This month, Barlow Irvin’s Practice Principal, Gary Oxborough, gives his expert advice.
I have been reading quite a bit in the media recently about estate agents telling potential purchasers that they must use their “in-house” mortgage advisors if they are going to have an offer accepted on a property. In the current market where it has been incredibly difficult to find and buy the right property, this is understandably putting the buyer in a difficult position. While it is understandable that an estate agent would want the buyer to use their own advisor, (they will be paid for that after all), this practice is illegal.
We work closely with a few estate agents who will refer clients to us, but none of these will force a potential buyer to use Barlow Irvin for their mortgage!
Most of you who read this will be existing clients of Barlow Irvin, which I hope to have been extremely happy with the service you have received from the team. However, I wanted to touch this month on what I feel you should be looking for when deciding which mortgage advisor to use.
The first thing should be to check that they are a ‘whole of market’ advisor. There are some firms that will work from a limited panel of mortgage lenders. This does mean that they will not have access to the same number of deals, and you may miss out on one that works better for you.
Secondly, the fees charged by the broker. There are brokers in the market that will work on a fee-free basis and while this can seem attractive, you need to consider what sort of service they will be providing. The fees that we charge enable us to have a team in place to fully look after the processing of your application and deal with any issues that arise along the way.
Finally, and just as importantly, is your relationship with your broker. I have always felt that my clients need to know that they are the most important part of the process and they “know, like and trust” both me and my team. Having a good relationship with our clients is at the heart of what we do. We know that if our clients like us as people and we do a fantastic job for them, then they will refer us on to friends and family which is always good for our business.
So, if you are reading this and you are not yet a client of ours, make sure any broker you use meets the above criteria, Barlow Irvin certainly does.
As always, our team is ready to answer any questions you have on this or any other query you may have. Please give them a call on 01204 304 814.
As a mortgage is secured against your home or property, it could be repossessed if you do not keep up mortgage repayments