What can a broker do that I can't?

K_S

todayisagreatday said:

When I was able to point out at least the top 10 products they were offering - none let you lock in rates for longer than 90 days they agreed. 

@todayisagreatday I'm genuinely surprised by the offer validity quoted above as I'm struggling to think of a single mainstream lender that issues remortgage offers valid only for 90 days.

All the ones I can think of offer around 6 months (either from app date or offer date), a couple for 7 months and a few will allow extensions of 1/3/6 months on top of the initial 6 months.

Out of professional interest, would you mind sharing which mainstream lenders these were that only offered remortgage offers valid only for 90 days?

ACG

todayisagreatday said:

The independent was the least helpful and seemed keen to tell us it wasn't just about the service but having 'a great relationship with us'. Erm no, I want the financial service I don't want a relationship, I'm not going to be popping round to see you for a brew after this, I just want the best financial service you can offer then that's it for 5 years!

It is interesting. We have customers who just say "this is what I want, theres the stuff, and leave us to crack on and trust us to do the best job we can". 

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I have also had at least 20 people over the years crying about their situation and at times I feel like a psychiatrist. 

I like the cases where people just leave us to get on with it, they tend to be the easiest. But I also like the ones where people come to us with little hope and in tears only to leave at the end with happy tears. It gives the opportunity to look back and say you made a difference. 

Admittedly most fall somewhere in the middle.

But brokers do not have access to first direct. If your sole requirement was cheapest with a 6 month offer, then it sounds like you were capable of doing that yourself and no broker was needed. But some people do want or need the hand holding element. It is interesting how the independent was the least helpful and wanted to build a relationship, the 2 are usually polar opposites, but it sounds like you are very much just wanting the business transaction - nothing wrong with that btw. 

Bubblebutt9

From my personal perspective a good broker is worth their weight in gold! I would say me and my husband have a good track record with money and credit file however when we we thinking about moving house I was so overwhelmed and didn’t know how much we could afford etc. Our broker essentially takes the pain out of the process. Also I was scared if we applied for something on our own and we messed something up we could get a decline and that’s a hard adverse footprint on our credit files which I wanted to avoid. I have used the same broker twice now and could not be more happy with their service. They help with life and buildings insurance too. All round fantastic service. 

todayisagreatday

K_S said:

todayisagreatday said:

When I was able to point out at least the top 10 products they were offering - none let you lock in rates for longer than 90 days they agreed. 

@todayisagreatday I'm genuinely surprised by the offer validity quoted above as I'm struggling to think of a single mainstream lender that issues remortgage offers valid only for 90 days.

All the ones I can think of offer around 6 months (either from app date or offer date), a couple for 7 months and a few will allow extensions of 1/3/6 months on top of the initial 6 months.

Out of professional interest, would you mind sharing which mainstream lenders these were that only offered remortgage offers valid only for 90 days?

Much of the issue was that many of the cheapest were all with Barclays at slightly different fixes between 5-7 years who we are already with, so it would have been a rate switch which meant we can only do this 90 days before. I think the other one was Nationwide but this was still more expensive than First Direct. There were some I've never heard of I can't remember which.

If we hadn't already been with Barclays they may have been more competitive. That said when we are eligible for a rate switch end of October if they can offer anything better than First Direct we won't rule them out - but we have already paid the £490 fee so would lose that.

ACG said:

todayisagreatday said:

The independent was the least helpful and seemed keen to tell us it wasn't just about the service but having 'a great relationship with us'. Erm no, I want the financial service I don't want a relationship, I'm not going to be popping round to see you for a brew after this, I just want the best financial service you can offer then that's it for 5 years!

It is interesting. We have customers who just say "this is what I want, theres the stuff, and leave us to crack on and trust us to do the best job we can". 

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I have also had at least 20 people over the years crying about their situation and at times I feel like a psychiatrist. 

I like the cases where people just leave us to get on with it, they tend to be the easiest. But I also like the ones where people come to us with little hope and in tears only to leave at the end with happy tears. It gives the opportunity to look back and say you made a difference. 

Admittedly most fall somewhere in the middle.

But brokers do not have access to first direct. If your sole requirement was cheapest with a 6 month offer, then it sounds like you were capable of doing that yourself and no broker was needed. But some people do want or need the hand holding element. It is interesting how the independent was the least helpful and wanted to build a relationship, the 2 are usually polar opposites, but it sounds like you are very much just wanting the business transaction - nothing wrong with that btw. 

