What do you think of the advice ive been given?

keeno

One thing that is confusing me is why my advisor is showing me a deal from halifax at 5.99% when on the website there is a deal for 5.64% ?

Dan_Collins_2

Looks like a direct only product. Best 5 yr for remo on broker site is 5.99%!

Your broker may not be aware of these, it is not him telling porkies but another lender keeping quiet about direct only products!

Halifax rewarding us brokers for all the support we have given them over the years!!

minimike2

Making a recommendation based on an opinion of future market conditions is not the way to do things IMO.

I base my recommendations on present circumstance, potential future changes in circumstances and attitude to risk. We dont have a crystal ball and no one can say what deals will be available in two years time. This is just my opinion, but I think he should be listening more to your needs and aspirations rather than his own opinion on the markets.

That said, it might be suitable for you to have a two year rate, but without doing a full fact find I could not confirm either way.

jill2002

Don't forget to check what has your existing lender offers ? At the moment, some of the best deals are to be had if you stay and just take a new deal.

Dan_Collins_2

Lenders really aretrying to keep business rather than new!

keeno

Dan

So the direct products are not accessible at all with a broker? Also, im with bank of scotland at the minute, would their renewal be any better than the halifax deal?

Dan_Collins_2

Better check, if they have no fees then it may be.

At the mo some lenders have direct only. With Halifax it is normally the other way around and I would guess that they are not going to be around long. They get a lot of business via the broker networks and may be trying to cut back, although they are one of the only lenders lending so 5.99% will not put people off.

Tell your broker what you have seen, he can call the HAlifax and check it out for you. If he is honest he will say go direct!

homer_j_3

Keeno,

I can only concur with what my fellow brokers/advisers have said.

You need to think about what would be the case if the rates were a lot higher and your broker has got it wrong. The law of averages and historical data would say that you have probably got the potential benefit of a 1 % decrease in a fixed rate as at the cheapest points in time fixed rates (without extortionate fees or overhanging erc's) were around the 4.5% mark. The highest Interest rates have been as much as 16%.

So if you put your best deal now on that scale, is it worth risking a short period of time to try and gain that 1% -1.5% in todays market over securing that rate to ensure you do not slip towards the other end in 2 years time?

I cannot imagine it getting to the 16% again but 7 or 8% may be realistic.

Rick62

2 years is too short. Things may have stabalised in 2 years, they may have stabalised at a higher rate! No one knows. If your cicumstances allow you to be tied in for, say, 5 years then you should consider this. If I was taking a mortgage right now I would be looking at 5 years, maybe 3 years as a minimum or maybe longer (although 10 years requires a certainty about your life plans that most of us can't aspire to!).

Unfortunately the best rates are currently often direct from the lenders, meaning we as brokers are making little money, and customers are not able to get best advice and are getting unadvised sales when they go direct to the lender. So much for a regulated market and treating customers fairly.

homer_j_3

Rick62 wrote: »

Unfortunately the best rates are currently often direct from the lenders, meaning we as brokers are making little money, and customers are not able to get best advice and are getting unadvised sales when they go direct to the lender. So much for a regulated market and treating customers fairly.

That is why I am looking at adding a true whole of market for a fee service to my business. Perfect for anybody who wants advice for those lenders who do not accept broker business in my opinion.

Whole of Market is a mockery with the loopholes involved and unfair on the consumer due to the minefield of information that they have to know just to get a decent basic level of advice.

It is madness that these sales forces that exist can only exist on the basis that advice is often formulated and also that they need to see more people in a week than there are hours to properly support them.

Charging fees and keeping proc fees are not the way imo but I can see a whole lot more people shifting to the "you pay me for advice, if I can process with the lender, I will for free, if I cannot then we will offer guidance but you need to do it yourself. If there is any commission paid in return - its all your Mr/s Client.