Take extra care when using brokers at moment

minimike2

I just had a meeting with the new Nationwide BDM....they seem keen to carry on lending.

Thought Woolwich had got rid of all the BDMs apart from Brian?

Conrad

Dont know about you lot but I am spending hours on most enquiries trying to do the right thing but other brokers undermine me as they are fast and loose with clients. Many here are recommending Halifax fasttrack instead of true self cert and the clients fall for it every time.
I explain that Halifax can ask for retrospective income proof after completion but to no avail.

This is why its so ludicrous for the FSA to generally report most advisers are delivering TCF! They have not a clue whats really going on out there, not the slightest clue.

toonfish

I've advised 2 today to stick with the C&G - better rate than I can get elsewhere. Pretty frustrating at the moment and I'd happily charge a fee if the likes of HSBC allowed us to transact business with them. At the minute we are just seeing a chunk of our income stream walk back out of the door!

MortgageMamma

I walked out of my desk in an estate agents on Friday - I told them to tell all new clients that I'd be charging an upfront £99 advice fee and would rebate if they did the business. The agency said no, that won't work for us; I lost three deals direct to lenders in one day, and one client was bribed to use wimpey's own mortgage brokers. That, and the fact I've only had four leads from them this month for my 33% payout was too much for me to take. I am not ashamed to admit I am absolutely skint - not because I don't have clients, but because I cannot compete with the direct deals and not many people are buying or selling.

I am really fed up about it at the moment but I'm determined not to lie down and die. The AMI are barely supporting us, our own networks are not supporting us by demanding the lenders change their tactics with direct submissions and then you get IDIOTS like John Malone telling us all to shut up and die quietly.

Lisa

Tiddler_2

I think alot of brokers are in similar positions - I heard a rumour that a large finance broker who have a largely recognised brand name and used to advertise on daytime tv (with a swimming pool or large yacht) are hitting tough times and are about to get rid of around a third of their staff - some will call it survival of the fittest, but I think it is probably the more customer friendly that will be hit hardest.

The 2 people I work with just hide their heads in the sand about which companies are offering the best direct deals, and will only offer deals that they can do. I'm stuck in the quandry of best advice v earning a living - especially as a lot of my clients are friends!!

Its a tough market out there - hopefully the lenders will get the picture shortly!!

Ian_Griffiths_Halifax

I must be doing something right as I have a full diary day and night for the next 2 weeks and have to force my self not to work weekends just to get some rest. I have recently started coming on here every now and again to try and help people out answering questions as well, just like a lot of you guys.

What you need to do is look beyond the fact that lenders are offering Direct Deals. They've always offered Direct Deals and always will do. The difference is, just now SOME are a fraction better than you can get, but the quality of advice that you can give is nothing like the quality given by a good adviser.

If you look at a client as somebody who you are going to MAKE SOME MONEY OUT OF, then that's the wrong attitude. All my clients are now friends and people who I will be looking after many years after some of these lenders have shut up shop!

After nearly 19 years in the business, I'm now seeing the children of my original clients. And yes, the majority have stayed with me over the years.

The ones I may have lost are mainly due to Estate Agents convincing them that they have a better chance of getting an offer accepted on their bid for an house by going through them, or a friend or family member coming into the business. Only a very few have found another deal them selves that they have organised and even some of those have come back later.

One of the lenders I've seen mentioned today has an 8 to 10 week backlog of workload. I advise people not to go with them if they need a prompt offer. That IS Treating Customers Fairly as I tell them what the interest rate is, but compared to another lender with a .1% higher rate and no issues with processing (just as an example) and looking at the total overall cost over a comparitive period such as 3 years, then there may be very little difference in overall cost.

There is another well known lender who I regularly advise against using. If you NEED to do debt consolidation, despite ticking the boxes that state that "this debt will be repaid on completion from the mortgage advance", they assume that your are lieing, and don't take the monthly payments out of the affordability calculator. This results in you applying for a higher loan amount to be able to do the consolidation, but the lender assumes your new mortgage will be on top of current outgoings and often the case is declined as you can't afford both!

Keep your chin up and believe in the advice you are giving. Be honest with your clients and look after them.

toonfish

OK Ian, I take your coments on board but how can you justify a rate 0.49% higher than that available direct with the same lender with higher fees, because that's what I am coming up against. If you are not advising direct deals it's a nightmare waiting to happen.

Back to the pension transfers for me, easier than mortgages now!

payless

recent posts highlight exactly what I originally posted. If a consumer- remember thisn is a consumer site- wants help from broker to obtain the cheapest rates they should ensure they are researching all deals, as some are not, and the differences can be great.

It may be fair to be asked to pay a feee for such work.

MortgageMamma did you keep you own "FSA registeration" or did you work under theirs? Hope it works out.

Ian_Griffiths_Halifax

toonfish wrote: »

OK Ian, I take your coments on board but how can you justify a rate 0.49% higher than that available direct with the same lender with higher fees, because that's what I am coming up against. If you are not advising direct deals it's a nightmare waiting to happen.

Back to the pension transfers for me, easier than mortgages now!

Quite simple, Service Standards of the Lender and the quality of service we provide. Sending a client direct to a lender who will not give any advice is not Treating the Customer Fairly, it's like feeding them to the lions!

If any clients want to do direct Internet Only applications they are free to use my computer and I will help them with the completion of the app if they want. They choose not to because I provide an ongoing service on any applications I arrange throughout the life of a mortgage, not just the application stage. I'm not prepared to do that on a mortgage I've not given any advice on.

Ian_Griffiths_Halifax

payless wrote: »

recent posts highlight exactly what I originally posted. If a consumer- remember thisn is a consumer site- wants help from broker to obtain the cheapest rates they should ensure they are researching all deals, as some are not, and the differences can be great.

It may be fair to be asked to pay a feee for such work.

MortgageMamma did you keep you own "FSA registeration" or did you work under theirs? Hope it works out.

I agree to a point with your first comment that this is a consumer site and that people coming on here are looking for the cheapest rates, however this discussion is about brokers in general, not free advice on here. We aren't liable for any advice on here as it is just generally somebodies 'opinion', but you'll never find me posting in response to somebody saying 'Can you beat The Woolwich 5.5% Fixed to XYZ' type questions as I don't 'know the client' and haven't done a 'Fact Find'.

Consumers in general, want help in finding the cheapest rate until they sit down with a broker who can show them that there is more to a mortgage than the rate, such as fees, compulsory insurances, income multiples or affordability calculators, flexibility, portability, offset facilities, payment holidays, overpayments etc etc etc.

The cheapest rate isn't necessarily the best deal!

Some people want somebody to hold their hand through the entire process and somebody they can turn to for advice on documents they recieve.

Lenders simply do not and can not provide the service a broker can.