When is the right time to speak to a mortgage advisor / bank whilst saving

greensalad

Possible FTB, so please be gentle. It's all new to us.

My partner and I are currently saving for a deposit. We are intending to go with one of two options, a) Barclays Springboard mortgage putting down 5% or b) 10% FTB mortgage on our own.

We'll have enough to do step A by July and enough for step B by February 22. So we're still a way off yet.

I guess my question is, when is the right time to speak to a) a broker b) direct with Barclays? Obviously there are other Springboard products around but from my research none of them suit in the same way that the Barclays does, and our "helper" has already reviewed the product and likes it and is happy to go with it (presuming we even get approved).

Is there any point talking to a bank for a specific product until we have the money in our hands? I don't really know much about the process, is an AIP pointless at this stage because we can't meet the main principle... which is having the deposit in our hands? 

[Deleted User]

I think the best time to speak to a broker is when you have questions about mortgages that would help you if they were answered.   
You might find some will be reluctant to help as you dont have your deposit but hopefully you will also find plenty happy to offer you guidance at this early stage and you can keep in touch ready for when you want to submit an application or get a aip.  

I have many clients who i only speak to for the first time when they have an offer accepted,  I also have many clients I have been in contact with for months and months while they are looking for properties or saving for deposit.  It might not be more than a few emails here and there but I would like to think if they had any questions about how it works then they can just send me a text or an email and I will send them an answer.    
Obviously I am not doing it purely out of the kindness of my heart,  I ultimately hope they will ask me to arrange their mortgage. 
I remember being a FTB and there are so many questions I had so it is nice to be able to try help people understand their process a bit more rather than just asking them for documents and then getting them a mortgage which can make people feel a bit detached from how it all works

greensalad

I can definitely see the benefit of speaking to a broker prior, it would help us answer a lot of our questions but also just find out what our chances are and whether there are any pitfalls that we need to be made aware of.

I guess the problem is that we are pushing towards a single product, and I don't really know if it's a) worth it b) possible to find a broker specifically for one Barclays-offered product? If we were going to go with a broker we would want to go with one who had experience in that particular product and I'm finding it hard in my research to find anyone specifically advertising specialism, though I have pinged an email off to OMA after filling in their "springboard mortgage" form.

[Deleted User]

Brokers can do the springboard mortgage for you. Even if you know thats the product you want they will be able to lead you through the whole process and manage the worst lender in the industry to get the case through. 

Not sure that experience of that product is wholly relevant.  For someone that does 100+ mortgages a year, reading up on how a scheme works isnt that difficult. 

The difference between a springboard application and a normal application is 1 dropdown menu on the system.  

greensalad

Deleted_User said:

Brokers can do the springboard mortgage for you. Even if you know thats the product you want they will be able to lead you through the whole process and manage the worst lender in the industry to get the case through. 

Not sure that experience of that product is wholly relevant.  For someone that does 100+ mortgages a year, reading up on how a scheme works isnt that difficult. 

The difference between a springboard application and a normal application is 1 dropdown menu on the system.  

Oh that's interesting to hear, thanks!

Do brokers usually specialise in specific banks or it more cases like bad credit or FTB etc? Honestly we have no idea really how to choose a broker, except word of mouth I guess. 

Are Barclays tough just admin-wise or is it because they're picky?

I guess these are the sorts of questions we could ask a broker!

[Deleted User]

Some brokers specialise in certain areas like adverse, or new build, ot shared ownership.  The experience of these brokers can be invaluable with difficult cases.  
If you are going to a high street lender like barclays for a normal house purchase any experienced broker should be more than competent 

Barclays are tough cause their systems suck and they cant seem to figure out how to get basic things done without getting themselves confused.   So many times has a case gone sailing through underwriting only to get stuck in a never ending loop of IT issues to try get the offer out.

Every broker will say that they are the most high maintenance lender to get an offer.  Not because they have tough underwriting or are particularly picky ( they dont, and they aren't) but just cause their system breaks so often and they have zero ability to take ownership to resolve something. 

If nothing else, a brokers ability to escalate issues to get them resolved is worth getting them to do the deal you could get direct.  We just have more contacts and ways to get things sorted.

As for finding a broker. Ask family and friends for recommendations is probably best. You know you will get decent service then.