Do you actually need a Mortgage Broker in 2020?

JakeTeece

I'll admit I'm a complete noobie when it comes to buying a house, however I've found the Money Advice Service and this site to be quite helpful in figuring out what's required to purchase a property.

So far, I will have a 10% deposit by the end of the year with enough left over to cover legal fees. Then there's the actual process of getting a Mortgage. 

Is there any point in using a Mortgage Broker when interest rates are so low? What am I missing out on here?

Thrugelmir

What do you think a mortgage brokers role is to do? 

ACG

Being completely impartial (despite my job), it really depends. 
A brokers job is to understand what you want, pick up on any potential problems before they happen and then do the donkey work. 

Any idiot can find the cheapest deal. Most people think they are straight forward but most people have something that could be a problem for at least one lender. 

Some people 100% need brokers, some people 100% do not. Most people will fall somewhere in the middle but where in the middle will depend on their circumstances. 90% LTV your options are limited, if you have any issues to overcome you could find your maybe 5 lenders available drops quite quickly. 

haras_n0sirrah

More now than ever
It isnt easy to get a mortgage at the moment. Covid has tightened up criteria significantly 
If you are borrowing less than 4x salary, have a big deposit, excellent credit, basic employed income only, no debt and buying a standard second hand property without any schemes (help to buy or shared ownership) then you should have an easy ride. Everyone else will not have the choice of every lender and a broker will know which lender will lend to them 

csgohan4

I would rather not waste my time doing a 2 hour interview with a lender to go over my spending with a fine comb. I have my broker for that, paid or fee free your choice, just avoid the conveyor belt ones like L+C. 

Broker find deals which are not on the best buy tables which are not updated

bucksbloke

I'd always use a broker. They understand the market completely and know where to place your business. Some people I know have gone to their bank and been rejected when one call to a broker and they would have known that that particular bank is really strict on certain thing. I've had a couple of times where my solicitor has needed stuff quickly and one call to my mortgage broker and it is resolved. 

SpiderLegs

Relatively speaking very few people actually need a broker.
that is different to whether using one is beneficial or not.

Thrugelmir

Never ever had the need to use a mortgage broker though fully understand that others may. General financial and legal literacy in this country has probably never been lower. 

Lumb

My broker was a gem. We too were hoping to secure a 90% mortgage and had received the AIP based on that. A week later we put in an offer on a property and on instructing our broker to go ahead with a full application were told the 90% had been pulled the day before.  Not only did he have an alternative lender ready to suggest he also knew THAT alternative product was due to be pulled at midnight. He spent the remainder of the day making sure the mortgage application was submitted and all documents requested before the cut off time of 8pm. We got our mortgage offer last week. Times are so uncertain at the moment and set to be so for a good while to come and this is where a brokers experience pays off. As a newbie I’d definitely recommend going with a broker, and as others have said go for a local firm. 

[Deleted User]

You don't technically need a conveyancing solicitor either and you can Google most of the stuff that comes up. 
But sometimes you lean on people who do the job for a living. 

Even the most active buyer who moves every few years will have less knowledge in the market than a broker who does this hundreds of times a year. 

Most of my job isn't telling people what they cheapest deal is. Most of my job is dealing with problems before they come up so people don't have to worry about things.   

As an example of what a broker gets involved in.   I had a solicitor call me the other day as they were trying to get hold of the lender to release funds.  They were on hold for over an hour were hung up on twice. I made 2 calls, sent an email and had confirmation of funds release within about 10 minutes.  

Its all about trying to add some value to the transaction.  For some brokers that might mean replying to a text message 24/7.   To others, like ACG, Kingstreet, or Haras that might be being a complete specialist in one area that has so many unwritten rules that can cause issues to even normal brokers who don't know what they are doing.   I don't specialise in 1 area but I try to be a sounding board for clients concerns, help them negotiate the purchase in the first place, and try make sure I've given them an update on things before they realise they wanted an update. 
It's also being able to tell someone 'don't go for that best deal that you technically qualify for because they will take 3 weeks to even look at the case and then reject it because of something on your bank statement' (for example)


Then there are obvious things like some deals only being available through brokers, 1 interview for 70 lenders rather than having to start from scratch if the application is declined.  More general availability as well ( I had a Sunday evening appointment last week for instance) 

davidmcn

Deleted_User said:

You don't technically need a conveyancing solicitor either 

Technically this is true, but your mortgage lender will, and you'd be paying their solicitor's fees, which aren't going to be much different from getting the solicitor to represent you as well in the usual way, so not really an economy. Plus the other parties are likely to treat you with some suspicion if you don't have a solicitor (e.g. you can't give undertakings which the other parties' solicitors are at all likely to rely on).