One of the main problems with mortgages at present is that there are literally too many of them, at least several thousand. This makes it hard for most people to find the right one for their personal financial circumstances.
Fortunately the easiest way to understand and get a better handle on the mortgage maze is to use a mortgage broker. The two main advantages brokers have are –
- Professional advice and guidance
- Mortgage brokers have access to many of the good deals and special offers which are not publicised to the general public
Types Of Advice
It is important to note that there are always three types of financial advisors –
- Tied – They can only sell products from the one lender, so normally a 'tied' advisor is a Bank such as Barclays which for obvious reasons will only push mortgages from Barclays
- Multi Tied – They sell mortgages offered by a selection of companies, but not the whole market
- Independent – Mortgage advisors who offer and can scan the whole mortgage market using all the different lenders
Where possible always try and do business with an Independent Mortgage Advisors because it's important to see what's available throughout the entire market.
Whoever you do business with all providers will give you an initial disclosure document which will provide keyfacts as well as how the advisor will be paid. One excellent idea when looking for a mortgage is to visit a few different advisors in order to see how they operate, what they advise and most importantly what the different costs involved are.
The more research you do, the better understanding you'll have which will normally lead to not only the best mortgage for your circumstances but at the most competitive price.
Where To Find An Authorised Broker
IFA Promotion, an organisation that promotes financial advice has a database of 5,000 independent mortgage advisors on this link -
An advantage of dealing with a mortgage broker from one of these websites is that they are all authorised by the FSA. This means that should a problem arise due to poor advice you'll have some recourse with the advisor. And if this doesn't work you'll be able to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.
Summary
Mortgages are for most people their single biggest financial commitment so it really does make a lot of sense to get the right one, at the right price. But also understand that flexibility in a mortgage is important - perhaps you want to move house in the future, or increase/reduce the monthly payments – many mortgages offer facilities such as this but again it all comes down to how much research you do into what you're buying and this point cannot be stressed enough.
Good luck with getting the right mortgage!
