Mortgage fees

JohnBravo

Hi All,

    I am kind of confused what is happening when from lender to lender the whole process can be very different or at least the way the lender informs you what they have done and what they are about to do.

I filed 2 applications in the last 24 hours and:

1st lender booked the mortgage valuation for the following day - today and carried it out before noon

2nd lender has valuation scheduled for today but they want me to pay a fee before the offer.

Why I cannot see the offer before committing to any fees?

Just so you know I have not selected any valuations apart from Mortgage Valuations so no HomeBuyers valuations/survey as I do a L3 survey on my own.

It's kind of weird to commit to anything before seeing the offer knowing they won't refund because they have done some valuations or surveys or whatever in the meantime.

Please advise.

ACG

The valuation is a direct cost to the lender. Some will take the hit on the cost, others will pass that cost on to you. 

They wont issue an offer if there is a problem with the valuation, so you cant get an offer pre valuation. 

On a side note, why are you making 2 applications at the same time? If those are both on the same property, that could come back to bite. 

MaryNB

The bank will want to do their own valuation with their own appointed surveyor, not rely on your homebuyer's report. The offer depends on the valuation and some lenders charge for it so you can't get the offer without paying the fee. 

I went with Halifax and had to pay the valuation fee and get the valuation done before they would prepare the offer. They did all the financial checks on my before the valuation fee was due. It didn't bother me, they were the best lender for me at the time so it was worth any risks, also I knew I could weather a downvaluation. 

Some banks don't charge for valuations at all so no valuation fee required at any stage. 

JohnBravo

I think what I have done was unnecessary. Because the rates increase I see lender after lender increases the rates accordingly so even if I have submitted the application with the lower rate yesterday this is not going to stick because today it is already 0.30% higher than it was yesterday.

So with this Bank of England rate increase I could pick one of the top 5 lenders randomly because who knows by how much are they going to increase in the following days. So chasing the best rate that is not going to stay is pointless - I mean use these comparison sites if you are after fractions of 1%.

From lender to lender the experience is SO different that IF I want to pursue one of them I want to be comfortable but so far I am not. Some do phone interviews, some only deal via emails, some other spam your mailbox with constant notifications about the progress.

Pre and application process itself should be broken down to a number of steps to be able to measure which lender is reliable.

MaryNB

JohnBravo said:

From lender to lender the experience is SO different that IF I want to pursue one of them I want to be comfortable but so far I am not. Some do phone interviews, some only deal via emails, some other spam your mailbox with constant notifications about the progress.

Pre and application process itself should be broken down to a number of steps to be able to measure which lender is reliable.

This is why people get brokers. They do the heavy lifting for you. A good broker will find the lender that suits you and will be familiar with each lenders processes. You just worry about dealing with your broker. 

Snookie12cat

JohnBravo said:

I think what I have done was unnecessary. Because the rates increase I see lender after lender increases the rates accordingly so even if I have submitted the application with the lower rate yesterday this is not going to stick because today it is already 0.30% higher than it was yesterday.

So with this Bank of England rate increase I could pick one of the top 5 lenders randomly because who knows by how much are they going to increase in the following days. So chasing the best rate that is not going to stay is pointless - I mean use these comparison sites if you are after fractions of 1%.

From lender to lender the experience is SO different that IF I want to pursue one of them I want to be comfortable but so far I am not. Some do phone interviews, some only deal via emails, some other spam your mailbox with constant notifications about the progress.

Pre and application process itself should be broken down to a number of steps to be able to measure which lender is reliable.

I think you are confused. As soon as you put the application in the rate is secured. It will not go up or down. 
Why are you not comfortable? You don't need to live with them, just get a mortgage offer which the one already seems to be ready to offer. 

If you don't like doing it yourself then use a broker.

JohnBravo

Snookie12cat said:

JohnBravo said:

I think what I have done was unnecessary. Because the rates increase I see lender after lender increases the rates accordingly so even if I have submitted the application with the lower rate yesterday this is not going to stick because today it is already 0.30% higher than it was yesterday.

So with this Bank of England rate increase I could pick one of the top 5 lenders randomly because who knows by how much are they going to increase in the following days. So chasing the best rate that is not going to stay is pointless - I mean use these comparison sites if you are after fractions of 1%.

From lender to lender the experience is SO different that IF I want to pursue one of them I want to be comfortable but so far I am not. Some do phone interviews, some only deal via emails, some other spam your mailbox with constant notifications about the progress.

Pre and application process itself should be broken down to a number of steps to be able to measure which lender is reliable.

I think you are confused. As soon as you put the application in the rate is secured. It will not go up or down. 
Why are you not comfortable? You don't need to live with them, just get a mortgage offer which the one already seems to be ready to offer. 

If you don't like doing it yourself then use a broker.

Are you sure the rate is not going to change? The Mortgage Illustration always says "The information below remains valid until XX March 2022. After that date, it may change in line with market conditions." and XX is always the same day the application is submitted so it's valid for few hours. I think rate change by BoE can be treated as new market conditions.

Snookie12cat

JohnBravo said:

Snookie12cat said:

JohnBravo said:

I think what I have done was unnecessary. Because the rates increase I see lender after lender increases the rates accordingly so even if I have submitted the application with the lower rate yesterday this is not going to stick because today it is already 0.30% higher than it was yesterday.

So with this Bank of England rate increase I could pick one of the top 5 lenders randomly because who knows by how much are they going to increase in the following days. So chasing the best rate that is not going to stay is pointless - I mean use these comparison sites if you are after fractions of 1%.

From lender to lender the experience is SO different that IF I want to pursue one of them I want to be comfortable but so far I am not. Some do phone interviews, some only deal via emails, some other spam your mailbox with constant notifications about the progress.

Pre and application process itself should be broken down to a number of steps to be able to measure which lender is reliable.

I think you are confused. As soon as you put the application in the rate is secured. It will not go up or down. 
Why are you not comfortable? You don't need to live with them, just get a mortgage offer which the one already seems to be ready to offer. 

If you don't like doing it yourself then use a broker.

Are you sure the rate is not going to change? The Mortgage Illustration always says "The information below remains valid until XX March 2022. After that date, it may change in line with market conditions." and XX is always the same day the application is submitted so it's valid for few hours. I think rate change by BoE can be treated as new market conditions.

No, once the application is submitted the product is secured throughout the application and into offer for the duration (normally 6 months). 
It wouldn't be fair to effectively change peoples rates once they have applied so it isn't done. 

Illustrations can be sent without applying so it has to say that in case the product changes in the interim. Once you apply it will not change. 

[Deleted User]

Once you apply, you're stuck with the rate you applied for.

It doesn't matter if it moves up or down later.

ACG

Deleted_User said:

Once you apply, you're stuck with the rate you applied for.

It doesn't matter if it moves up or down later.

Assuming it is a fixed rate you applied for. 

JohnBravo

ACG said:

Deleted_User said:

Once you apply, you're stuck with the rate you applied for.

It doesn't matter if it moves up or down later.

Assuming it is a fixed rate you applied for. 

Good question, yes I applied for fixed rate.