We’re looking at buying a house, and we’ve so far started talking with pretty much the first mortgage advisor that got back to us, from a recommendation of an estate agent.
He’s part of Countrywide Mortgage Services which in itself is completely fine, and I don’t think there’s anything shady going on, but I feel like we’re being rushed and heavily pressed into moving as quickly as possible into booking viewings, buying into “mortgage protection” (basically life insurance packages with loads of bollocks on top) and it’s giving us a bad taste after our last two meetings with him.
At the same time, he’s shown us the portal he uses for finding mortgage rates and its clear we’d save more than the £700 price for his services, and we definitely do want someone to help handle the process for us, but are they meant to feel as pushy as car salesmen?
They’re a commission based sales person. They want you to take out the nearest mortgage you can with them as quickly as possible so they make the most money they can in the shortest time. They probably also get a bigger commission from arranging lending from an institution that you are not already a customer of.
I’m ignorant of UK specifics, but I assume there’s a code of conduct or ombudsmen that regulates the mortgage broker industry. If so, they’re possibly violating a requirement to operate in your best interests (not their own).
Having delt with a few brokers in my small commonwealth nation, I was never quite sure we were getting the best advice. Going to our bank (s) directly was no additional effort, so the value of a broker was marginal at best.