just do this extra application. He told me at our first interview that this top up will be payable for any reapplication after a successful mortgage offer. So if he applies he cannot not charge me anything if I don’t get an offer. 

Secondly a mortgage broker is really supposed to work for you. Getting a mortgage through an unfriendly mortgage broker is the worst experience you can subject yourself to and on top of that you pay for it. You are free to change mortgage brokers and in my opinion it will be money well spent even when you have to pay another broker. 

With my first broker I just sent him an email telling him that I was finding him difficult to work with and was therefore terminating his services. I then just found another broker if I had not done that I would have lost a house that I loved in my dream neighbourhood.
If the broker was good initially and your relationship has become sticky due to him asking for another fee it might be best to just pay this fee apologise a bit as he was well within reason to ask for it so that at least you can both get on with this application. You will not be able to go straight to the bank for any amendments to that mortgage offer it has to be through this broker. Even another broker will need to start afresh and can not amend an application done by another broker. Good luck London_Golden_Girl.
Please let me know how you get on. 

ACG

Sounds like a bit of a tool.
Things are relatively quiet at the moment, he should have more time on his hands to be going the extra mile. Things are potentially going to be hard going over the next 1-12 months so it seems a little short sighted. 

Tell him you have found another broker who is going to make a new application (then the old broker will lose the commission), see if this spurs him on? 

You can deal with Natwest directly I think, but at the minute their service is up the wall, we use natwest a lot and trying to get hold of anyone is quite difficult, we just have to email a central inbox or call our account manager and get a reply in 10 minutes or 10 hours. 

Just to add, beyond checking affordability (takes 2 minutes) your broker only needs to email in to Natwest with the new address, new purchase price, loan amount and confirmation of the product (assuming the product you applied for is still available), so it is not really a hard job. You are talking less than an hours work including any compliance bits. 

London_Golden_Girl

Sistergold said:

London_Golden_Girl said:

Hello and sincere apologies if there is a thread on this already. 

I’m a first time buyer, buying alone and having a hellish journey. I went through a paid mortgage broker to and managed to secure a mortgage with NatWest. However, my original purchase is taking too long due to restriction complications and now coronavirus, will take months if not years to fix. So, I have found another property and want to switch the mortgage over to the new property (which costs £10k more) but my broker is being quite difficult about this and claiming that I need to pay him some fees again. I’ve already paid him the full fees so he’s been reluctant to provide any further support. He insists I have to go through him for mortgage enquires but he’s a nightmare now. 

I’m really worried I will lose the second property and end up with nothing after almost 8 month process since draft contracts. I just want to get on the ladder!!

Am I able to go straight to NatWest to make changes? Also, has anyone been in this position and can offer some advice? 

Many thanks 

Hello there
I am really sorry that you are having a difficult time with your broker. I am just replying so that you can receive some encouragement as getting through a mortgage I actually found the experience worse than when I went through my divorce. So I also got my mortgage last year as a single woman. The experience was horrendous especially when I started because my first broker was an adviser from hell. He made me to answer the same questions in 5 different ways I think just because I was single and a woman. I think he was a bit sceptical that I could see it through. After bearing with him for some time I just terminated his services. I had already gotten a house I loved but the mortgage process was not moving. Any way I just went to another mortgage broker in a totally different estate agent. The first mortgage broker was in-house to the estate agents through whom I had gotten the house this I found was just working against me although apparently it was supposed to make whole process quicker.  I then still held on to that house found a broker in a different estate agent and he was great! 

With the second broker he made an application for me with Santander, I got the mortgage which had a great rate but had a condition which I needed to fulfill before they could release the money. As I found this condition a problem as fulfilling it was not all within my control (very long and potentially boring story for another day) I asked my broker to get me a mortgage without such a condition. 

Anyway yes when a mortgage broker does new mortgage application you will need to pay a top up fee. I had to pay a top up application fee but it was a fraction of the original fee. When he applies again he already has all your info but he will do a new application and the new bank might ask him for more information as there are slight differences in their requirements and their underwriter might just want more things answered so this is more work for the broker. So the broker will be doing more work after a successful offer and he will need to be paid for it but not as much as the initial fee. What I must say though is this fee if you need a new application done after the first successful application should have been highlighted to you in the first place with the broker! So if I paid my broker £499 for my first application when I got the mortgage with Santander his work had been done then I asked him to find another mortgage for me so I then had to pay say £99 for him to just do this extra application. He told me at our first interview that this top up will be payable for any reapplication after a successful mortgage offer. So if he applies he cannot not charge me anything if I don’t get an offer. 

Secondly a mortgage broker is really supposed to work for you. Getting a mortgage through an unfriendly mortgage broker is the worst experience you can subject yourself to and on top of that you pay for it. You are free to change mortgage brokers and in my opinion it will be money well spent even when you have to pay another broker. 

