Martins View On Using Mortgage Brokers...

cecmfs wrote: »

There are numerous post on the site, but I will back up with exact usernames if that is what is required, stating go see a broker then go direct to the lender. There was also one 2/3 weeks back with a FTB with a 20% deposit who a retired adviser or broker told to get a BTL on, again when i have time i will search through the forum for this (is it just me or it always slow?).

TLDR.

But, then again, that appears to be your approach to this site given the quote above.

Did your company get slated on here for something and you felt obliged to join because of it?

Martin,
If an advisor is TRUELY independent they will charge a standard fee (I'm not talking the earth)as NOT ALL lenders pay commission therefore charging a standard fee upfront avoids any advisors selling the products they get the biggest commission from.


Please stop telling your viewers on TV that ALL mortgage lenders pay commission to brokers as this is false.

MSE_Martin wrote: »

Hi,

As its often debated here 'to broker or not to broker' I thought I would briefly lay out my thoughts.

"The right broker is a big benefit. Far better to go to a broker than direct to one lender who will simply try and flog you their own mortgage. They will look after the market and possibly bring you better negotiating power Overall I'm a broker fan!"

Of course there are ifs and buts. The two key questions to ask a broker are

"are you whole of market?"

and

"do you charge a fee?".

If the answers are yes and no then... whey hey hey... we're off to a good start. If the answer is anything else I would seek another broker.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please read the relevant articles

Remember this is the Chat Forum, its for discussion by lots of parties. However the main information on this site is in the articles section. Please do read those before getting involved in discussions which will often get very technical.

The two most relevant for this are "Get top mortgage advice for free article" or even better, its included in the free 28 page MoneySavingExpert guide to remortgaging available as printed guide or download a PDF (or read more)

What about the brokers answering questions on here?

First of all say thank you. Many of them do a great job without renumeration for it. It's a great place to ask. Of course its always worth remembering just because someone says they are a broker doesn't mean they are, however, the vast majority on here are genuine and want to help.

Can they generate business from here?

Touting for business is strictly forbidden. However if someone helps you out, and you feel they can help you, if you approach one of the mortgage brokers on the site I've no problem with them helping you.

Do check out the "whole of market" and "fees free" notes above to make sure they are right for you though. And double check they are genuine, ask to see their creditials and that they're authorised by the regulator, the FSA.

Hope this helps

Martin

Martin,

Hello, I am new to this site. I wanted to contact you regarding Asda's little tricks, but I couldn't find where to post it and got somewhat distracted.

I am a mortgage broker and offer a whole of market service. As you are probably aware, the market has been decimated and consequently, so has my profession.

Are you aware of how little the mortgage lenders pay us? I am doing a mortgage tomorow, it happens to be for £40000. I will get paid £175 for that (because a minimum payment from the lender kicks in - not all lenders do that). I will no doubt spend 2.5 hours with the client doing what is called a Factfind, explaining how things work and discussing aims and views etc.

I will then need to provide illustrations after having done research and then I will need to submit a mortgage application after discussing it with the client again. I will then need to do more paperwork to explain to the client in writing why he chose the mortgage he is applying for.

I will then need to keep track of the case, liaising with the client, the lender and his conveyancer.

I can't always sell ancillary products like life cover and general insurance.

I haven't even mentioned the expenses in running a business as a self-employed broker. My professional fee cost is £300 per month before I start counting the other expenses.

I have come across clients where they tried to do things themselves and they can get it spectacularly wrong and overlook key necessities or they buy the wrong product. I know many pitfalls that clients should be made aware of and can save them heartache. Their fee would be well spent.

You have done a lot of good in many areas, but you infuriate me when you encourage people to seek out non-fee charging mortgage brokers. They are not necessarily going to get the best advice. I also think that those brokers are degrading their status. I have lost count of how many times I have had to take exams. We are qualified professionals. We are policed to the hilt. We have to jump through hoops for the FSA due to cowboys in the industry.

We are not raking it in, we are surviving.

I do a good job for my clients, so I have no compunction in charging a fee. £175 in the example above is not even subsistence, therefore I will continue to charge fees.

It's the big boys you need to target, i.e. the lenders. I am doing a mortgage next week where the lender is charging a 3.5% fee to the client, in other words nearly £4000! They are getting away with murder on fees. Please target them. They, the lenders, have been taking risks, relaxing criteria over the years, taking on high risk clients, lending more than they should have, solely due to their desire to make more and more profits. However, it all came back in their face and the taxpayers had to bail them out. Now they are not lending to us like they used to. The ones that they do lend to are charged a fortune. The ones lucky enough to get a low interest rate, will, a lot of the time, get charged high fees.

So please Martin, turn the heat up on them a bit and don't stick the boot into us.

Regards,

Brian

I've stopped posting on here as you get a mixture of either idiot brokers who slag others off for charging fees, idiot posters who slag you off when giving advice even though you come on here giving up your time for free, or people who obviously know very little about mortgages, but their opinion is the right and only one.

It's not worth the hassle of coming on here and trying to help people, especially when you're doing it for free.