What Does A Mortgage Broker Do?

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What Does A Mortgage Broker Do?

Ashleigh Halit introduces the company and talks us through the role of a mortgage broker.

What does a mortgage broker do?

Essentially, a mortgage broker is there to get you a mortgage. But there are some really intrinsic and valuable steps between engaging with a broker and getting you to that end result.

A broker is somebody with knowledge on everything you’d want to know. They are essential in helping you save time and taking you through the mortgage process – because it can be quite complex and can take a lot of time.

Most of us don’t have the time to sit down and go through mortgage applications, and the whole process can be quite daunting. A mortgage broker should point you in the right direction and give you the right advice to meet your needs.

Typically, you would go to a mortgage broker, explain what you need help with and they go through an extensive list of lenders to actually match you with who can offer you the most suitable product. Here at Ashleigh Green Financial Services, we take on the whole project from start to finish.

What should we expect when using a mortgage broker?

If somebody comes to us, we would go through an initial enquiry and establish what it is that they’re actually looking to achieve.

From there, once the client’s happy with where we’re heading, we would complete a fact find to gather basic information – employment details and credit history, to establish a picture of that particular client.

We then go away and complete our research. We go to over 85 lenders in the market as independent whole-of-market brokers. Then we’ll come back with what we think is the right solution and present that to our client.

If they are happy with that, we’ll go ahead and submit an application, instruct the valuation, instruct solicitors and liaise with everyone involved right through to completion – when the keys are in your hand or your remortgage is complete.

The value is that we save you time and stress – and our aim is to get it right, first time. If you head to your high street you might need to approach five or six different lenders because they’re telling you that you don’t meet their criteria, and you don’t understand why.

Our job is to save your time, save you money, get it right and take the stress out of the process for you.

What’s the difference between going to a mortgage broker like Ashleigh Green versus your local high street lender?

The local high street lender will be tied, which means they can only offer you their products. You’re not getting the full extent of what you could achieve beyond what that lender can offer you.

I used to work for a bank, and what you find now is that a lot of the banks are moving away from having mortgage brokers in-branch. You will need to have an appointment booked in. That in itself can be a lengthy process – usually you can’t get appointments immediately with your high street bank. The process tends to take a lot longer.

The second thing is if you’re dealing directly with the bank, you will be responsible for providing all of the information and documents. You might be giving them more than they need, which could affect you actually getting the mortgage with that lender. As brokers, we understand what to give a lender and when.

We’re able to package your case in a way that will hopefully take time out of the process. We’re able to deal with that transaction more quickly for you, and with a bank you will only be eligible for the products they can offer you – so you’re missing out on what the rest of the market has to offer. You might end up paying more than you need to.

What services does a mortgage broker offer?

Mortgage brokers tend to offer similar services, but it’s more about the level they go to. Some brokers will take you to the point of the mortgage offer and that’s it. They see their job is done.

Other brokers take you right through to completion. At Ashleigh Green Financial Services we try to capture everything, which means that you can come to us with any type of transaction and we should be able to handle it for you.

We manage standard residential purchases, we help First Time Buyers and look at the First Time Buyer schemes available out there. We help people that are moving home.

We help landlords, portfolio landlords and people that have quite complex finances. We also look after things like HMOs – houses of multiple occupancy. We look at commercial mortgages, bridging finance and second charges, to help people that are already tied into a mortgage product who want to release some extra equity from their property.

Clients might be looking to do some home improvements or debt consolidation and reduce their monthly outgoings. We offer expat mortgages, where UK residents have moved abroad and are now looking to purchase properties in the UK. We offer mortgages to clients that are professionals, such as NHS workers and teachers.

We can also help people that haven’t had residency in the UK for very long – on tier two visas, for example. We work with people who have got impaired credit. Maybe they’ve had a debt management plan, an IVA or a bankruptcy, or they’ve simply been late with or missed payments. We offer services to help everyone we can in terms of looking for mortgages.

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We know that when it comes to your home and family, only the best will do, which is why we work with market-leading providers to ensure that we always find the best deal for you.

When should I see a mortgage broker?

If you’re purchasing a property, your first step is to see a mortgage broker to make sure that you’re seeing the right property at the right time.

We don’t want you to go view lots of properties and find your dream home, only to discover you can’t afford it. Equally, you might be looking at certain properties because you don’t think you can afford your dream home.

As soon as you start to think about getting onto the property ladder or buying your next home, engage with a mortgage broker. We will be able to tell you what you can potentially borrow – and that’s your starting point.

You will get what’s called Decision in Principle, a certificate you can take on viewings with you. Estate agents will take your offer more seriously if you have this in hand. So please make sure you see a broker before you start viewing properties.

Secondly, see a broker if you’re looking at remortgaging and you want to get the right deal. A lot of people tend to stay with their existing lenders and again, this is not necessarily going to be the right option for you. Typically seven to six months before your fixed rate is due to end, contact a mortgage broker, and we’ll see what else is out there for you.

Does it cost for an initial consultation with you?

To pick up the phone and talk to us there’s no cost at all. If you want to make an enquiry and get some information, contact us and we’ll be happy to help. We do charge a fee, but we’re really unique in that we charge a fee for life.

We believe in saying thank you to clients that are loyal to us. So we reward them with a fee for life. Once you decide to go ahead and we submit a mortgage application to a lender for you, we charge a fee, which starts from £595 depending on your situation. From there, once you’re a client, you’ll never pay another fee to us.

Six months before your mortgage product is due to finish, we will proactively contact you and research the market again to make sure you’re never paying more than you need to on your mortgage.

Equally, if you come back to us and you want to move or buy an additional property, any work that we do going forward is completely free, under that fee for life.

What else do we need to know about working with a mortgage broker?

The mortgage process can be really daunting, and that’s why we break everything down for our clients – to take away the stress and hard work. We don’t want anyone to ever feel that the process is so overwhelming that it puts them off of contacting us.

Also, don’t ever feel your situation means you can’t get a mortgage. Let us help before you decide in your head that you can’t. I see this a lot – people feel that they don’t earn enough income or their deposit isn’t big enough, or maybe they’ve had some bad credit in the past.

They think they’re not going to be able to get something. But there are a lot of lenders on the market, so I’m sure we can try and find a home for your mortgage.

YOUR PROPERTY MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate most Buy to Let Mortgages.

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