Mortgage broker - ask me anything

Moonstar101

haras_n0sirrah said:

Moonstar101 said:

Hi, my application is with Santander and was passed to underwriting this week. On the intermediaries website it says they are reviewing applications for the 25th of Sept. Does this mean they will wait until they get to my date and then complete a hard search? Do yhdh look at the valuation(ours was desktop) right at the end? If at that stage we find out it was down valued what is the process? Thank you. 

Santander have a fast line and a slow line. If you are in the fast line it will be done earlier than that. The slow line is the one on the website (self employed, adverse etc etc)

Thank you for your quick response. Your really helpful to alot of us!
When do they give us the figure of the valuation? 

misscaraxo

Me and my partner have just put in our mortgage application to Barclays, help 2 buy so mortgage is 75% LTV. Both our credit scores are good but my concern is that on my credit report I have 3 late payments in the last 2 years on 1 store card. (All paid and only show as 1month) Do you think we’re likely to be declined? 

Brokenlynx

I've spoken to a mortgage broker on the phone and given them some initial details about my situation: I'm a first time buyer, looking to spend around £350k in London with no dependants nor debt issues and able to go in at a 90% LTV. 

One question I'd asked was how the broker gets paid the answer I got was: 

"We get a fixed fee from you of £500 once a mortgage offer has been made from the lender"

Given my somewhat limited understanding of what a broker does this does seem like a good deal, they do the searching potentially getting me better rates or a larger loan than I could myself all for an amount of money that is a very small amount of the overall initial transaction.

However my problem is that £495 sounds quite low for what the broker gets here...should I be thinking more holistically about what kind of service the broker offers? Would this be the kind of volume broker that really isn't that interested in my particulars and really needs to get as many of these £495 transactions completed per month? And with that in mind, if I'm capable of doing so would it be worth:
a) paying more for a broker that potentially offers a wider service? (let me know what the benefits would be if this were the case) 

b) just doing the search and paperwork myself using one of the many online comparison sites where (based on the initial mortgage product sent back from the broker) I can get a comparable deal

The short version of this question is, what am I really getting for my money and is it always worth it?

JontyDante

haras_n0sirrah said:

A £12 default isnt going to stop you getting a mortgage as long as it is satisfied. Most lenders have a limit under which they will ignore a default (£200 is typical) provided it is satisfied prior to application.
Remortgaging and gifting money is more problematic due to lenders generally only liking giftor who are blood relatives 

Thank you for replying to me. I should have put that I had a mortgage turned down by halifax, even with the default being satisfied. My case went to the underwriters and was turned down. My credit rating is 967 so that seems ok. 
My partner needs to port her current mortgage with them (halifax) or lose 4 Grand. So are you suggesting that a high street bank will accept a default like mine? The other option we were thinking was to go to a tier 2 mortgage lender. Would you advise this at all? Thanks again for all of this

haras_n0sirrah

Brokenlynx said:

I've spoken to a mortgage broker on the phone and given them some initial details about my situation: I'm a first time buyer, looking to spend around £350k in London with no dependants nor debt issues and able to go in at a 90% LTV. 

One question I'd asked was how the broker gets paid the answer I got was: 

"We get a fixed fee from you of £500 once a mortgage offer has been made from the lender"

Given my somewhat limited understanding of what a broker does this does seem like a good deal, they do the searching potentially getting me better rates or a larger loan than I could myself all for an amount of money that is a very small amount of the overall initial transaction.

However my problem is that £495 sounds quite low for what the broker gets here...should I be thinking more holistically about what kind of service the broker offers? Would this be the kind of volume broker that really isn't that interested in my particulars and really needs to get as many of these £495 transactions completed per month? And with that in mind, if I'm capable of doing so would it be worth:
a) paying more for a broker that potentially offers a wider service? (let me know what the benefits would be if this were the case) 

b) just doing the search and paperwork myself using one of the many online comparison sites where (based on the initial mortgage product sent back from the broker) I can get a comparable deal

The short version of this question is, what am I really getting for my money and is it always worth it?

