Underwhelmed by mortgage broker

IvyFlood

So we have 3 months until the end of our current fix and last night we had a call with a mortgage broker who came highly recommended and as he's so busy we had to have the call at 8p on a Sunday night after over a month of trying to arrange an appointment.

I don't what I was expecting but I feel he didn't tell us anything we didn't already know/couldn't find out ourselves. He suggested we stick with our current lender (Nationwide) and I just feel we could have made a mortgage appointment with them direct weeks ago rather than waiting for this broker to get back to us!

Not sure what the point in this post was other than I just feel completely underwhelmed!

simon_or

Sorry I'm just curious, what did you expect the broker to do that he didn't do?

Him being busy and not being able to fit you in earlier is unfortunate but it's not like he forced you to make an appointment or wait that long.

If you're staying with Nationwide and not borrowing extra, there's no need to speak to them at all, it should all be possible online with a few clicks.

For next time don't leave it so late, keep a reminder for at least 6 months before the end of the fixed period so that you can book a rate earlier.

ACG

He cant really help with the options available at the time. 
He might have been able to find you something new/better but at the minute nationwide are generally one of the cheaper lenders across all bandings, that seems to have been the case for a little while.

If there had been cheaper products he would hopefully have found them. 

As Simon says (I think I need to grow up), you did not have to wait a month. In reality the better option would have been to crack on a month ago, but you only know that with hindsight. 

dunstonh

I don't what I was expecting but I feel he didn't tell us anything we didn't already know/couldn't find out ourselves. He suggested we stick with our current lender (Nationwide) and I just feel we could have made a mortgage appointment with them direct weeks ago rather than waiting for this broker to get back to us!

So, he did his job then.   And on this occasion, the product transfer option was the best one.   At another time, it may not have been.

Not sure what the point in this post was other than I just feel completely underwhelmed!

Sometimes, in all areas of financial services, the option to do nothing or to stick with what you have is best.    It may be the most underwhelming option if you are looking for some shiny new product that can be so much better but when there is no super shiny better option, the important thing is being told that.

IvyFlood

Thanks all

As I said, I don't know what I was expecting, maybe him to find us a good/better deal. I thought he'd have access to things we don't but its my bad for thinking that. I think maybe our situation was too 'simple' for him and therefore it seems he hasn't helped much.

We have since just done a product switch online ourselves - was really easy! 

Agree that we should have done it at least 3 months ago but we'll know for next time!

TheJP

IvyFlood said:

Thanks all

As I said, I don't know what I was expecting, maybe him to find us a good/better deal. I thought he'd have access to things we don't but its my bad for thinking that. I think maybe our situation was too 'simple' for him and therefore it seems he hasn't helped much.

We have since just done a product switch online ourselves - was really easy! 

Agree that we should have done it at least 3 months ago but we'll know for next time!

No broker can get much of a better deal in this current climate. Those deals just don't exist. Take the best of a worst offer and hope for the best.

simon_or

IvyFlood said:

Thanks all

As I said, I don't know what I was expecting, maybe him to find us a good/better deal. I thought he'd have access to things we don't but its my bad for thinking that. I think maybe our situation was too 'simple' for him and therefore it seems he hasn't helped much.

Broker do have access to banks and products that you don't direct (and direct customers have access to banks and products that brokers don't) but that doesn't mean that they will always be able to find something better than what you can access yourself.

Even if they couldn't improve on what you had, at least you now know that you explored all your options!

ACG

TheJP said:

IvyFlood said:

Thanks all

As I said, I don't know what I was expecting, maybe him to find us a good/better deal. I thought he'd have access to things we don't but its my bad for thinking that. I think maybe our situation was too 'simple' for him and therefore it seems he hasn't helped much.

We have since just done a product switch online ourselves - was really easy! 

Agree that we should have done it at least 3 months ago but we'll know for next time!

No broker can get much of a better deal in this current climate. Those deals just don't exist. Take the best of a worst offer and hope for the best.

Some lenders are, we were given a deal at 95% LTV under 5.9%! It was only provided to around 50 firms. 
We are quite specialised in what we do, so have a good relationship with a particular lender. We are only a small brokerage (2 man band) so I am sure some other brokers have their own deals with lenders.