What can a broker do that I can't?

BigBoss

I've got two AIPs with high street lenders (1 Experian, 1 Equifax) and I am not a 100% straightforward case because of a short AP (3mnth) last year and erroneous entries this year 

So what precisely would I be paying a mortgage broker to do in these circumstances? I'm weighing up all of my costs, and if I can avoid an extra one for work that I can more or less do myself, then I would rather do that.

Neilos9

If you have 2 AIPS and have given the correct information, rates you are happy with - then nothing.....
Unless something goes wrong.......Then you start again in 4 weeks times when rates likely will have gone up
Rinse and repeat.....
In your Post - I am not a straightforward case.......
If your costs are so near the knuckle, should you actually be buying.....

ACG

For most people a broker cant do anything you can not do. 
The same as if you got a plumber, a gardener, a builder, an accountant, a solicitor - most of the time you can do the same job. 

Can you do it as well? 
Can you do it as efficiently? 
What will you do if a problem arises? 

A broker will do the research, hopefully find you the cheapest lender or the easiest or a combination of the 2 (depending on your requirements). They may deal with the estate agents, they are on hand to offer advice and answer questions, if there is a problem then chances are we have seen it and dealt with it before. They may even make you think of things you had not considered. 

Sometimes even the most straight forward of cases have issues. We can also save you money in the longer run. 

I am not going to sit here and say you should or should not use a broker. There are fee free brokers, but I would argue the rule of "good, cheap and quick - you can have any 2", is a good rule of thumb but of course there are exceptions as people on here will attest to.

Edi81

I got a DIP online from a lender. 

If I wanted to apply it was a 2 hour call. 

Broker chat was done within 30 minutes! 

Can’t put a price on that. 

BigBoss

Thanks for responses - this is no slight against brokers I’ve had consultations with two already and one of them has presented me with the exact same products that I’ve found myself.

It’s just that having navigated the intermediaries sites + lending criteria and having spent ages ironing out my credit agency files I’m not sure what extra leverage/value a broker can add UNLESS (and this is a big ‘unless’) they can actually speak to underwriters on our behalf and give us a markedly better chance of getting across the line. 

Neilos9

To answer that.
Most underwriters currently appear to have been in the role considerably less time than a Broker - and yes, most Brokers have access to Senior underwriters...

simon_or

ACG said:

For most people a broker cant do anything you can not do. 
The same as if you got a plumber, a gardener, a builder, an accountant, a solicitor - most of the time you can do the same job. 

Can you do it as well? 
Can you do it as efficiently? 
What will you do if a problem arises? 

A broker will do the research, hopefully find you the cheapest lender or the easiest or a combination of the 2 (depending on your requirements). They may deal with the estate agents, they are on hand to offer advice and answer questions, if there is a problem then chances are we have seen it and dealt with it before. They may even make you think of things you had not considered. 

Sometimes even the most straight forward of cases have issues. We can also save you money in the longer run. 

I am not going to sit here and say you should or should not use a broker. There are fee free brokers, but I would argue the rule of "good, cheap and quick - you can have any 2", is a good rule of thumb but of course there are exceptions as people on here will attest to.

Going by OP's post history, he's already used 2 fee-charging brokers to do the legwork to get the AIPs (not sure why he didn't just use a free broker if he was so cost conscious) as he has some adverse and now that's he's got the brokers to do what he needed them for, he wants some reassurance that's it's ok to apply directly to the banks that the brokers have got him the AIPs for.

sevenhills

Would a broker consider whether another product was appropriate?
I got a ten year fix, around five years ago. I didn't use a broker.
I believe there are pension mortgages, maybe they are appropriate for some. My mortgage will be paid off in five years when I will be 65.

BigBoss

simon_or said:

ACG said:

For most people a broker cant do anything you can not do. 
The same as if you got a plumber, a gardener, a builder, an accountant, a solicitor - most of the time you can do the same job. 

Can you do it as well? 
Can you do it as efficiently? 
What will you do if a problem arises? 

A broker will do the research, hopefully find you the cheapest lender or the easiest or a combination of the 2 (depending on your requirements). They may deal with the estate agents, they are on hand to offer advice and answer questions, if there is a problem then chances are we have seen it and dealt with it before. They may even make you think of things you had not considered. 

Sometimes even the most straight forward of cases have issues. We can also save you money in the longer run. 

I am not going to sit here and say you should or should not use a broker. There are fee free brokers, but I would argue the rule of "good, cheap and quick - you can have any 2", is a good rule of thumb but of course there are exceptions as people on here will attest to.

Going by OP's post history, he's already used 2 fee-charging brokers to do the legwork to get the AIPs (not sure why he didn't just use a free broker if he was so cost conscious) as he has some adverse and now that's he's got the brokers to do what he needed them for, he wants some reassurance that's it's ok to apply directly to the banks that the brokers have got him the AIPs for.

This is wrong. If you’ve got nothing useful to add, please refrain from saying anything. 

ACG

BigBoss said:

Thanks for responses - this is no slight against brokers I’ve had consultations with two already and one of them has presented me with the exact same products that I’ve found myself.

It’s just that having navigated the intermediaries sites + lending criteria and having spent ages ironing out my credit agency files I’m not sure what extra leverage/value a broker can add UNLESS (and this is a big ‘unless’) they can actually speak to underwriters on our behalf and give us a markedly better chance of getting across the line. 

The problem is you dont know what you do not know. There is a website for mortgage brokers, on there is a section titled "Stupid underwriter requests". My personal favourite from my time as a broker is "We do not believe these bank statements are genuine as there have been no transactions on the 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th of... December. On the basis that at least 2 of those days were bank holidays, and you may decide to avoid shops on the 24th is it really that odd? 

Another example, an underwriter came back with a shopping list of 14 items. I called the underwriter and within around 15-20 minutes I had got that request down to 4 items (I was aiming for 3 which I had already obtained from the client in readiness). I went to the client and sent them a list of 1 item. If the customer had applied direct they would probably have gone off to get those 14 items. The customers have no idea I did that for them. They thought it was a pretty smooth process, it was. But I was the proverbial ducks feet working hard under the water. 

Its a bit of a strange conversation as I can sit here and say how useful brokers are and I do genuinely believe we are. If you want a broker to find you the cheapest deal, you dont need a broker for that. There is more than enough information on the internet for that. 

A broker comes into their own by taking the donkey work, saving you time, saving you stress, hand holding (not physically), I have maybe 4-5 people a year I sit on the phone to whilst they have a cry (usually at the start of the process - not because I have done anything wrong). There is so much more to our job that plugging in some figures. Just as an example did you know it is taking Natwest 22 WORKING days to look at an application? Did you know if you need to call pretty much every high street lender you are going to be sat on hold for an hour minimum? 

But I cant sit here and say you should use one or everyone needs a broker because that is really not the case. 

What you are basically saying is you will consider a broker if they improve your chances of acceptance. If thats your measure of a broker then no you probably do not need one. We can improve your chances but if everything is relatively straight forward then no we probably wont increase your chances. We might get you to the finish line quicker or with less stress/hassle but if that is not on your list of requirements, then crack on and do it yourself. 

BigBoss

Thanks that’s a helpful response.