Mortgage Rate Rises

[Armageus]

HSBC sent me several letters, emails and there was a big banner on my online banking - certainly nothing secretive about it

 

[dlockers]

Yes it'll slide on to a variable rate without them contacting you - they make more money this way, there's no benefit to them in offering you new deals. Much like auto-renewing car insurance.

If you have a mortgage adviser then they will sometimes be a bit more on the ball as they get a fee when you re-up, but your actual mortgage provider no.

Utter nonsense. I was shredding documents yesterday and had the nationwide letter as clear as day about the change to variable and to get on with doing something.

 

[Simon]

Yeah I got a text.

Your mortgage deal is ending soon. It’s a good time to consider your switching options. Find out more at nationwide.co.uk/newdeal

 

[relicalpha]

Is there much point in looking to a broker these days? Scanning money supermarket gives me 4.07%/5 years (low LTV). Should I shop around further or is that going to be near the best possible?

 

[pc-guy]

Is there much point in looking to a broker these days? Scanning money supermarket gives me 4.07%/5 years (low LTV). Should I shop around further or is that going to be near the best possible?

Always good idea to shop around a bit.

 

[dlockers]

Is there much point in looking to a broker these days? Scanning money supermarket gives me 4.07%/5 years (low LTV). Should I shop around further or is that going to be near the best possible?

Money supermarket is bs btw. It always gives me a way lower rate than what is possible

 

[GravyMonster]

Is there much point in looking to a broker these days? Scanning money supermarket gives me 4.07%/5 years (low LTV). Should I shop around further or is that going to be near the best possible?

Personal opinion, but no. We used to use one, but once you've factored in their fees you're not saving anything. Plus the 'special rates that only they have access to' which they like to spout is usually complete BS.

Our last remortgage was done completely online after comparing available rates directly with lenders, and Nationwide had it finalised in a matter of days. Could not have been more straightforward.

 

[tamzzy]

Is there much point in looking to a broker these days?

i think it also depends on how much they're charging and what services they offer
i used one 3 years ago for my first home purchase, paid £150 for the service
i told them which mortgage i wanted and all i wanted them to do is to handle the paperwork and chasing etc
all i did was to submit what they wanted and then sign the papers, everything else was handled by them
my conveyancers were also slow and my mortgage broker also called a few times to hurry them up
well worth the £150 imo

 

[EvilRob]

Is there much point in looking to a broker these days? Scanning money supermarket gives me 4.07%/5 years (low LTV). Should I shop around further or is that going to be near the best possible?

I've never paid for one but L&C have usually been able to find a slightly better deal than I have. I think the time around it was the same interest rate I could get but they got me some cashback.

 

[BUDFORCE]

i think it also depends on how much they're charging and what services they offer
i used one 3 years ago for my first home purchase, paid £150 for the service
i told them which mortgage i wanted and all i wanted them to do is to handle the paperwork and chasing etc
all i did was to submit what they wanted and then sign the papers, everything else was handled by them
my conveyancers were also slow and my mortgage broker also called a few times to hurry them up
well worth the £150 imo

Ideally shouldn't be paying mortgage brokers anything, admittedly £150 if they done a good job, fair enough if you are happy, it's not that much really.

But they get paid a procuration fee (proc fee) from the lender, so if you pay them on top it's like them getting paid twice.

There are a few decent ones, but in general I'm pretty negative about most mortgage brokers. Most of them would rob their own grandmother's to get their fees.

You need to be careful as well, as some if them will "lie on your behalf" without you ever knowing, if you get caught out, it'll be you getting loaded up to all sorts of national fraud databases not them, and it is very hard to prove who said what, but basically you'd never know anyway, you'd just suddenly find it very hard to get a mortgage, no joke if you are about to come out of a deal onto standard variable at however much extra a month.

 

[BUDFORCE]

I've never paid for one but L&C have usually been able to find a slightly better deal than I have. I think the time around it was the same interest rate I could get but they got me some cashback.

L&C are one of the few I'd say are ok to use, they are a large firm, probably one of the biggest broker firms in the UK, the brokers are employees and will be quite well regulated and audited so you are less likely to fall foul, plus afaik they don't charge a fee.

 

[uncle_rufus]

Locked in 4.19% for 5 currently, though it's for a new house purchase later in the year (new build that isn't finished yet) so have the option to jump for a better deal if one comes up between now and then - will see!

 

[EvilRob]

L&C are one of the few I'd say are ok to use, they are a large firm, probably one of the biggest broker firms in the UK, the brokers are employees and will be quite well regulated and audited so you are less likely to fall foul, plus afaik they don't charge a fee.

Yeah, they make their money from lender and conveyancer referral fees not customer fees.

 

[MichaelAwkward]

Indeed. Never paid our broker any fees and used them twice now in the last 8 years. Always gotten me a better deal than comparison sites and shopping around myself.

 

[dlockers]

Indeed. Never paid our broker any fees and used them twice now in the last 8 years. Always gotten me a better deal than comparison sites and shopping around myself.

In fact I have used a broker twice and made about £1500 in cashback (Habito, Mojo Mortgages - Quidco).

 

[BUDFORCE]

I seen one broker on an application charge this couple a £2000 broker fee for a straightforward like for like remortgage.

I remember it being a really straightforward application like they could have gone anywhere.

Disgraceful really.

 

[tamzzy]

Ideally shouldn't be paying mortgage brokers anything, admittedly £150 if they done a good job, fair enough if you are happy, it's not that much really.
But they get paid a procuration fee (proc fee) from the lender, so if you pay them on top it's like them getting paid twice.
There are a few decent ones, but in general I'm pretty negative about most mortgage brokers. Most of them would rob their own grandmother's to get their fees.

yeah, the broker was a word-of-mouth recommendation as quite a few of my colleagues used him prior, so basically i knew what i was getting into, £150 was more for the peace of mind that i didn't have to do much paperwork

You need to be careful as well, as some if them will "lie on your behalf" without you ever knowing, if you get caught out, it'll be you getting loaded up to all sorts of national fraud databases not them, and it is very hard to prove who said what, but basically you'd never know anyway, you'd just suddenly find it very hard to get a mortgage, no joke if you are about to come out of a deal onto standard variable at however much extra a month.

i keep my finances in order (as any good adult should ) and my mortgage is/was only 1.5x my annual gross salary so no biggies and certainly no nasty surprises, i also put a 50% deposit down from the get go as well