Estate agent's mortgage advisors

[Daaaveee]

Morning all,

We are first time buyers, and recently put an offer in on a house (which was accepted), and went to see the estate agent's mortgage consultant to see what sort of mortgage deals we would get. We already knew the amount we were after wouldn't be a problem for us to get.

Anyway, I'm looking for reassurance (or to be told I'm an idiot!) about using the estate agent's consultant. As the whole process is completely new to us it was obviously the easiest thing to do by seeing the agent's in house financial services. Haart is the agent, and here is their page: http://www.haart.co.uk/Mortgages/Why-use-haart-fin...

As the website says, we were told they could charge up to 1% of the mortgage amount, however they have never charged the full 1%. From speaking to my parents and friends, they have said usually the fees are covered entirely by comission they earn from selling you a mortgage. With these sort of people, do they look at the whole market (as Haart is doing for us), or do they just look at a few lenders which they earn comission from, and therefore not necessarily getting you the best deal?

Does anyone else have experience of using Haart or similar in house people? Or anyone with knowledge of this?

After hearing people have gotten this service for free I'm just worried we're going to be paying for a service needlessly. Also as you can see from the website, they arrange the solicitors and from what it seems everything else to make it as easy for us as possible. Is this something that the other free consultants offer too?

Thanks for any input to put my mind at ease, or otherwise!

Edited by Daaaveee on Thursday 4th November 11:40

[williamssam]

I used an estate agent mortgage advisor a few months ago. They didn't charge me anything, and I found the whole process much simpler than doing it through a bank/building society.

[BERGS2]

In my view, mortgage advisors within EA's are there to ascertain how much you could afford to spend -

When we offered (comfortably) on our first house, we saw the inhouse financial guy of a large national chain of estate agents

miraculously our offer was concurrent with another that was apparently a couple of % more - did we want o increase our offer?

After much agonising, we decided that we didn't want to get into a bidding war and stayed with what we'd initially offered. and the other offer oddly fell thorough.

I'm convinced it was due to the fkers knowing that we could have borrowed more...

[motorizer]

The one they sent out to me was independent anyway, he worked with lots of estate agents, he didn't charge me and he found me an excellent deal (I'm paying next to nothing in interest now rates have fallen)

[NoelWatson]

Aren't some deals only available direct?

[Daaaveee]

Thanks for the replies all.

The only reason I can think this extra fee would be worth paying is if they offer anything extra of a comission based mortgage advisor.

Things I'm thinking of are organising solicitors, surveyors and... well I don't really know what else! Am I correct in thinking that a mortgage advisor would just find us a mortgage and not offer anything extra?

We're off to see them tomorrow morning anyway, but yesterday I sent an email effectively asking what extra services they are offering than a comission only advisor, to justify the extra fee.

[scotal]

Daaaveee said:

We're off to see them tomorrow morning anyway, but yesterday I sent an email effectively asking what extra services they are offering than a comission only advisor, to justify the extra fee.

Simple. Nothing.

[scotal]

Daaaveee said:

Things I'm thinking of are organising solicitors, surveyors and... well I don't really know what else! Am I correct in thinking that a mortgage advisor would just find us a mortgage and not offer anything extra?

You have a choice with surveyors. The mortgage lender will want a survey doen for their benefit (which you will pay for) you can upgrade this survey at extra cost should you wish. Equally you could commission a seperate surveyor to do the report for you.

Solicitors. Be very very careful using an agents favoured solicitors. Ideally you want to find a lawyer through recommendation. You could do a lot worse than drop Rudeboy on here a pm.

Mortgage advisors can recommend solicitors, but remember we get paid for doing that. I happen to recommend a lawyer I can trust to do a good job. Someone working in a multi branch agency will most likely recommend who they are told to by their bosses.

[Daaaveee]

scotal said:

Daaaveee said:

Things I'm thinking of are organising solicitors, surveyors and... well I don't really know what else! Am I correct in thinking that a mortgage advisor would just find us a mortgage and not offer anything extra?

You have a choice with surveyors. The mortgage lender will want a survey doen for their benefit (which you will pay for) you can upgrade this survey at extra cost should you wish. Equally you could commission a seperate surveyor to do the report for you.

Solicitors. Be very very careful using an agents favoured solicitors. Ideally you want to find a lawyer through recommendation. You could do a lot worse than drop Rudeboy on here a pm.

Mortgage advisors can recommend solicitors, but remember we get paid for doing that. I happen to recommend a lawyer I can trust to do a good job. Someone working in a multi branch agency will most likely recommend who they are told to by their bosses.

Thanks scotal (and for your email).

Is there anything else I would need to arrange when buying a house, other than solicitors and a surveyor?

[scotal]

Insurance. Buildings insurance will be a condition of the mortgage. You would be daft not to have contents insurance as well. It usually makes sense to get your Buildings and contents from the same supplier.
Life assurance, critical illness cover, income protection are all good things to have, but it comes down to budget.

Be very careful when you sit down with the guy tomorrow. Make sure that any client agreement you sign does not tie you to them, or involve you paying a fee if you choose not to use them for the mortgage.
In short READ THE fkING SMALLPRINT

[OneDs]

maybe getting ahead here but removals & utilities?

Edited by OneDs on Friday 5th November 11:35

[markmakak]

Um, they want to charge you for their services as well as getting a kick back for referring a mortgage provider? Surely their fees are paid for by the money get back from the mortgage company? Personally, I'd go somewhere else as 1% could pay for a new sofa or something.

[Daaaveee]

scotal said:

Insurance. Buildings insurance will be a condition of the mortgage. You would be daft not to have contents insurance as well. It usually makes sense to get your Buildings and contents from the same supplier.
Life assurance, critical illness cover, income protection are all good things to have, but it comes down to budget.

Be very careful when you sit down with the guy tomorrow. Make sure that any client agreement you sign does not tie you to them, or involve you paying a fee if you choose not to use them for the mortgage.
In short READ THE fkING SMALLPRINT

Thanks again. I'll be very careful about signing anything tomorrow. We havn't signed anything as yet so not tied in to anything at the moment.

markmakak said:

Um, they want to charge you for their services as well as getting a kick back for referring a mortgage provider? Surely their fees are paid for by the money get back from the mortgage company? Personally, I'd go somewhere else as 1% could pay for a new sofa or something.

This is what we're thinking. Seems like they are getting away with charging that 'upto 1%' amount just for being convenient for people using that estate agent.

Removals should be fine, just going to hire a van for the weekend!

[OneDs]

Our first house together we brought through an estate agent that had charcoal adviser onsite. Their was nothing they delivered of value or deal we couldn't have bettered online but were new to it at the time. In fact their ability to administer the process was so poor we successfully agreed to not pay the associated fees.

If you have enough deposit and suitable earnings multiple just go with a generally recommended mortgage provider & product like first directs offset.

[markmakak]

I'd always use a mortgage broker (online or in the real world). I'd just use one that gives me a range of options that I can pick from, and one that doesn't charge me. Ask your mates who they've used?

[Stevenj214]

markmakak said:

I'd always use a mortgage broker (online or in the real world). I'd just use one that gives me a range of options that I can pick from, and one that doesn't charge me. Ask your mates who they've used?

I used an MSE recommended broker. Can't remember the name. I found a better deal online within 5 minutes, which I was accepted for not long after.

[davidjpowell]

scotal said:

Daaaveee said:

Things I'm thinking of are organising solicitors, surveyors and... well I don't really know what else! Am I correct in thinking that a mortgage advisor would just find us a mortgage and not offer anything extra?

You have a choice with surveyors. The mortgage lender will want a survey doen for their benefit (which you will pay for) you can upgrade this survey at extra cost should you wish. Equally you could commission a seperate surveyor to do the report for you.

If the seperate surveyor is not om lenders panel, you could end up paying for two valuations...

[NorthernBoy]

I called a few brokers, and spoke to the estate agent's in-house one, but none could get me the deal that I found on the high street (Natwest, 2.75% fixed for two years), and all wanted to add fees on top, so I didn't use any of them.

If they can find you something that you can't get yourself, then they are worth using (if you have poor credit history, or need an unusual deal, for example), but if you are just a normal residential buyer, with a decent deposit, then you can often get just as good by browsing the web.

[NoelWatson]

NorthernBoy said:

I called a few brokers, and spoke to the estate agent's in-house one, but none could get me the deal that I found on the high street (Natwest, 2.75% fixed for two years), and all wanted to add fees on top, so I didn't use any of them.

NorthernBoy, just out of interest, was wondering why you went for NW fix (which requires 40% deposit) rather than HSBC tracker 1.69% over base. You reckon rates are going up soon?

[NorthernBoy]

I think that they might, not that they will (and being an interest rate options trader, I have a fairly decent handle on the strength of that "might"), and am happy to pay up for the certainty.

The day job definitely influences my thoughts on this, and I am probably a bit happier than most to pay up for a call on rates for a couple of years.

Certainty often costs money, but in my case, it's money that I think is decent value.

Edited to add, I was always going to be putting in over 40% deposit anyway, so that restriction is not too onerous, and I'm hoping that it'll be close to paid off after the two year fix, so didn't want to fix for longer.

Edited by NorthernBoy on Saturday 6th November 09:25