With my first broker I just sent him an email telling him that I was finding him difficult to work with and was therefore terminating his services. I then just found another broker if I had not done that I would have lost a house that I loved in my dream neighbourhood.
If the broker was good initially and your relationship has become sticky due to him asking for another fee it might be best to just pay this fee apologise a bit as he was well within reason to ask for it so that at least you can both get on with this application. You will not be able to go straight to the bank for any amendments to that mortgage offer it has to be through this broker. Even another broker will need to start afresh and can not amend an application done by another broker. Good luck London_Golden_Girl.
Please let me know how you get on. 

Thank you very much for the encouragement and advice! Will hopefully be able to update in a couple month's time

[Deleted User]

I don't charge for a reapplication personally but I guess some brokers do.  It will be on the document given at the start that outlined the fee structure.   If its not on there then nothing to change. 

Natwest offer some products with a free valuation. Did you pay for a valuation first time?   If not then a change of property will require a new valuation and they charge for the 2nd one.  Maybe this is the fee being referenced?

I suppose you could contact natwest and change property but pretty sure it will have to go through the broker unless you want to cancel the application and start from scratch (which would get you another free valuation but would mean reunderwriting the case on current criteria) 

London_Golden_Girl

ACG said:

Sounds like a bit of a tool.
Things are relatively quiet at the moment, he should have more time on his hands to be going the extra mile. Things are potentially going to be hard going over the next 1-12 months so it seems a little short sighted. 

Tell him you have found another broker who is going to make a new application (then the old broker will lose the commission), see if this spurs him on? 

You can deal with Natwest directly I think, but at the minute their service is up the wall, we use natwest a lot and trying to get hold of anyone is quite difficult, we just have to email a central inbox or call our account manager and get a reply in 10 minutes or 10 hours. 

Just to add, beyond checking affordability (takes 2 minutes) your broker only needs to email in to Natwest with the new address, new purchase price, loan amount and confirmation of the product (assuming the product you applied for is still available), so it is not really a hard job. You are talking less than an hours work including any compliance bits. 

Yes, between the broker and my conveyancer, I'm not getting the support as a first time buyer. Thank you for your advice, I will ;tell my broker i want to back out and see what effect that has. If none, I will reach out to the NatWest mortgage team to see what they say. 

London_Golden_Girl

Deleted_User said:

I don't charge for a reapplication personally but I guess some brokers do.  It will be on the document given at the start that outlined the fee structure.   If its not on there then nothing to change. 

Natwest offer some products with a free valuation. Did you pay for a valuation first time?   If not then a change of property will require a new valuation and they charge for the 2nd one.  Maybe this is the fee being referenced?

I suppose you could contact natwest and change property but pretty sure it will have to go through the broker unless you want to cancel the application and start from scratch (which would get you another free valuation but would mean reunderwriting the case on current criteria) 

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Yes, my valuation was free. I'm keen to stay with NatWest as I got a lot of fees knocked off due to banking with them the whole of my life. I had to urge my broker to tell them that to secure it for me.
Will reach out to the NatWest mortgage team and see what can be done.
Many thanks

MichaelMe

Very sorry to hear about your bad experience. Brokers can be a nightmare to deal with. Back few years ago I tried the broker route as I needed some specialist products. It never went nowhere in the end, and my circumstances subsequently changed. I have had multiple mortgages since and each time I went straight to the banks. You should be able to go straight to the lender if it is a high street bank and normal product. You mentioned NatWest. I would contact them directly and go from there. Once you make contact, just advise them of any changes you require. Hopefully they may be able to help without involving the broker. However there is a chance they may say to speak to your mortgage advisor (broker) as he started the process.

Worst case scenario, I would just try another broker. They would be glad for any new business in our current climate. Should be plenty to pick from. Good luck.

ACG

London_Golden_Girl said:

Deleted_User said:

I don't charge for a reapplication personally but I guess some brokers do.  It will be on the document given at the start that outlined the fee structure.   If its not on there then nothing to change. 

Natwest offer some products with a free valuation. Did you pay for a valuation first time?   If not then a change of property will require a new valuation and they charge for the 2nd one.  Maybe this is the fee being referenced?

I suppose you could contact natwest and change property but pretty sure it will have to go through the broker unless you want to cancel the application and start from scratch (which would get you another free valuation but would mean reunderwriting the case on current criteria) 

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Yes, my valuation was free. I'm keen to stay with NatWest as I got a lot of fees knocked off due to banking with them the whole of my life. I had to urge my broker to tell them that to secure it for me.
Will reach out to the NatWest mortgage team and see what can be done.
Many thanks

I think your broker is lying to you if he is telling you that. Natwest have 2 lots of products:
Core and
Exclusive

Core is available to everyone, exclusive is available through selected brokers, although in reality I would imagine 99% of brokers have access to them. You wont have had any fees knocked off because you bank with them. Natwest got 24% of our business last year so I know their processes/systems better than I know any other lenders.