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Original poster

Mortgage advisors/brokers

20 replies

Thunderpunt · 01/06/2021 23:07

Do these people charge a fee for their services? We have been put in touch with one via our estate agent, and just went through some preliminary stuff with her. She said her fees are £595 and I was a bit taken aback. It's been 18 years since we last bought a house and iirc the advisor we used didn't charge us as his commission came out of the lenders side of things. Wondering if things have changed since then, and if the price she has quoted is reasonably nowadays?

OP posts:
Original poster
Thunderpunt · 02/06/2021 10:39

Bumping for some traffic

OP posts:
sundayistheday · 02/06/2021 10:43

No they shouldn't as you say. Go elsewhere

Pinkbrush · 02/06/2021 10:46

Some do, but a lot don’t. I have a free one through work, but bumping for you as i’m sure lots of people can offer advice. The property thread may also get you more responses.

ConfessionsOfAChocoholic · 02/06/2021 13:03

As a pp said, some do, some don't. The ones that do tend to be independents and will offer a more personalised service as their fee is dependent on you getting a mortgage. Bigger companies may not keep you as involved in the process.

London & Country are a free mortgage broker, and from what I read, they are good for simple cases. If you have any unusual circumstances then they may not be that good.

We used a smaller fee free broker. We got a mortgage, but it was a pretty hands off service and I did have to do a lot of chasing for updates.

You want to look for a whole of market broker, this means they have access to all mortgage providers, and won't steer you to a preferred client or one that is offering them the best commission.

Original poster
Thunderpunt · 02/06/2021 16:08

Thanks all -
Much appreciated

OP posts:
Outnumbered99 · 02/06/2021 16:40

I work for a whole of market broker that doesn't charge a fee, and i know of a few other firms in our town that work on the same basis (none of us have the advertising budget of L&C sadly).
There are also other brokers around us that frequently charge up to £1000... how they get custom I do not know.

SpideyMom · 02/06/2021 21:40

I've used London and Country before and though they were very good unfortunately I was quite a complex case due to how my income is made up (salary, tax credits and maintenance) so they didn't successfully secure me a new mortgage elsewhere and I had to stay with my current lender at a slightly higher rate. That was 5 years ago and am due to remortgage again. Due to how demoralising I found it and being told I couldn't afford a lower mortgage payment than what I was already paying, I'm not going through it again and will stay with who I'm with and hopefully fix myself into a better rate with them. My circumstances haven't changed at all so I really dont see the point.

Most my colleagues at work use a fee paying broker and they swear by them. I simply couldn't afford one so used a free one instead.

Good luck

BarbaraofSeville · 03/06/2021 04:09

For a mortgage broker to be worth paying, they'd either have to get you a better deal than what you could secure yourself via a comparison site, with a free broker or going direct to the lender or if you're a special case due to affordability, credit history or self employment etc as they should have knowledge about which lenders will accept you.

The last time I used a broker, it was either John charcol or L&C and they completely ignored what I asked for and recommended a product that would have cost us thousands more than what I sorted out myself direct with the lender so I can't recommend and something to watch out for.

As always, see what Moneysaving expert says about remortgaging and use moneysupermarket to get a starting point of what products are available so if you talk to a broker, you'll know what they have to beat to get your business.

But I'd always be suspicious about estate agent recommended mortgage brokers especially if they try to also sell you a pile of insurance products on top.

AndWhat · 05/06/2021 21:25

I used a local independent who charged £500. The mortgage he found me had £500 cash back on completion and I didn’t pay him till it completed so he was effectively free.
The deal he got me was with a broker only lender.

GoinSouth · 10/06/2021 21:48

Do mortgage brokers/lenders vary on where they're located i.e. if you use one in London are they going to be more expensive (if they charge fees, that is), than say one in Scotland?

SpeakingFranglais · 11/06/2021 06:18

We got one for DD for her first house, it was £595 but he was worth his weight in gold. Ours was a complicated case as it included a large gift, an income that wasn’t quite large enough for the loan as most banks wouldn’t include the shift allowances that many NHS workers are guaranteed.

He managed to get us viewings of houses when the estate agents wanted loads of financial information before even looking and got us the right house for the right price that went to full and final. He also got us a rate lower than available on the high street.

DS was an easy case, we didn’t bother with one. He applied direct Nationwide and was approved.

Depends on circumstances.

userchange7643 · 12/06/2021 15:41

I won't pay for a broker, even if I was an especially complicated case I know I can find a broker without a fee easily enough. Gone are the days they find you rates that are cheaper than you can get directly, so I really just don't see the point. Our last ("free") broker was great, very pleased with him, but did he do anything I couldn't have done directly with the bank? Nope. So for that reason I just couldn't justify paying for the service, I find mortgages quite straight forward.

user1471475134 · 17/06/2021 19:06

Would you expect a painter to paint your house for free as long as you provided the paint?

namechange6754 · 17/06/2021 21:19

@user1471475134 if the shop who provided the paint paid the painter to do it as part of the contract to sell me the paint, sure. No fee brokers don't work for free.

PawsQueen · 21/06/2021 16:12

I'm paying £2500! Very complex case though and adverse credit

ifadirect · 25/06/2021 11:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SpideyMom · 25/06/2021 12:14

Really? I have just been approved for a mortgage that is fee free. It is also the exact same rate that L&C could get for me too. The only fee I am having to pay is the electronic transfer fee

ifadirect · 25/06/2021 13:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

user9086336 · 27/06/2021 20:29

A good broker will save you money. The chances of you finding the best deal available are low!

This is very outdated advice, it just simply isn't true these days. We've been to a broker a few times and each time the rate has been the same as what was available directly.

SpideyMom · 27/06/2021 20:49

This was my experience too recently. The rate I got was the same rate the comparison sites were telling me was exclusive to brokers. I also spoke to a broker too and they couldn't better it without a £1500 booking fee. In the end I applied direct to a lender and was offered my mortgage within 48 hours. Mine was a very straightforward switch though

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