Yep, I can absolutely see why some people value a broker and want the support, interaction and to feel like it's a friendship. For me it's a transaction, I want to know they can get something better than I can and deal with things I can't and if it's complicated I'm happy to let someone else do it. That said I consider myself fairly savvy (blame this site) and if I can get bette than they can and save myself a fee I'll do it. My friend with disastrous credit, a partner who is self employed and on their third property falling through has an amazing broker - I feel sorry for them as they must spend absolutely hours trying to sort out what must now be multiple mortgage applications!

K_S

todayisagreatday said:

K_S said:

todayisagreatday said:

When I was able to point out at least the top 10 products they were offering - none let you lock in rates for longer than 90 days they agreed. 

@todayisagreatday I'm genuinely surprised by the offer validity quoted above as I'm struggling to think of a single mainstream lender that issues remortgage offers valid only for 90 days.

All the ones I can think of offer around 6 months (either from app date or offer date), a couple for 7 months and a few will allow extensions of 1/3/6 months on top of the initial 6 months.

Out of professional interest, would you mind sharing which mainstream lenders these were that only offered remortgage offers valid only for 90 days?

Much of the issue was that many of the cheapest were all with Barclays at slightly different fixes between 5-7 years who we are already with, so it would have been a rate switch which meant we can only do this 90 days before. I think the other one was Nationwide but this was still more expensive than First Direct. There were some I've never heard of I can't remember which.

If we hadn't already been with Barclays they may have been more competitive. That said when we are eligible for a rate switch end of October if they can offer anything better than First Direct we won't rule them out - but we have already paid the £490 fee so would lose that.

@todayisagreatday Ah, you were talking about a PT with your existing lender, not a re-mortgage. That can indeed have a window of 3-6 months depending on the specific lender. But as I said, all the mainstream lenders that I can think of offer remortgage offers valid for 6 months (from application or offer) with a few allowing you to stretch that by adding 1/2/3/6 months on top.

It's too late for you unfortunately but for the benefit of others who may come across this thread - with a fix ending 31 Jan, I can think of at least 4 mainstream lenders where you could have locked in a mainstream remortgage-rate 7/8/8.5/11 months in advance of your fix ending so as far back as March 2022 - June 2022 rather than having to wait till the 6 month window. And in the rapidly-rising rate environment that we've been in the last 6 months, all those would likely have saved you a pretty penny compared to whatever rates were available in July/August. I've used this for quite a few of my clients with fixes ending in the first half of next year to lock in a current rate rather than wait until the 6 months window.

BigBoss

An occurrence today confirms I was right to question the utility of brokers in general.

A few days ago I send my credit report to my broker which I informed them was the last one I had access to before my free trial had expired. It was generated on 11 September 2022. I sent it on the 10th Oct. So it's 29/30 days old, tops? (I cba to do the exact maths). 

I receive a message today saying the lender needs the latest report as this is older than 28 days. 

What am I paying a broker for if they're not able to tell me about issues like this as they happen?

ACG

A lender has asked for a copy of your credit report?
Why? 

A lender would usually rely on whatever is on the credit check they carry out on you. 

kingstreet

BigBoss said:

An occurrence today confirms I was right to question the utility of brokers in general.

A few days ago I send my credit report to my broker which I informed them was the last one I had access to before my free trial had expired. It was generated on 11 September 2022. I sent it on the 10th Oct. So it's 29/30 days old, tops? (I cba to do the exact maths). 

I receive a message today saying the lender needs the latest report as this is older than 28 days. 

What am I paying a broker for if they're not able to tell me about issues like this as they happen?

The broker didn't make the request as soon as he/she received it from the lender?

simon_or

BigBoss said:

An occurrence today confirms I was right to question the utility of brokers in general.

A few days ago I send my credit report to my broker which I informed them was the last one I had access to before my free trial had expired. It was generated on 11 September 2022. I sent it on the 10th Oct. So it's 29/30 days old, tops? (I cba to do the exact maths). 

I receive a message today saying the lender needs the latest report as this is older than 28 days. 

What am I paying a broker for if they're not able to tell me about issues like this as they happen?

There's nothing wrong with questioning the utility of your broker if that's how you feel. But there are so many options - go direct or if it's the fee that bothers you, use a broker that doesn't charge a fee.

If there's something in your credit history that is relevant to your application then it makes sense that the lender wants an up to date one. I don't get why they couldn't just get it direct from the credit bureau.

You can get free statutory reports from all 3 credit agencies, no free trial required.

BigBoss

ACG said:

A lender has asked for a copy of your credit report?
Why? 

A lender would usually rely on whatever is on the credit check they carry out on you. 

So I'm being told, yes. Should I doubt this at all?

This is a first-rate high street lender btw, and I've just gone and paid the 14.99 for the report because I'm too impatient to wait for the statutory report process to come through.