28 Oct Nightmare! Never again…

Estate Agent Mortgage Broker

Some estate agents have been reported putting pressure on people to use their mortgage service, saying they will get preferential treatment, some may make you believe that if you use their broker it would secure the sale or worse, claiming they are unwilling to work with you unless you do. Putting undue pressure on you in this way is illegal. By all means, if you have the time, get a quote from the Estate Agent’s mortgage adviser before shopping around, you have freedom of choice.

Also, be aware there have been accusations of mortgage brokers and estate agents working closely together, openly discussing potential buyers’ budgets in order to get as much money out of the buyer as possible. So again, find out what deal they can offer while remembering that you are under no obligation to accept their mortgage offers.

Estate agents are often very keen to get you to use their in-house mortgage broker because they may have sales targets to introduce a minimum number of customers to them each month. They also earn a fee if you choose to use the in-house adviser, which is why they can seem pushy!

We have recently had a long-term customer return to us having experienced the pressure from an estate agent to use their broker, in their words it was a ‘nightmare, never again’ (hence the title of this article), the process was lengthy, complex and they weren’t kept informed on a regular basis. They were led to believe that if they didn’t use their broker, they couldn’t guarantee the purchase of the property they had offered and been accepted on.

Independent Mortgage Broker

If a mortgage broker is independent, then they are legally bound to review the whole of the marketplace and recommend the best deal for you. However, before you choose a broker you should know two things:

• What their charges are for their advice and when they are payable?
• Are they able to advise on the whole mortgage market?

Mortgage brokers can be tied to one or several lenders via mortgage club, or they can advise on the full range of products that are available direct to consumers and brokers, this is known as ‘whole of market’.

They are not restricted to certain lenders and the options can be far greater, after all, they want to secure you the mortgage to buy the property you have set your heart on.

Choosing an adviser really comes down to a number of things, not least, do you get on with them? You’re likely to have to talk to them a lot!

Banks & Building Societies

The first thing you need to consider will be whether there is a branch local to you, most still have but will this always be the case?

Secondly, they will only tell you about the mortgages they are offering and have absolutely no obligation to tell you about cheaper rates elsewhere, including another bank or building society in the same town or city or even directly opposite them on the same street or road.

This can somewhat restrict your ability to get a great deal, after all, if you don’t know what’s out there, how can you compare what is best for you?

Online

Online, you can search price comparison websites for the best rates on offer. But be aware that many of these sites earn commission from lenders and where there is no commercial relationship with a lender, they may just not include their mortgages in the table.

The rates they display are also the ‘best buy’ rates and not necessarily the rate you personally would get from the lender once you’ve applied.

Shop around?

By all means, do your homework, see what is out there. However, a note of warning: each time you submit a mortgage decision or application, you may undergo a credit search and the number of searches can also impact your credit score (depending on whether they are hard or soft footprints), therefore, this can affect your ability to be credit-worthy and reduce your chances of securing a mortgage.

How are we different?

Best4U are a family run business consisting of 3 advisors with over 30 years combined experience, established in 1998. Based in Northamptonshire, we have clients across the UK because with us, you will get a personal service, we believe in word of mouth for recommendations and very much want to stay in business! When you work with us, we do as little as possible to reduce the impact on your credit file.

We have access to the whole of the market and access to exclusives that are not accessible on the high street. Over the past 30 years, we have built up very good relationships with a wide variety of lenders and can sometimes obtain a more flexible approach to underwriting.

Not only are we able to offer you ‘whole of market’ mortgage advice, we are also able to arrange all your associated insurances like buildings & contents, accident sickness & redundancy cover, life & critical illness insurance, and again because we are a broker we have access to a wide variety of companies ensuring you get the best deal.

As part of the service we offer to our clients, we can also introduce you to other services – like conveyancing for your mortgage, pension advice and investment advice.

If you’d like to have a confidential conversation or would like more information, please call Natalie on 01536 411144