Was I wrong to interfere?

[SweetMelody9]

Hi all,

I'm a FTB currently in the process of applying for a mortgage. I ended up using a broker who was recommended by a friend. She is lovely but there have been a few hiccups along the way... certain issues that I think could have been avoided. I've tried my best not to interfere and let her do her job. Communication has been a bit rubbish though and with it being my first house purchase, it would have been nice to be kept in the loop.

I'm at the final stages of the application as the valuation has been done and is just waiting to be signed off, but the bank said that will be this week. She contacted me on the 8th asking me to fill out one last form as this is all that the bank needed which I did and sent it back to her that same day. I sent her an email on Wednesday morning just to see if there were any updates but she never replied, which is normal as she has rarely replied to my emails or phone calls throughout the whole process.

I didn't want to bother her again so I rang the bank on Friday afternoon just to see if there were any updates or if they needed any more paperwork. They said that they were just waiting for this one particular form. I explained that my broker had it and would email it to them soon. I'd still not heard anything from her so I decided to send her an email last night just to update her on what the bank said. She immediately replied and said that she'd sent the form off last Tuesday. Assuming the advisor I spoke to on Friday had made a mistake, I rang the bank this morning just to double check that they received it and they confirmed that they hadn't

I said I would email it to them instead. I've just sent the broker a quick email just to explain (I wasn't placing any blame, it could be down to the banks system). She's just rang me now and sounded really pissed off. I'm worried that she thinks I've interfered but the bank made it clear that they had not received the form so what else could I have done...

She’s pissed off as you caught her out and hadn’t been doing her job. Don’t worry about it

I’m not sure how it works but I guess you are paying the broker for a service so you are the client? She sounds really useless. If anyone should be pissed off, it’s you. Stand up for yourself. Don’t let people treat you like this.

Yes, she just doesn't like the fact you've caught her out. People don't like that happening to them, especially when they consider themselves to be the expert.

What do you mean "she's lovely"? She doesn't sound lovely at all - she's not replying to your calls / emails, she's not sending things to the bank in a timely manner, and she's now phoning you sounding "pissed off"?

Sounds like the mortgage is nearly over the line so I would leave it be but definitely wouldn't use her again.

Remember - lovely or not, she’s not doing this as a favour. You’re paying a fee for her services and she should deliver those services. She only gets to be pissed off if she’s the one paying.

I haven't had good experiences with brokers. The first time, I ended up finding a better deal myself than what they were offering, much better, so I ditched them and did it myself.

The second time, I again found the best deal myself but it had to go through a broker, so I did. They were so inneficient though, slow, gor all confused about one requirement that in the end, I dealt with the bank myself although it officially was done through the broker. They came highly recommended. I very much resented handing them £500 but I had no choice. Thankfully didn't need a broker any longer when that term was over.

I'm sure they are very useful to many, but a lot of the time, you can do the same job they do yourself and more efficiently

It's not impossible that she sent the email and that it did not arrive, because it got stuck in a spam filter or something like that.

The real question is what value is this broker adding to the process? There is no evidence that she followed up to make sure the email of that 'one last document' was received or made any effort to get an estimate of the timescale likely for it to be processed.

If you have accepted that your emails go unanswered, then you are setting the bar very low for expectation.

Perhaps because it is your first time, you thought you needed a broker? Typically you will find that unless you are having trouble actually getting a mortgage offer, in this age of information, you are far better going direct to the providers.

I hope it all goes smoothly from now on.

Fire her fgs. You should have fire her long time ago...
Contact bank and let them knwo she can no longer handle your application and all goes directly to you