23 Aug 5 Top Tips For Choosing A Mortgage Broker
5 Top Tips For Choosing A Mortgage Broker
It’s important to choose a Mortgage Advisor that works for you. They can help you to narrow down the competitive market of mortgages and find the best relevant deal for your needs
But how do you choose the right mortgage broker to suit your circumstances, making sure they give you efficient advice? We have listed 5 top tips below to help you choose the best advisor that works for you.
1. Check They Are Registered With The Financial Conduct Authority
Before you begin conversations about your mortgage with a broker, check the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ‘s register for their name. In the United Kingdom, it is compulsory by law that brokers are registered with the FCA in order to be authorised to give mortgage advice.
If their name does not appear on the register, they are not authorised to give you advice and are not trustworthy.Also, the majority of mortgage lenders will not do business with unregistered firms or brokers, meaning you are limiting your options of the market from the start.
2. Read Their Client Reviews
Customer reviews are good to read before choosing a mortgage broker, as they demonstrate other clients’ first-hand experiences with the broker. This can help narrow down your search. It will also help to check their website out. For example, you can view the reviews of mortgage experts Alexander Southwell Mortgage Services, so that you can read first-hand accounts of what the service was like for clients, before you make any decisions.
It is important to check other review sites online too, so that you can get more reviews from other sources. This can allow you to gain further insight into a firm before you decide to work with them.
3. Make Sure They Are Whole-Of-Market
There are many different types of brokers available when choosing a mortgage broker, but usually it is best for you to find one that is described as ‘Whole-of-Market’.
A Whole-Of-Market broker, as it says on the tin, covers and has access to the whole of the market. They are generally independent advisors with no links to any specific mortgage lender.
This means that you are not limiting yourself to a single lender or group of lenders that a ‘tied’ broker works with, increasing your chance of finding the best-suited deal.
4. Compare Fees
Appointing a mortgage broker can incur an extra cost, so this is something to think about when choosing a mortgage broker. However, it is important to keep in mind that they are finding you a better value deal, so you will be saving money overall in the long term.
Even so, it can be useful to you to compare the different advice fees brokers charge, to see what you can do to maximise that saving, while also getting a good service. There are several mortgage related fees and costs, so you should be prepared for everything.
Some will expect an upfront payment before the application is submitted, but many others will only expect to be paid once a mortgage is agreed or offered, or their fee will be added on to the cost of the mortgage depending on your access to upfront funds.
5. Efficient Communication And Availability
Your schedule and available time are one of the most important things to consider when choosing a mortgage advisor for you.
When choosing a mortgage broker, it would help to try and find out their timescales from start to finish. This includes finding out what their typical response time is like during working hours (usually this is between 9AM-5PM) for when you need to contact them for help or advice.
For example, if weekdays are usually very busy for you, a mortgage broker who is available on weekends would be ideal. Consider how well this suits with your schedule for when you want to have your application ideally completed.