Do IFAs get "better" deals?

welshchocolatelover

Just curious. Do Financial Advisers get better mortgage deals than any other person? Mine has said he's going to sort out our new remortgage on Monday as that's when Halifax are changing their deals, but just wondered whether he'll just get the same for us as we would get phoning the Halifax ourselves, if you see what I mean?

Thanks
WCL

dunstonh

You have asked a question in different ways so I will answer them as such.

Do IFAs get "better" deals?

Yes. IFAs get better deals. Mainly on investments and pensions to which the term IFA belongs. IFAs are investment advisers. Some of whom may do mortgages as well but the term IFA doesnt exist for mortgage advice. When an IFA does a mortgage, they are doing it with their mortgage adviser hat on.

Do Financial Advisers get better mortgage deals than any other person?

Some do, some dont. Again, financial adviser is a term that normally goes with tied agent investment advisers. Again some will also do mortgages. They are likely to have less of range of deals than a whole of market adviser. Some will be restricted to one lender or a limited panel although some tied agents on life, pensions and investments may be whole of market on mortgages.

What you probably mean is do mortgage advisers/brokers get better deals?

The answer to that is they get different deals and the deals may not be available to all advisers. Some lenders may make unique deals available to brokers, some to branches and some direct. Some brokers may get a particular deal and others dont. They certainly dont get any worse deals. Its just the special deals where it differs.

Thank the FSA for the mess on adviser classifications.

homer_j_3

welshchocolatelover wrote: »

Just curious. Do Financial Advisers get better mortgage deals than any other person? Mine has said he's going to sort out our new remortgage on Monday as that's when Halifax are changing their deals, but just wondered whether he'll just get the same for us as we would get phoning the Halifax ourselves, if you see what I mean?

Thanks
WCL

The benefit of using a broker is that they will do all the paperwork and sort any problems out should there be any.

The halifax do sometimes have different deals or cut off dates to brokers but whether or not there will be any benefit - it is hard to tell off the information here.

welshchocolatelover

Thanks both :-).

jackomdj

When I took out my first mortgage the advisor we used messed up on one of the forms & I ended up going into the building society to sign something. The lady I spoke to said we would have got a slightly better rate had we done it ourselves.

I don't know if things have changed, but when we changed the last time I spoke to an advisor then went into our chosen bank personally. I guess if you cover all basis you can't go wrong.

Also if you go into a bank/building society they fill in all the forms for you anyway so it is not difficult.

homer_j_3

yes the branch will do the paperwork, you are right but if they have a problem and it cannot be sorted, a Broker with a good relationship with a Business Development Manager may be able to get things done that a branch cannot and also if it turns out that it becomes a no go, your broker will be in a far better position to put somewhere else a lot more swiftly.

jediknightwarrior

Since the credit crunch the mortgage market has started to change. Historically, brokers got equal if not better deals than were available from dealing direct. However, this is no longer always the case.

There is currently a trend of lenders starting to offer their best deals directly rather than through brokers. If you do not have a clue about mortgages or do not have the time to do your own research then you should stick to using a broker. However, if you are prepared to do a little work you may find a better deal by going direct.

Try using moneyfacts.co.uk

HTH

ixwood

I've recently been looking and brokers couldn't seem to match the best direct deals available with the likes of First Direct, Directline etc.

They can only get deals from companies that deal with brokers. I guess companies not paying middlemen can afford to do better deals.

Brokers come into their own when it's not a straight forward application. Poor credit history, unusual circumstances etc.

ixwood

The best deal my normal broker could get was .5 higher than I found myself online.

Dan_Collins_2

Brokers can get better deals with some lenders, but some lenders offer better direct deals. It is not something that I would worry about if it is the Halifax as they do offer broker exclusives.

Some lenders do not accept business through us, normally this is not an issue, but this year we have seen FD and Direct line start very strong. Although they are now increasing rates.

Dan_Collins_2

ixwood wrote: »

I've recently been looking and brokers couldn't seem to match the best direct deals available with the likes of First Direct, Directline etc.

They can only get deals from companies that deal with brokers. I guess companies not paying middlemen can afford to do better deals.

Brokers come into their own when it's not a straight forward application. Poor credit history, unusual circumstances etc.

Last year this was not an issue. Due to those lenders not lending as much last year they can afford to offer better deals. I thas nothing to do with the middlemen thing. HSBC as a group are up and down all year.