Do I need a mortgage broker

[rottiemott]

FTB here & just looked at mortgages via bank but should I try a broker? Can they really get better deals. We don't need a 95% mortgage & we are not self employed.

I was sceptical about using a mortgage broker but it was so worth it. Did all the paperwork and helped us get great rates.
As it was our first large purchase, it was really reassuring to have someone on board who knew what they were on about haha

They can get better deals with selected lenders yes. Up to you if you'd rather just go direct. I use one as they do all the paperwork etc for me, so I just chuck a few payslips and bank statements to her and she does everything else and just emails me the mortgage offer once it's all done. She also doesn't charge me. Win win.

We’ve just bought a house. We used landc mortgages. I can’t recommend them highly enough. We got an AIP from them before we even looked at properties, once we’d put the offer in they’d found us a mortgage within a working day. Putting in all the paperwork was simple and the survey and mortgage offer was done within 10days. It doesn’t cost anything either.

I think they're worth it. A lot are free but don't do the whole of the market. We used one of those though and they got us a great deal. More importantly, they know which mortgage companies are most likely to lend to you, depending on your specific circumstances.

Wow ok that's unanimous! Didn't consider the paperwork aspect!

I've heard of L&C, any other recommendations?

Have a look on www.unbiased.co.uk

L&C are awful to their staff so I wouldn't recommend them on principle but they seem to do a good job for their clients I guess.

They're free and do most of paperwork for you, not sure why people wouldn't use them

We’ve used Meridian since we first became home owners and they’ve been excellent. Every time we remortgage/move, we just give them the info required and they do all the hard work. Always do everything they can to get us the best deal.

We’ve owned three houses and never used a broker to buy. However our salaries are straightforward, no overtime, extra income etc. we did use a broker once when I was a SAHM so we were a bit tight on affordability (but were remortgaging at the end of a fixed rate onto a new one with lower payments). We used L&C and had no issues.

Friends have used brokers especially when their salaries are made up of bonuses and extra income. It’s worth asking around as I know a lot of my friends have used to same one or two brokers as recommendations have been through world of mouth.

L&C were OK for us but they actually messed quite a bit of the paperwork up. I had to go over everything they'd done and correct a fair bit and re-submit some things, and by the time I'd done that I felt I could have done it in the same time myself. They did find us a good deal though.

They’re invaluable.
I only recently realised this.

I’m buying a newbuild and they advised on which had longest offer period, then which ones required a revaluation at the end of offer period. Their knowledge is what you get, they can make sure you get the best product for your specific situation.

Initially I’d gone straight to our bank and ask for a mortgage at what i thought was what we needed but it turns out that’s oils have been silly and could possibly have cost a lot.

Our broker doesn’t charge a few and got us a much much better deal than anything we could find

I would never mortgage/remortgage without using a broker again. They make the whole process so much easier.

@LuckyMoonstone

We’ve used Meridian since we first became home owners and they’ve been excellent. Every time we remortgage/move, we just give them the info required and they do all the hard work. Always do everything they can to get us the best deal.

Meridian Wealth Management in Bradford? We're using them as well.

@Clevs no ours are based in Leicester, different one sorry!