Don’t fall foul of a trick that some estate agents use when either registering with them to view a property, or at the point that you are actually making an offer on a property on their books…
Some will have you believe that you can become a ‘preferred purchaser’ by being ‘qualified’ or checked out by their in house mortgage adviser. They may go on to tell you they get exclusive rates, you may qualify for a vendor paid cashback and that they have a solicitor or conveyancer in house that will be better, quicker or cheaper than you may find elsewhere. At the same time they may also try to tell you that whoever you have already seen does not have the same ‘weight’ when it comes to getting mortgages approved or doesn’t have access to the same list of exclusive schemes they have available.
Ironically some of the larger estate agent mortgage advisers dont have access to the whole mortgage or insurance market and still charge broker fees too!
At the point of offering on a property they may insist that you are ‘qualified’ or checked out financially by their preferred or in-house mortgage adviser…some may insist you come into the office to do this with ID and proof of address/deposit too. In fact some may just tell you to come in with your ID etc and before you know it you are plonked in front a a mortgage adviser trying to sell their wares!
Firstly you should not expect the estate agent to be working in anyone’s interest but their own, they earn more in commission if you do decide to utilise their additional (non-mandatory) in house conveyancing or mortgage services. They also retain a greater degree of control over the transaction and of course will know far better what any offer you make can be pushed up to (to maximise the price they sell their vendors property at and increase what they earn for themselves).
The only way to ensure you are getting impartial advice in any respect, is to find a reputable independent mortgage and protection adviser, one who you trust and can be assured to help you through the process with your interests at the centre of what they do.
At Stuart Brown Mortgage Services looking after clients is at the heart of what we do. At the end of the home-buying (or remortgage) process we want you to be happy to return to us and also recommend your family, friends and colleagues.
We are a family run business who have been trading since 2003, have weathered the recession in the late 2000’s (in fact one of the reasons we have is due to a loyal client following, and many clients who have been happy to recommend us too). Looking after them, they look after us…it’s a simple business principle that we find works for all concerned.
We plan to be here for a good few years yet, too. From experience we have found that estate agents advisers can move around from branch to branch frequently and/or move in and out of the industry too.
Whereas it is not uncommon for us to receive a call from someone we haven’t spoken to in 8 or 9 years, or to advise on a mortgage for the son/daughter of a client who were teenagers when we first dealt with the parents!
So if you want independent advice on a mortgage, insurance or protection please call me on either Herts: 01442 252 040 or Beds & Bucks: 01525 877 650 or Mobile: 07710 770 969. You can also email us at advice@sbms-online.co.uk.
Think carefully before securing other debts against your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up the repayments on your mortgage.
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