It’s time to sort the mortgage. So naturally, your first call should be to your bank. Or should it? Sharon Duckworth explains why, for better rates, lower fees, friendly advice and a faster turnaround, a mortgage advisor can be a much better bet.
Often, a mortgage advisor will be able to get you a cheaper rate on your mortgage than a bank is willing to offer. But that’s not all. Often, a mortgage advisor will be able to get you a cheaper rate on a mortgage rate from your own bank than they’re willing to offer you.
I know. That sounds odd. Why would they do that? The answer is a little like why wholesalers are willing to offer Tesco or Aldi much lower rates on a lorry load of fruit and veg than if you or I were to attempt it. They’re buying lots. You’re not.
The intermediary channels we and other mortgage advisors use deal with huge volumes of mortgages and banks are willing to offer preferential rates as a result – rates that individual homeowners couldn’t access even though they may have been a customer of that bank for the past 20 years.
It is, perhaps, the single most important reason to speak to a mortgage advisor before (or instead of) speaking to your bank. But it’s far from the only one:
2. Mortgages from the whole market: Banks want you to take their mortgages, so they’re not about to offer you competitor products. With an independent mortgage advisor, you get access to a much bigger range of products from a much bigger range of lenders.
3. Customer exclusive deals: Ah, you say, everything we mention above may be true, but your bank has just offered you a rather attractive deal that’s exclusive to existing customers. Yes, we say in reply, we get to offer those too. We’ll be able to check whether it really is a good deal. And for the reasons noted above, we may even be able to beat it.
4. Lower fees: There’s a bit of a myth that using a mortgage advisor pushes up the fees you pay. It is true that some mortgage products do come with more fees attached. But lots don’t. In some cases, it can be cheaper to set up a mortgage with your existing bank through an advisor – and that’s before you consider the long term benefits of the lower mortgage rate.
5. Fast, free advice #1 Mortgages can be complicated. What you really need is someone who can take all that complexity away, show you the products best suited to your circumstances and say, “Based on what you’ve said, this is the one for you.”
That’s advice, and its what you get from a mortgage advisor (the clue’s in the name).
Often, banks don’t offer advice. They offer ‘information’. And that can make your decision harder and riskier.
6. Fast, free advice #2: Have you tried to see a mortgage expert at your local bank branch recently? If you have, you may well have found that:
• They’re not based at your branch
• You can see them in person, but you’ll have to wait weeks
• You may be able to arrange something via Zoom/phone etc, but the call will last a couple of hours (!)
With an independent mortgage adviser, you get advice fast, often the same day. And you can see us in person. We won’t take up your entire afternoon either.
7. Better chances of success: A mortgage adviser can qualify a client before sending their mortgage application to a lender, and give advice on presenting an application to ensure success.
That’s important, because it means you don’t waste time (and damage your credit rating) applying to lenders who won’t accept you. Instead, you target your application at lenders most likely to say yes, and then present them with an application that you already know ticks their boxes. Your bank won’t do that.
8. Faster approval: Lenders have dedicated departments to deal with mortgage brokers like ourselves, so often you’ll get your offer faster than if you applied via your local branch.
It’s tempting to think that, because you already have a relationship with your bank, you’ll get a better, faster, cheaper mortgage deal by sticking with them. Yet while it’s true that your best mortgage option may be a product from your existing bank, it will almost always be a better, faster, cheaper deal when you arrange it through a mortgage advisor.
Let’s prove it. Give us a call now.
