In our newest blog post Head of Mortgage Services for Condies Wealth, Randal McLister, discusses the advantages of using a broker in the current mortgage market and what the team are doing to help their existing clients.
“It’s incredibly important at the moment that a broker doesn’t stop looking for deals for a client after they’ve reserved something with a lender. At Condies Wealth we monitor what deals are available for the client’s circumstances from when the mortgage offer is issued by a lender up until close to completion of that deal. If there’s something better, we let our client know and switch them onto the better deal. This should be the case whether it’s a purchase or a remortgage. As rates continue to become more competitive toward the end of 2023, we have robust systems in place to allow these switches to happen and for our clients’ this may mean lower monthly payments than they had anticipated when they initially reserved a rate.
Brokers should also be utilised in this market to provide that reassurance to clients looking to take out a mortgage in 2023. Rates have risen dramatically over the past 12-18 months and simply trying your bank or existing lender shouldn’t be the first and last stop when looking for a mortgage deal. You may have unearthed the best deal for you and at Condies Wealth we can help confirm that or provide alternative options as a “whole of market” broker.
Clients have told us it can be stressful, time consuming and frustrating dealing with some mortgage lenders direct. This can mean in a market where we’re seeing property prices fall, the deal you wanted to remortgage to may not be available if a lender changes their view as to what your property is worth between your initial contact and the time they get around to assess the property. A broker will always be able to capitalise on their connections with lenders to help speed up and make the process smoother compared with going direct. We have a great administration team at Condies Wealth who look after every mortgage application from when it comes in to when it’s offered.
Lastly, affordability can be an issue in this market. Again, due to rising interest rates, a lender will scrutinise a client’s financial position more closely and, in some cases, turn down a mortgage application which may have been approved back in 2021 or 2022. We’ve had several cases this year where a client has come to us after they’ve gone to a lender who has simply not understood their financial position. Not all lenders have the same affordability models or criteria and so a broker will navigate through what’s possible and what’s not given their knowledge and experience of the mortgage market.”
To discuss your mortgage needs, please feel free to get in touch with our team on mortgages@condieswealth.co.uk.