FTB - Am I thick or is this normal?

EMJ_87

I’m a FTB and after an 8 week wait, I  got my mortgage offer. After assuming everything was in place with LISA and Help to buy. I’ve only this week discovered that the LISA declaration form I completed with legal isn’t valid for Skipton (we did this back in July) and the ATP from July is incorrect as it differs from the mortgage offer (slight difference in mortgage term). After the huge delay in the mortgage offer I was hoping to have some clarity by this point but the process just keeps running on and on and on. I’ve managed to sort Skipton and they are pushing through the release of our funds but the ATP remains a sticking point and I only hope my conveyancer will heed the advice I gave her... to apply for ATE whilst waiting for the amendment to the ATP.

I say all this to say.... am I thick for dropping the ball on these major parts of the puzzle or is buying a house just a mad maze that we all have to navigate? I manage quite complex projects at work but this process has completely thrown me... maybe I was expecting too much from my broker and conveyancer?

amnblog

No you are not being thick. Your broker is if they allowed the mortgage term on the ATP and the application to differ.

EMJ_87

amnblog said:

No you are not being thick. Your broker is if they allowed the mortgage term on the ATP and the application to differ.

Well this is what I am thinking but being a FTB I have no idea what is an easy mistake and what’s a huge oversight. I have had the worse experience with them and this is just one of their catalogue of eras. It’s just really getting to me now because their errors have pushed us more than a month out of our timeline. They told me that they sent my updated property form to H2B via an escalation email and it will be seen in 2-3 days. I had to get the information from the horses mouth so I sat on the phone for 3 hours today to talk to help to buy myself; they confirmed there is no escalation email or process and they have an eight day backlog. It was the H2B agent that advised I apply for ATE whilst waiting for my ATP to updated. Why didn’t my broker advise the same? They also ignored my emails yet were able to speak to the builder. I’ve just reached my limit now!

MWT

There are brokers who provide a personal service and will cost you a little more, and there are brokers that are closer to 'call-centres' which are cheaper but you will not get the same level of service.

If you paid for the first and got the second then I can understand your frustration.

EMJ_87

MWT said:

There are brokers who provide a personal service and will cost you a little more, and there are brokers that are closer to 'call-centres' which are cheaper but you will not get the same level of service.

If you paid for the first and got the second then I can understand your frustration.

Yeah I think I understand this now. As a FTB I’ve felt a bit like a lamb to the slaughter lol so much I know now that I didn’t realise when I started the process. For my remortgage, I will be seeking out a broker that can provide a personal service because I am never going through this again.... it’s just been too traumatic! 

Beeboo23

It depends on the broker, mine isn’t costing a penny and is great. 

haras_n0sirrah

Was it a local broker or a large conveyor belt broker?

EMJ_87

haras_n0sirrah said:

Was it a local broker or a large conveyor belt broker?

I’ve come to realise it was a big one. My friend bought a new build using the company in Dec 2019 and had a really good experience. They were recommended by the builder. I know everyone says not to use the broker recommended by the builder but due to my friends experience, I didn’t think I could go wrong... how wrong was I? The experience has been dire. 

My mortgage app needed to resubmitted because they didn’t upload my documents in time. I only found this out by speaking to the lender, we lost 3 weeks there. The mortgage term on the ATP is different to the one submitted for my mortgage, now this will delay our move whilst we wait for that to be sorted. They didn’t give the surveyors the correct details for the development; so I ended up getting a call from the surveyor to let them in the house I’m buying and had to forward them the contact details Of the development, lost even more time there. They didn’t take any documents to evidence my furlough and then told me if I don’t submit docs on a particular day my application will need to be resubmitted again. My guess is they left all of it to the last minute rather than get all the documents up front. Luckily I had everything but again just indicated to me how shocking their organisation is.

Now it’s at the stage where the sales advisor at the development is getting updates before I am... I’m not sure if they are just ignoring me at this point and using her as a means to update me on my case! Absolutely awful service.

Never again... NEVER again!