If you need to remortgage, try going direct!
Discussion
Hi all.
As we are a military family we move around quite a bit.
We own a house which we lived in, and bought with a residential mortgage and a 2 year fixed deal.
We were then posted elsewhere. The house is let to a nice older couple and we live down south now.
Once the 2 year deal was up the mortgage went up almost 20%, as we expected.
We had arranged this mortgage through a broker and when we contacted him he said there was nothing he could do to help us.
IE - we were going to have to continue on the variable rate we were on.
I contacted my mortgage company directly and spent almost and hour and a half on the phone!
So, as a result of that telephone call, I am about to start on a new 5 year fixed.
It's a BTL mortgage, at 2.59%, £1k fee (saves around £1150 over the term).
The important bit being we will be paying just £150 a month more than our variable rate we had reverted to, which will save us £25k in interest and now be paid off in 14 years, rather than the 22 and half years we had left.
Moral of the story, don't just take your brokers word for it. No matter how good their reputation is, contact the bank directly and see what can be done.
Almost pointless post, but it's been a slow Sunday...!
As we are a military family we move around quite a bit.
We own a house which we lived in, and bought with a residential mortgage and a 2 year fixed deal.
We were then posted elsewhere. The house is let to a nice older couple and we live down south now.
Once the 2 year deal was up the mortgage went up almost 20%, as we expected.
We had arranged this mortgage through a broker and when we contacted him he said there was nothing he could do to help us.
IE - we were going to have to continue on the variable rate we were on.
I contacted my mortgage company directly and spent almost and hour and a half on the phone!
So, as a result of that telephone call, I am about to start on a new 5 year fixed.
It's a BTL mortgage, at 2.59%, £1k fee (saves around £1150 over the term).
The important bit being we will be paying just £150 a month more than our variable rate we had reverted to, which will save us £25k in interest and now be paid off in 14 years, rather than the 22 and half years we had left.
Moral of the story, don't just take your brokers word for it. No matter how good their reputation is, contact the bank directly and see what can be done.
Almost pointless post, but it's been a slow Sunday...!
Agreed.
Also, if you've had a negative change of circumstances that mean remortgaging may prove problematic under new legislation then going direct can be very wise.
The online execution only service some companies are offering (Santander for one) means you can roll your mortgage on to a new rate in about 20mins.
I've read a few articles that suggest the likes of Santander are actively trying to disrupt the market place and cut the broker out with these processes - not a bad situation for some segments of consumer.
Also, if you've had a negative change of circumstances that mean remortgaging may prove problematic under new legislation then going direct can be very wise.
The online execution only service some companies are offering (Santander for one) means you can roll your mortgage on to a new rate in about 20mins.
I've read a few articles that suggest the likes of Santander are actively trying to disrupt the market place and cut the broker out with these processes - not a bad situation for some segments of consumer.
It sounds like you have a decent deal that you're happy with, but Halifax will allow service personnel to remain on a residential mortgage despite letting their home. As you have an employment requirement to move, Halifax will treat you differently. Has worked very well for me for some time now.
CharlesdeGaulle said:
but Halifax will allow service personnel to remain on a residential mortgage despite letting their home. As you have an employment requirement to move, Halifax will treat you differently
A few lenders do that. I know a lot of people who benefit from those schemes. Apologies for being thick..... that sounds like extra work for the broker without any extra pay/commission?
I think if your finances are straightforward then by all means go direct. However a broker makes sense if your finances aren't straightforward and/or time is of the essence.
Horses for courses.
I think if your finances are straightforward then by all means go direct. However a broker makes sense if your finances aren't straightforward and/or time is of the essence.
Horses for courses.
Countdown said:
I think if your finances are straightforward then by all means go direct. However a broker makes sense if your finances aren't straightforward and/or time is of the essence.
I disagree. Brokers add no value to the process. They simply add unnecessary BS to the equation that slows things down and further complicates a pretty straight forward matter. Middle men are the blight of modern society. ex1 said:
I disagree. Brokers add no value to the process. They simply add unnecessary BS to the equation that slows things down and further complicates a pretty straight forward matter. Middle men are the blight of modern society.
I can only speak from personal experience. A broker helped me secure Mrs C's dream house when First Direct, whom i'd banked with for nigh on 20 years, told me that based on my salary they'd lend me 10k......over 25 years....... 
Everybody who provides a service is a middleman. I'm an accountant. Anybody can do their own accounts. many people do. But for some people it's easier to get professionals to do it. No different to a mechanic servicing your car, or a painter/decorator redoing your living room.
Countdown said:
ex1 said:
I disagree. Brokers add no value to the process. They simply add unnecessary BS to the equation that slows things down and further complicates a pretty straight forward matter. Middle men are the blight of modern society.
I can only speak from personal experience. A broker helped me secure Mrs C's dream house when First Direct, whom i'd banked with for nigh on 20 years, told me that based on my salary they'd lend me 10k......over 25 years....... Everybody who provides a service is a middleman. I'm an accountant. Anybody can do their own accounts. many people do. But for some people it's easier to get professionals to do it. No different to a mechanic servicing your car, or a painter/decorator redoing your living room.
