Since the growth of financial price comparison sites many people have been turning to these to assist in making their financial decisions in place of a financial advisor. Although there are of course lots of financial products which can easily lend themselves to being compared such as home insurance and savings accounts, this is not necessarily the case when it comes to the more complex financial products such as mortgages. Opting to compare mortgage deals via a price comparison site and then going direct to the lender may end up being more complicated than you may have first imagined and it could very easily cost you more.
When it comes to arranging a mortgage you have two options available to you; finding your own mortgage product and then applying direct or using a mortgage broker.
As your biggest financial commitment it is imperative to ensure that you are getting the mortgage which is exactly right for your personal circumstances. Factors that need to be considered include the initial interest rate, any introductory offers, the rate beyond the fixed period and potential product fees. It is easy to use a price comparison table to find the cheapest current rate on the market, you may apply to a particularly attractive looking deal without realising that there are specific criteria for the deal that you do not actually meet.
A mortgage broker is not tied to a particular lender, which gives us a choice of over 10,000 mortgage products, making it easy to find the most appropriate deal available without bias.
Advice
Although you can complete background research online you will not be able to acquire the amount of specialist knowledge which comes through experience and working with mortgage applications on a daily basis. Even the most straight forward mortgage application could benefit from expert mortgage advisor.
Information provided by price comparison sites focuses on the cost of the mortgage products and it is difficult for these platforms to take into account any of your personal circumstances in order to find a deal that suits.
Affordability
Although you may have used a mortgage calculator and have an idea of how much your monthly mortgage payments will be and then believe from your experience that you can afford to make these repayments, the mortgage lender may not be of the same belief. Stricter mortgage lending and home buying schemes such as the Help to Buy scheme come with affordability criteria that needs to be met. We can reduce the chances of you getting rejected by mortgage lenders by assessing your affordability prior to making an application and applying to the products which are right for you.
Home Buying Schemes
The introduction of government home buying schemes such as Help to Buy, NewBuy and MiNewHome and existing schemes such as Lift means there are lots of options available for first time, and second time buyers which may not be available through price comparison sites. Impartial financial advice is a pre-requisite of the Help to Buy Equity Loan in Scotland.
Exclusive Deals
Mortgage brokers have access to an array of intermediary only deals which are only available to those applying for a mortgage using a mortgage broker, these will not be displayed on a price comparison site. On top of this, here at FirstMortgage we have negotiated a selection of exclusive deals for our clients.
Although there are mortgage deals available for those who are direct applicants only, these are not necessarily going to save you more money than the other deals on the market and it’s important not to miss out.
Best in Market Promise
Any deal that we do find you is then backed by our Best in Market Promise, meaning that if you are offered a better mortgage deal which is available to both intermediaries and direct applicants then we will not only match this but we will also pay £500 towards your home buying legal fees.
Full Home Buying Service
If you go direct you will then need to make the applications and handle all of the paperwork yourself, this can be a complicated process, especially for first time buyers who aren’t aware of the ins and outs of arranging a mortgage and buying a home. We offer a full home buying service, this involves handling the process from start to finish, dealing with any solicitors and surveyors, this complete service is something that the price comparison site cannot offer you.