Your Property Purchase - A step by step guide for home buyers .. 3

How does a good Mortgage Advisor know what to recommend?

This is the third in my series of my ‘A step by step guide ..’ blogs, and therefore the logical next step if you have already read ‘A Step by Step Guide .. 1’ in which we looked at a pre-mortgage checklist, and also ‘A Step by Step Guide .. 2’ that explained what we, as mortgage advisors, do for you. If you haven’t read the other posts, that’s fine and feel free to treat this as ‘standalone’. In this blog I’m going to explain how we serve our customers, and the value / understanding that a mortgage professional can bring.

When you first contact a mortgage consultant or broker, the first thing to be mindful of is whether you feel that you, and you’re needs, are the centre of attention.

For a good mortgage advisor to make a recommendation they will want to understand what you’re trying to do, and they should also (importantly) be interested in why. They should be thinking about circumstances now, and any planned changes too.

It is likely that other firms might be a little different, but at Moving Experience our process is generally as follows; We’ll have an initial chat, usually on the phone, to get some very basic information – what do you want to achieve, are you a first time buyer, a home mover, do you need to remortgage? If it’s a remortgage, do you simply wish to improve your mortgage deal, or do you need to raise money for something – the most common reasons we deal with are ‘small project’ home improvements such as new kitchen and / or bathroom, ‘large project’ such as extension and loft conversion, and also releasing money to be used as deposit to buy another house for investment or holiday. Once we know what you want to do, we can look at circumstances such as employment and family, and by the end of this call I will have a pretty good understanding of what you’re looking to do and be able to indicate whether it is something I can help you with.

If we’re going to be able to help you, we’ll arrange a mutually convenient time for a longer chat. We can meet at your home, work, or maybe your favourite coffee shop or bar. Alternatively, you might prefer to come to our office .. we’re happy to be wherever is convenient and comfortable for you.

During our time together, we can look in more detail at the specifics of your plans. What do you want to do, why do you want to do it? Is this just a plan for now, or is this about what’s best in the long-term, such as getting the perfect ‘forever home’. What can we do that’s right for today, whilst keeping an eye on the future.

At this point it’s likely that you will want to get some information, to aide your next steps:

How much could you borrow? What are the monthly payments likely to be? Would you better served by a fixed rate of interest, or perhaps a variable rate option? What’s the difference in between borrowing the mortgage over a 25 year term or 30 year term?

We can also look at some other costs that you will need to consider, such as solicitor fees, disbursements, stamp duty land tax, and property surveys. If you would like us to, we are happy to recommend other professionals that we have worked with many times.

Your mortgage is probably going to be the biggest financial commitment you’ll ever undertake, so it’s important that you understand as much as possible about how it’s all going to work, and how it should benefit you. A good mortgage advisor should be keen to answer all of your questions, and not just want to sell a particular option on that’s ‘special offer’ for this week!

By the end of this appointment, you will have a much better idea of exactly what your options are, and you’ll be ready to move on to your next stage. Whether it is time to go house hunting, kitchen shopping, or simply to apply for a remortgage that will help you to work through your mortgage debt more efficiently, will of course depend entirely upon what it right for you.

David Atkinson

16/12/19