There is more to choosing the right mortgage broker

May 6, 2018 by Affinity Mortgages

So the day has arrived, you are looking for a mortgage, which means you have seen your new home and are looking to put an offer forward, you would like to explore your remortgage options, you are looking to invest your hard earned savings into something different, or there is the potential new business venture you are embarking on….. whatever the requirement you have two options – you speak to your bank or banks or you look to use the services of a broker… obviously you all know what I am going to tell you, you should do, but I want to try and explain why this choice is so vital so early on…. Essentially because choosing the right broker at the start is so vitally important to how your transaction will progress.

So firstly banks, without them we would be lost obviously and with any luck it is your bank who has the correct deal for you – the feedback we generally get from our clients is to track down an advisor in branch can be very tricky, and under FCA legislation that came in the advisors have to be qualified to give you suitable advice – this in itself is why quite often the bank finds themselves in a funnel neck when booking appointments and these can be three or four weeks after an offer goes in on a property…. That will immediately add stress to the transaction if a purchase and is a real stumbling block when even putting a deal together for an agent.

Couple this with the fact that they can and will only offer you the products they offer – this could be painful and troublesome and cause unnecessary stress within your transaction.

So onto brokers – you will hear the term Whole of Market – this may lead you to believe you are getting a full view…. No…. in fact under FCA regulation Whole of Market means a ‘ whole of market offering’ and will almost certainly not include the options of second charge mortgages if looking at re-financing a property – a clever spin but ideally you would look for the word ‘independent’ within the title of the broker that you opt for.

After sales is also an incredibly important area – You’ve picked a product, applied for your mortgage and you are on your way – you haven’t heard on survey or the lender requires more documentation…. The quicker this gets to them, the less stress…. You know the story….. your broker is off!!!! Arrrrggghhhh….. administrators, in our industry, are the glue behind what we do and they will be with you every step of the way….. our most common feedback almost forgets us brokers and praises the superb work of the administrators and case managers we have here this will also be vital!

Having worked in the property and mortgage industry for all of my working life I consider myself fortunate to have seen the good, the bad and the ugly of our industry and it has allowed me a superb insight of how I believe things should be done with my own company which I started in 2012, I knew that the blueprint for this company was ‘people’ and this is something I truly believe sets us apart from other brokerages.

This team is without doubt the most knowledgeable group of people I could have hoped to put together and this shows with the many clients that we help and assist every day with advice that our ‘new robotic disruptors’ simply cannot cope offer, as well as our more ‘old school adversaries’ – there are some superb advisors in our town but equally there are certainly some firms I would not trust with my mortgage….

The team is a great mix of backgrounds from the banking and property world allowing us, when it comes to advising, the greatest insight into lender, insurer, solicitor, and survey choice alongside our clients.

Put simply we are very proud to add value to our many clients when undertaking a transaction which means they are putting themselves into potentially the largest debt they will usually ever have, but certainly one of the most stressful situations.

Our advice is free, and our premier service of loans over £300k carry no brokerage fees at all – we will visit our clients at their homes, or welcome them to our offices in either Westcliff on sea or the City of London and we will be with them at every step of the way – couple this with the fact we are directly authorised by the FCA – it means we can give our clients the most wholistic independent mortgage and protection advice.

Get in touch with us today to see how we can help via telephone 01702 337003 or email info@affinity-mortgages.co.uk or simply message us on Facebook at Affinity Mortgages Ltd – and one of our team is always on hand to help, we welcome all enquiries, and each will be dealt with professionally and speedily.

This article is by Jamie Lewis, Managing Director at Affinity Mortgages.
119 Hamlet Court Road | Westcliff-on-Sea | Essex | SS0 7EW
Tel: 01702 337 003 
Email: info@affinity-mortgages.co.uk 
Website: http://www.affinity-mortgages.co.uk