Word of warning about AWD mortgage brokers

still_maddog

1. I have life insurance policies that were taken out to cover school fees and they still have a number of years to run, despite school fees beling (almost) over.
2. Don't need ASU because of cover provided by employment.
3. Looked at thread just to check AWD - I think I am happy with the advice given. Most of the other mortgages I found had significant "up front" fees. AWD were open about their 2995 fee.

_Andy_

still_maddog wrote: »

AWD drove 100 miles and spent 3 hours going through my needs

As they're charging you a staggeringly uncompetitive £3000, I'm sure this was no hardship to them.

lumped in a bankloan I have at a rate significantly higher than the re-mortgage rate -

Did they demonstrate that doing so makes long term sense given that the term of the loan element will be increasing?

feisty1

I don't know of many mortgage lenders or advisors asking for up front fees at the moment..

So you looked at the thread for information on fees! Most people would have a fee of £2995.00 imprinted in their minds.

So yr present employer has you covered for redundancy! unusual, you must have a good employer who is prepared to offer u benefits in kind for him to pay you off and for this to be added to his NI contributions for you!
For a fee of £2995.00 your mortgage must be in the region of 150k and based on the average rate of an offset tracker, yr fee of £2995.00 over 15yrs will actually become £5500.00 at the end of 15years. You can't actually compare it to yr £200.pm saving over 15yrs as yr circumstances may change, tracker rates eventually rise so high in years to come that you convert to a fixed before the end of 15yrs. HOWEVER, one thing you will be gtd of, 3k has been added to the life of yr mortgage, that is without question or doubt.
You may surprised to learn you may struggle to find financially astute people on this site congratulating you on "yr find".
Do you know what!
If I wasn't such a trusting soul, I would think you're associated with AWD and testing the site to see what type of response you're going to rcv!

still_maddog

I asked a simple question and no, I am not employed by AWD - I am in the Armed forces. I understand that by by adding the bank loan to my mortgage I would, in fact, pay more in the long term but, as I have no intention of letting the mortgage run for the full term I am not too concerned by that. Let me re-phrase my original question:

What do people think of offset trackers compared to fixed rates? The one I have been offered has the option to convert to a fixed rate if interest rates start to rise. Presumably part of any rate rise would be offset by an increase on the rate I am getting on the offset? It also has no lower collar on it.

Does anyone know of a concrete reason why I should not use AWD. From the posts here it seems that there are one or two people out there who have had bad experiences with them, but that can be said of any institution; for instance, I would not recommend Barclays but that doesn't mean that they would be bad for everyone.

_Andy_

still_maddog wrote: »

I asked a simple question and no, I am not employed by AWD - I am in the Armed forces. I understand that by by adding the bank loan to my mortgage I would, in fact, pay more in the long term but, as I have no intention of letting the mortgage run for the full term I am not too concerned by that. Let me re-phrase my original question:

What do people think of offset trackers compared to fixed rates? The one I have been offered has the option to convert to a fixed rate if interest rates start to rise. Presumably part of any rate rise would be offset by an increase on the rate I am getting on the offset? It also has no lower collar on it.

Does anyone know of a concrete reason why I should not use AWD. From the posts here it seems that there are one or two people out there who have had bad experiences with them, but that can be said of any institution; for instance, I would not recommend Barclays but that doesn't mean that they would be bad for everyone.

What I don't understand is, why you feel £3000 is giving you value? I appreciate they've spent time with you etc but why would you not want to use another (cheaper or free) broker who will get you the same deal, or just go to the lender direct? You stated in your original post you 'found better rates' yourself.

E.g. let's say the AWD broker spends, absolute maximum 10 hours all in all on your case (probably less) - do you not feel £300 per hour is a little expensive?
Aside from this the fee will presumably be added to your mortgage so you'll be paying interest on that £300ph throughout the term.

I have no experiences of AWD so I'm not 'anti' them (or though as previously stated I think their fee is a bit of a joke), I just struggle to comprehend why you'd want to pay someone such a huge amount of money.

dwsjarcmcd

still_maddog wrote: »

What do people think of offset trackers compared to fixed rates? The one I have been offered has the option to convert to a fixed rate if interest rates start to rise. Presumably part of any rate rise would be offset by an increase on the rate I am getting on the offset? It also has no lower collar on it

There is nothing wrong with the product or the features you've described. What is wrong is paying £3,000 for advice that is freely available elsewhere for a lot less, or nil cost.

I don't know anything about this company but I do know that anyone who pays that amount of money on a service, when they don't need to spend it is either desperate, naive or mad.....possibly all three

feisty1

[quote=still maddog;16968723] Does anyone know of a concrete reason why I should not use AWD[/quote]

3K

Newhall

Has anybody had dealings with AWD Home finance reps calling on them at home?

ETHICAL_GUY

the split changed so often, the adviser never really made that much money. I never really liked selling block policies as they are so unethical, thats why I left.

feisty1

Why did you join in the first place?