I've spent most of my career as stockbroker - the very definition of a middleman- but I operated i a complex area where the layperson would either get eaten alive or simply not gain access.
Estate agents are another that add precisely f
k all to the majority of transactions.Countdown said:
ex1 said:
I disagree. Brokers add no value to the process. They simply add unnecessary BS to the equation that slows things down and further complicates a pretty straight forward matter. Middle men are the blight of modern society.
I can only speak from personal experience. A broker helped me secure Mrs C's dream house when First Direct, whom i'd banked with for nigh on 20 years, told me that based on my salary they'd lend me 10k......over 25 years....... Everybody who provides a service is a middleman. I'm an accountant. Anybody can do their own accounts. many people do. But for some people it's easier to get professionals to do it. No different to a mechanic servicing your car, or a painter/decorator redoing your living room.
Brokers have very cleverly convinced us all the provide a service that has great value when in reality it is them who have helped create the additional layers of BS just to charge us to unravel them.
DoubleSix said:
Countdown said:
ex1 said:
I disagree. Brokers add no value to the process. They simply add unnecessary BS to the equation that slows things down and further complicates a pretty straight forward matter. Middle men are the blight of modern society.
I can only speak from personal experience. A broker helped me secure Mrs C's dream house when First Direct, whom i'd banked with for nigh on 20 years, told me that based on my salary they'd lend me 10k......over 25 years....... Everybody who provides a service is a middleman. I'm an accountant. Anybody can do their own accounts. many people do. But for some people it's easier to get professionals to do it. No different to a mechanic servicing your car, or a painter/decorator redoing your living room.
I've spent most of my career as stockbroker - the very definition of a middleman- but I operated i a complex area where the layperson would either get eaten alive or simply not gain access.
Estate agents are another that add precisely f
k all to the majority of transactions.Once upon a time a proper mortgage guy could seriously influence the outcome of a case to the point of "having the underwriter's pen".
But nowadays they're just for lazy people including people who can't be bothered doing the tiny bit of research that would tell them who to approach with a difficult/unusual case.
But nowadays they're just for lazy people including people who can't be bothered doing the tiny bit of research that would tell them who to approach with a difficult/unusual case.
CharlesdeGaulle said:
It sounds like you have a decent deal that you're happy with, but Halifax will allow service personnel to remain on a residential mortgage despite letting their home. As you have an employment requirement to move, Halifax will treat you differently. Has worked very well for me for some time now.
Well when we first moved out we went on a permission to let retaining our residential mortgage, but it's pretty clear there isn't much chance of us going back in the short to medium term (if ever) and CBS have a 3 year limit on their military permission to let.They also don't put the usual 1% extra on the interest if you're military, which is jolly decent of them.
I've found them really good to deal with from day one.
Edited by TheLordJohn on Sunday 30th April 19:35
hman said:
With mortgage / insurance comparison sites I don't see the need for brokers anymore - any reasons why they should exist?
I think people believe mortgages to be complex/important/risky and perhaps want to pay a few hundred £ to reassure themselves.My colleague has recently been house shopping and a few of us in the office mentioned how we got our mortgages and suggested using comparison sites and then a few providers' sites to get a feeling for what's available. It seemed he had no idea of the types of mortgages, how the interest rates work or the impact of arrangement fees on short-term fixes.
Anyway, he went to his bank first (thinking there would be some kind of discount, despite us saying it was a waste of time) then a broker (the type you pay outright and who don't take commission), and I think is going with a 2-year fix he could have easily got direct given a few evenings' research.
DoubleSix said:
Countdown said:
ex1 said:
I disagree. Brokers add no value to the process. They simply add unnecessary BS to the equation that slows things down and further complicates a pretty straight forward matter. Middle men are the blight of modern society.
I can only speak from personal experience. A broker helped me secure Mrs C's dream house when First Direct, whom i'd banked with for nigh on 20 years, told me that based on my salary they'd lend me 10k......over 25 years....... Everybody who provides a service is a middleman. I'm an accountant. Anybody can do their own accounts. many people do. But for some people it's easier to get professionals to do it. No different to a mechanic servicing your car, or a painter/decorator redoing your living room.
I've spent most of my career as stockbroker - the very definition of a middleman- but I operated i a complex area where the layperson would either get eaten alive or simply not gain access.
Estate agents are another that add precisely f
k all to the majority of transactions.My first 3 mortgages I applied for directly and I received offers without any problems. However the last time I applied i was turned down by the first 2 banks i applied to (basically I have some BTL properties and they took these into account for my outgoings but ignored the income even though I had something like 90% equity in them). We'd been searching for a house for nearly 3 years and finally found one that my wife had set her heart on. I needed a mortgage PDQ and a broker helped me get an offer in principle within 3 days.
I'm not saying a broker is for everybody, far from it. It's quite possible to get a mortgage without one. But for people whose finances aren't straightforward, or who want a particular product (I wanted an Offset tracker) it can be worthwhile paying a broker.
ex1 said:
Mechanics/accountants/painters etc all provide the service direct to the end user, how are they middle men? Unless you get your business via an introducer?
I suppose calling them middlemen was a bad example. I meant they all do stuff that a person could do themselves in many cases without much effort. Most of it isn't rocket science. But sometimes it makes sense.Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff