# Mortgage advice



## VTR_Craig (Dec 29, 2007)

I am a first time buyer and have got to the stage of having our offer accepted on a house.

I have now informed our mortgage adviser of this and got the ball rolling, however he now tells me about additional costs of a lender admin fee of £99, a lender survey/valuation fee of £205 and a completion fee of £400.

As a first time buyer I feel quite vulnerable and don't want taking advantage of, for example a friend had the survey/valuation for free as an incentive from the lender, but he can't remember paying a completion fee.

Any advice is welcome

Craig


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## Luke M (Jul 1, 2013)

I was messed about rotten by a mortgage advisor. Eventually went to my bank and got it sorted in an hour.
Most fees were waived as a first time buyer incentive and the survey fee which was the only one we had to pay was added to the mortgage amount.


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## Estoril-5 (Mar 8, 2007)

Those fees are reasonable when it comes to mortgages.

Best thing to do is go onto the website and look at mortgage fees, you'll know if he's pulling a fast one or not then.


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## pantypoos (Aug 7, 2014)

Unfortunately the brokers sometimes add fees, but these are normally described as an arrangement fee. Then the lenders themselves have all sorts of different fees depending on the mortgage product being sold. One mortgage from Barclays may have survey fees and an admin fee while a different type of mortgage from them may not have any fees associated with it.

I have a good friend who is a mortgage advisor who i am sure would be willing to speak to you over the phone about your options. If you'd like to PM me your mobile number i can ask him to drop you a call and give you a second opinion or even help you arrange something different.

Good luck with the house move.


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## djgregory (Apr 2, 2013)

Reasonable charges, they are legit.

Some people get them thrown in for free, some people don't.


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

I am or have just been through this process for the second time and the survey fee is pretty much standard and i would expect to pay that.

The admin fees tend to be lender specific in that some do and some don't but i've not heard of a completion fee.

i would go and see another financial advisor. The guy i was recommeded was absolutely brilliant. Appointments were arranged by phone and then he visited us at our house to discuss needs and products after some emails back and forth.

After that it was all done via phone and email and he was great and if you want drop me a pm and i will give you his details as the company are independant mortgage specialists and i haven't paid any fees for their services as they are all paid for by the lender


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## robertdon777 (Nov 3, 2005)

djgregory said:


> Reasonable charges, they are legit.
> 
> Some people get them thrown in for free, some people don't.


Never Free, just advertised as such.. they are just built into other costings, rob dogs!


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## djgregory (Apr 2, 2013)

robertdon777 said:


> Never Free, just advertised as such.. they are just built into other costings, rob dogs!


Well yes, you get what i mean, advertised as free but you pay a higher price for something else.


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## m4rkymark (Aug 17, 2014)

some lenders do charge a fee, it normally depends on the deal you are buying from them at .. a low % rate normally attracts a larger fee. survey fees are fine - that seems normal.

in the three mortgages ive taken out with various banks ive never paid a completion fee - I haven't even heard of them tbh but then I have never went to an independent mortgage advisor - always done my own research and bought direct from building society/bank. if you are unsure go to a bank/building society and get them to give you a quote for your mortgage.


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

a survey for £205 is very cheap, does the house need a full inspection?

Personally I steer clear of these "packages", I prefer to be in control and choose my own providers. To me a "completion fee" seems a joke.


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## Andyg_TSi (Sep 6, 2013)

^^
I agree.

I was a FTB 8 years ago, I got a 1st time buyer mortgage which was fee free.

Seems a joke to have to pay a fee.

OP. Go and see a high street lender, should do an option for a fee free FTB Mortgage


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## Dal3D (Jul 13, 2014)

VTR_Craig said:


> I have now informed our mortgage adviser of this and got the ball rolling, however he now tells me about additional costs of a lender admin fee of £99, a lender survey/valuation fee of £205 and a completion fee of £400.


Those will be fees from the mortgage provider and not the Mortgage Advisor.
Some mortgages come with an array of fees, some don't. The fee free ones tend to have slightly higher interest rates so you just have to decide what's best for you. (i.e. if you haven't got £500 or whatever to spend on fees at the moment but would rather spread the cost over the next 25 years) Your advisor should have asked you which way you'd like to go mortgage fee wise.

I take it he as an accredited Independent financial (mortgage) advisor? he should have outlined what fee he will be charging for his services to find and arrange.


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## Hoody1 (Oct 9, 2012)

I feel for you on this, ive recently bought a house and as a first time buyer, had no idea and seemed to be quoted fees left right and centre. 

We had slight issues due to bad credit history that turned out to be fraud, but thats another issue. 

But due to this issue we went to many places for mortgage advice, The finance shop, 2 or 3 financial advisers, much reading on the interweb. etc etc. 

The one thing that was obvious is they ALL wanted to charge for there services, as of course they dont work for free. However these fee's ranged from £199 to £499. 
The worst was one financial adviser that wanted to charge £399 to check if my own bank Santander would accept me........i refused as i had an appointment with them a few hours later and hey presto....Santander accepted our mortgage. 

I have no doubt that some money could be saved by shopping around and looking for the very best offer, but your credit history needs to be squeaky clean or else they will say no, and it will be another search on your credit history, and too many of them will negatively affect you credit score. 

But the banks to tend to make things easier, but research is the only way and asking loads of 'Grown-ups' who have more experience


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