As a guide I typically charge on formal offer £399 for straight forward, £499 for mid adverse and £599 for heavy adverse/ ltd company buy to let/ expat (complex stuff)
We do also get paid by the lender. 
What someone using a broker wants to know is
Is the broker whole of market?
Do they answer calls and respond to emails in a timely manner?
Do they know their stuff?

What you want is a broker who adds value to a transaction. What you dont want (but often find with conveyor brokers which is the issue I have with l&c) is brokers who effectively add an extra layer of delays. If it takes the broker 3 weeks to come back to you in an environment of increasing interest rates and disappearing products at 90% it will cost you more for a free broker who delays than a fee charging broker who can get the job done.

I have just taken on a client who was going to use trussle because they were free until I pointed out that the product they had recommended (nationwide) was a) £1500 more expensive than the one I was suggesting and b) nationwide are so delayed they are unlikely to get a mortgage offer until 2021 so best avoided unless you have no choice but to use them.

I may be biased but I think a good broker adds value to the transaction if you get one who is responsive. The main thing we can do is avoid the lender queues in trying to go direct (I have heard it can take a month to get an appointment to go to the lenders direct- I do an aip within 24 hours of having all the docs required to do so) and also it can take 1 hour plus to get through to a lender for updates and we know the best way to present a case to a lender to maximise the chances of success. Whether you feel that service is worth paying for is up to you.

haras_n0sirrah

JontyDante said:

haras_n0sirrah said:

A £12 default isnt going to stop you getting a mortgage as long as it is satisfied. Most lenders have a limit under which they will ignore a default (£200 is typical) provided it is satisfied prior to application.
Remortgaging and gifting money is more problematic due to lenders generally only liking giftor who are blood relatives 

Thank you for replying to me. I should have put that I had a mortgage turned down by halifax, even with the default being satisfied. My case went to the underwriters and was turned down. My credit rating is 967 so that seems ok. 
My partner needs to port her current mortgage with them (halifax) or lose 4 Grand. So are you suggesting that a high street bank will accept a default like mine? The other option we were thinking was to go to a tier 2 mortgage lender. Would you advise this at all? Thanks again for all of this

Halifax is one lender. If the sole issue is a £12 default I could place this on the high street 

haras_n0sirrah

misscaraxo said:

Me and my partner have just put in our mortgage application to Barclays, help 2 buy so mortgage is 75% LTV. Both our credit scores are good but my concern is that on my credit report I have 3 late payments in the last 2 years on 1 store card. (All paid and only show as 1month) Do you think we’re likely to be declined? 

If you have had an accepted aip you should be ok. If it goes wrong and you need help let me know

haras_n0sirrah

Moonstar101 said:

haras_n0sirrah said:

Moonstar101 said:

Hi, my application is with Santander and was passed to underwriting this week. On the intermediaries website it says they are reviewing applications for the 25th of Sept. Does this mean they will wait until they get to my date and then complete a hard search? Do yhdh look at the valuation(ours was desktop) right at the end? If at that stage we find out it was down valued what is the process? Thank you. 

Santander have a fast line and a slow line. If you are in the fast line it will be done earlier than that. The slow line is the one on the website (self employed, adverse etc etc)

Thank you for your quick response. Your really helpful to alot of us!
When do they give us the figure of the valuation? 

If the valuation is ok the result should be back within 48 hours 

retepetsir

We had a DIP completed last week and completed the mortgage application on Friday, however I've since found out that the mortgage rates increased by 0.3% on the Thursday.

Am I right in assuming that we don't have the lower rate secured as the DIP doesn't hold this for us? Very frustrating!

haras_n0sirrah

retepetsir said:

We had a DIP completed last week and completed the mortgage application on Friday, however I've since found out that the mortgage rates increased by 0.3% on the Thursday.

Am I right in assuming that we don't have the lower rate secured as the DIP doesn't hold this for us? Very frustrating!

You would get the rate at application. You should have got a kfi confirming what product you have applied for