# Mortgage Advisors (Worth Using?)



## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

I've used one before but in the end it turned out I found the same mortgage online that he did so using one didn't benefit me at all. He didn't charge so I wasn't really bothered.

Anyway, 7 years on it's time to renew again and I've done the usual online checks and what not and found what seems to be a good deal.

Do these guys have access to mortgages that we don't or if you're willing to do the work yourself is it basically the same thing?

It's a pretty simple 'offer has ended so we're moving for a cheaper rate' situation. Although we will need to get the house re-valued.


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## empsburna (Apr 5, 2006)

I think so yes. 

They might give you alternative options you may not have considered.


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## justina3 (Jan 11, 2008)

if there fee is free then cant see why not give them a go, i am the same as you though far prefer to do the leg work myself.


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

So far I've found 

House: £230000 
Borrow: £160000
23 Years

2yrs tracker - 1.19% - 75%LTV - £845 Fee. - £663 (With added fee pm: £698)
2yrs fixed - 1.84% - 75%LTV - £0 Fee - £711 (With added fee pm: £711)


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## alan hanson (May 21, 2008)

can the fee be put into the mortgage that way you don't even notice it? most can but guessing some can't.


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## Dal3D (Jul 13, 2014)

if you're a "vanilla" customer with a normal mortgage requirement then they might not be able to find much more than you can yourself.

If you need a "specialist" mortgage over a longer term, very high LTV, self employed or whatever then they can find products that Joe Public can't get at. (Or that was the case when I did the first years training as an IFA anyway)

For the sake of a couple of hundred pounds, if they can get you a rate at 0.1% less than you can it's a no brainer. Even if they can't, at least you know you've got the best deal that's suitable for your circumstances. They often deal with all the paperwork for you too.


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## Dal3D (Jul 13, 2014)

alan hanson said:


> can the fee be put into the mortgage that way you don't even notice it? most can but guessing some can't.


Mostly no. The mortgage and the advisor are separate products / companies.


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## Dal3D (Jul 13, 2014)

ardandy said:


> So far I've found
> 
> House: £230000
> Borrow: £160000
> ...


Make sure you get the the correct "official" valuation for your home. When I recently re-mortgaged, the Nationwide valued my property quite a bit higher than I thought from the official home value guidelines. That obviously affects LTV an in turn the % rate you'll be offered.

I think this is what the Nationwide at least use:

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/about/house-price-index/house-price-calculator


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## Natalie (Jan 19, 2011)

Independent one, imo yes definitely worth using.


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

Dal3D said:


> Make sure you get the the correct "official" valuation for your home. When I recently re-mortgaged, the Nationwide valued my property quite a bit higher than I thought from the official home value guidelines. That obviously affects LTV an in turn the % rate you'll be offered.
> 
> I think this is what the Nationwide at least use:
> 
> http://www.nationwide.co.uk/about/house-price-index/house-price-calculator


We bought ours as a repossession so the figure we paid isn't what it's worth. Given what we've done to the house since and the fact it's a repossession it should be worth about £30k-£50k more than we paid. An estate agentis coming up today to give us an idea.


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## Dal3D (Jul 13, 2014)

It all depends on what source the mortgage lender used for a houses worth. Most use the data that the nationwide site uses (behind the consumer version) but some use an estate agents valuation.

They're going to go more with "industry standard figures" for certain areas than some (potentially) wide boy estate agent trying to up prices in an area (hence why mortgage lenders use valuers rather than estate agents when calculating for an offer) but I get your point.


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## R7KY D (Feb 16, 2010)

No , I've always did my own 

I used other peoples recommendations and then checked the mortgage to see if it was good for me , My only interest was borrowing the money and paying it back as quickly as possible without paying too much interest


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

Dal3D said:


> It all depends on what source the mortgage lender used for a houses worth. Most use the data that the nationwide site uses (behind the consumer version) but some use an estate agents valuation.
> 
> They're going to go more with "industry standard figures" for certain areas than some (potentially) wide boy estate agent trying to up prices in an area (hence why mortgage lenders use valuers rather than estate agents when calculating for an offer) but I get your point.


The guy coming up is the one we bought it from. He's coming up to have a look around to see the difference (as well as a chat) and know exactly what we're after (ie, not a sales call)


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## acrebo (Jul 30, 2006)

An old thread but I'm having a browse so thought I'd throw in my tuppence...

For me, yes they are worth it, but I would recommend doing your own research and sense-checking too.

For my first two mortgages I arranged them myself and they seemed to take forever to sort, with various bits of information needed and things needing checking and re-checking, etc. No unusual circumstances to take into account but just a bit of a hassle.

My most recent remortgage I threw it over to a broker (London & Country, I think) and it was so much easier. A single half hour phone call to take all the info they needed and off they went into the market, coming back with a few deals based on different scenarios (how much we would/wouldn't want to overpay, portability, etc). All I had to do was check and sign the mortgage documents when they turned up.

Yeah, they'll obviously earn their commission in the "no fee" deal, but if you're happy with the final monthly payment then I don't see the issue.


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## robertdon777 (Nov 3, 2005)

Many will value on Sold Prices in the local area of similar houses.

Which can be a bugger if nowt has sold for a while. It happened to me which meant it undervalued my house by a lot.

Luckily the neighbour sold theirs 1 year later for quite a bit more than the asking price....suddenly my house had gone up by over 50K in the mortgage valuers eyes! (from 155K to: Neighbours same house, sold price of £218K) and I gained with a much lower LTV mortgage.

Just that house sale alone saved me £300 a month on my Mortgage! weird how it all works.


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