What Does A Mortgage Broker Do?
- We have helped 1000’s of people to secure a mortgage.
- We believe that building a relationship is key to ensuring that you always have the best mortgage for your circumstances.
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What Does A Mortgage Broker Do?
What does a mortgage broker do?
A mortgage broker will initially chat over your individual circumstance and listen to your objectives. We then agree on scenarios to research that will help you achieve your goals. We research the market to find the most suitable options.
Brokers are often essential if your situation is complex, including being self-employed, a limited company owner, having adverse credit, being a contractor or CIS worker and more. We take away a lot of the paperwork and provide confidence – which is really important – and communicate with lenders so that you don’t have to.
What’s the difference then between going to a mortgage broker versus your local High Street lender?
Nearly three quarters of UK home buyers use a mortgage broker and there are very good reasons why that’s the case. The main difference is that high street banks only offer their products and are tied to their own lending criteria, which might not suit you. It could end in your own bank not agreeing to lend and you might not then achieve your objectives.
A mortgage broker will have that bank available to them, plus other high street banks and building societies and many challenger banks and established lenders that you won’t see on the high street. We search for the deals in the market that will achieve your objective.
We carry out checks on lending criteria using our skills, knowledge, contacts and tools to get you the all-important mortgage offer. Every circumstance is different, but it’s common for a mortgage broker to be able to secure increased lending amounts where needed to buy a home.
A good broker like us will also keep an eye on rates while the transaction is progressing. We alert you should a better deal become available. As far as I’m aware, none of the banks or building societies offer this service. So brokers are an essential part of a home buying and remortgage process.
What services does a mortgage broker offer?
There’s a lot more beyond listening to your objectives and finding the deals for your circumstance. We submit the mortgage application, presenting your situation positively to a lender so you get the all- important mortgage offer document.
For First Time Buyers and home movers, we get you a mortgage agreed in principle, which means you have a certificate advising you of your borrowing ability. That gives you confidence and is essential when you’re viewing property because estate agents will ask for it.
Here at Number One mortgages, we go out of our way to help home buyers. When someone’s found a property they are interested in buying, we ask them to send a link and we’ll do a desktop review of the property. We share our opinion of what we think the property’s worth and give them tips on how to negotiate a good price for the property that can save thousands or possibly tens of thousands.
We also recommend solicitors, surveyors and estate agents to make the whole experience simpler and smoother.
A good mortgage broker will then support you during your full mortgage term, including remortgages and product transfers with existing lenders or other needs – such as Buy to Let, development finance or commercial finance. We also help keep you financially resilient should something go wrong.
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We will save you time by researching the market, checking that you meet the lenders criteria to find the best mortgage for your circumstance.
When should I see a mortgage broker? At what stage in the process of applying for a mortgage?
The moment you’re thinking about your objectives. It doesn’t matter what you’re planning, or even if you’re unsure what your plans are. When you are thinking about it is the right time to chat to an expert.
Whether you’re buying your first home, considering putting your current home on the market, searching for a new deal when your current mortgage product comes to an end, or considering home improvements or debt consolidation, talk to us the moment you’re thinking about it.
At Number One mortgages, we’re all about planning and providing confidence to make informed decisions. Many brokers have qualifying questions before they will help someone plan out their goals. That’s not us. We love helping clients plan – it’s fun, it’s interesting and rewarding.
You don’t want to be in a situation where you’re viewing lots of property and then fall in love with one without knowing if you can afford it. Nor do you want to put your home on the market and tidy up the property ready for viewings when you don’t know if you can make it work. So when you think about your objectives, that’s the time we’d recommend reaching out.
Does it cost for an initial consultation or conversation with you?
No. We totally get it, it’s hard to reach out. But if I’m looking to get a builder to come and quote for improvements, it doesn’t cost anything to get that. So we don’t charge a fee to chat over your plans, nor completing product or criteria research, nor getting you an Agreement in Principle, nor presenting all the costs.
We do charge a fee at the time of applying for a mortgage. That’s after you’ve chosen to use us, which you have no obligation to do. That’s once we have recommended a product and if you’re purchasing, you’ve had an offer accepted.
The reason why we don’t charge you a fee to do everything is because we only want to earn when we’re delivering results. There’s no obligation to use us, but we do offer a great service. It’s been refined over 20 years of trading.
We’re confident that with our advice and our focus on achieving someone’s objectives, they’ll choose to use us. But there’s absolutely no cost for initial consultation and it is just a relaxed chat about your objectives. We’re all about recommendations. So we’re only ever going to do the right thing for someone.
What else do we need to know about working with a mortgage broker?
Naturally, I just want to give a plug of our offering. We have a vision, which is to help every client and their family confidently achieve their dream of a secure and resilient home, through personalised mortgage and protection advice – delivered with care by a passionate united team.
Don’t take our word for it. We’ve got hundreds of Google reviews – actually the most Google reviews in Sussex. So have a look at those. If you want a chat with one of our experts, just reach out. We’re here to help.
THINK CAREFULLY BEFORE SECURING OTHER DEBTS AGAINST YOUR HOME.
YOU MAY HAVE TO PAY AN EARLY REPAYMENT CHARGE TO YOUR EXISTING LENDER IF YOU REMORTGAGE
YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE
THE FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY DOES NOT REGULATE MOST BUY TO LET MORTGAGES