Direct dealing with bank without MA

intex310

Hi,

FTB here. Banks giving me the same deals as the Mortgage advisors. Every penny counts for me so would it be a disadvantage for me not to go through MAs as I would be saving £500 as their fee?

Also, I need to validate 14k, as part of my deposit, with the solicitors which I got by selling my gold to a friend. He can show his income source for that purpose but he took it out through his credit card. I had it accumulated since 2015 in bits and bobs. I was told they (Lenders) don't accept gifts if it's not from family members as they used to from friends in the past. 

I know the current interest rate is not in my favour but balancing that with the rent am paying, would be ok. Now the dilemma is going for 2 yrs or 5 yrs fixed. 

penners324

Find a mortgage advisor who doesn't take a fee 

intex310

penners324 said:

Find a mortgage advisor who doesn't take a fee 

Why? am getting a same deal directly with the bank. Wht am i missing without MA?

ACG

intex310 said:

penners324 said:

Find a mortgage advisor who doesn't take a fee 

Why? am getting a same deal directly with the bank. Wht am i missing without MA?

Potentially nothing. 
Potentially someone on your side fighting your corner if there is a problem. 

Some lenders do accept gifts from non relatives - but as yours is not a gift I cant see how that makes a difference. Just ensure before you do apply anywhere you fully check the deposit as that has the potential to scupper an application in its tracks.  

gazfocus

For me, the two times I have bought a house with a mortgage, I found having a mortgage adviser invaluable. The advisor I used didn't charge me a fee the first time as she got her fee from the lender, but she did charge a small fee the second time round (I think it was about £200). 

First time round, I was a difficult case. Not only was I buying a shared ownership house which reduced the number of potential lenders significantly, I also had some old defaults on my credit file, and she was able to speak to lenders in advance of submitting a DIP to sound them out.

Second mortgage was much more straight forward. I was buying with my wife and our credit reports were fine. We were paying a 25% deposit but we were both directors of our own ltd company so had to involve our accountant to verify our income. We had the mortgage offer within 48 hours and then two weeks down the line we got an email from the mortgage advisor to say she'd managed to secure us a better rate with the lender than originally offered which saved us quite a bit.

I'd never apply for a mortgage without using the mortgage advisor in the future.

amnblog

Your friend bought gold off of you with cash raised on a credit card.

You may find a mortgage adviser does not want to deal with you anyway.

DullGreyGuy

intex310 said:

penners324 said:

Find a mortgage advisor who doesn't take a fee 

Why? am getting a same deal directly with the bank. Wht am i missing without MA?

For me... twice now I've been contacted by the Advisor to say my lenders rates were going up the next day so pushed through the application. Twice now that has been true and so has saved me money -v- having gone direct when I'd have checked at some point later and the rate would have been higher. 

No fee to pay with our so there is nothing to lose using them even if I get nothing out of it. 

In principle they can also help you shape your application etc, in our case it was a straightforward application so not sure they added value there but plenty of others do

jrawle

If you have a slightly complex or unusual set or circumstances, which the OP may well have, it could be worth using an advisor who will know which lenders are the best for that sort of thing, how to approach it, etc.

However, for a straightforward case I would not use an advisor. Last time I bought, the selling estate agent coerced me into enduring a two hour marketing exercise with the mortgage advisor they get back handers off. What a waste of two hours of my life. He admitted he wouldn't consider the lender I had my existing mortgage with (a nominal amount I'd kept open) as they wouldn't pay him commission. He tried to scare me with tales of how the banks would go through my bank statements line by line, so without him to help I basically had no chance of securing a mortgage. This failed to take into account that I was only looking for 51% LTV. After two hours, I finally said sorry I need to get to work. In the event, the lender nodded it through without needing any documentation at all, didn't require a survey, etc. Saved paying his large fee, just a pity about the two hours I wasted.

My advice is consider an advisor if you have complex circumstances or are unsure about anything. If it's straightforward, don't bother. If you do decide on an advisor, pick one based on personal recommendations or do your own research. Do not use the one an estate agent tries to foist on you (that goes for everything, solicitors, etc. not just mortgage advisors).

Newbie_John

Your case isn't straightforward so use MA, you'll get a lot of valuable info. 
If you were on 100k salary and were buying a flat for 200k then I wouldn't bother.

I thought our case in 2018 was straightforward but turned out a lot more complicated as my partner was self employed and the amount of help/suggestions/solutions we received was incredible.

There will be way more fees to pay later, solicitors, home buyer reports etc. that MA fee just disappears really.

RelievedSheff

We did our application direct with the lender and found it a straight forward process. Our case was relatively straight forward although at the time I had a CCJ on my credit file. Even with that the case was approved within a couple of days.

We will do the same again next time but we really are a straight forward case and next time will have clean credit files and a low LTV and short mortgage term.

Would I have done the same as a FTB? Well we didn't but in hind sight we probably could have.

intex310

amnblog said:

Your friend bought gold off of you with cash raised on a credit card.

You may find a mortgage adviser does not want to deal with you anyway.

I bought it with my tax paid income. If he wants to buy it, is it illegal?