There are multiple reasons as to why you should use a Mortgage Broker in Harrogate. However, there is still the chance to go direct to a lender if you wish to, with the added option of doing it either in branch or online. Within this article we will include the pros and cons of both methods.

Pros and cons

When choosing the option of going direct to your bank or building society, you won’t have to pay the Broker fee, so that is an advantage in itself. Years ago, the bank manager would know your finances better than anyone but that is not the case since credit scoring was introduced.  Another advantage of doing this would be the fact that some lenders offer exclusive mortgage products that would only be available by going direct. They also use this technique with Brokers too, so that exclusive offers are only available through them. This is put into place to maintain a good spread of business from both customers and brokers.

From 2014, lenders were banned from selling mortgages on a non-advised basis when customer interaction is involved. Up until this point, some applicants were under the impression that they had received advice when in fact they hadn’t and as a result of this, they weren’t able to benefit from parts of the consumer protection that goes along with proper advised mortgage sales.

This change had meant that lenders had to get used to a different system which meant longer waiting times for an appointment and this can still be the case in contemporary settings. This can be a struggle if you’ve just had an offer accepted on a house. The frustration that came with waiting for an appointment led to a rise in applications being made via Brokers due to the same day mortgage service being available.

Before the days of credit scoring and such it was much more difficult to compare mortgages whereas nowadays it’s a lot easier to find a competitive mortgage online. On the other hand, there is an increased difficulty in finding a lender whose criteria and mortgage product is tailored to your circumstances. It is important to keep in mind that the deals with the lowest rates tend to carry high arrangement fees.

Affordability

Affordability is another key point to take on board. A lenders deal could be amazing for you but if they won’t lend you enough money then it’s useless. Most mortgage applications these days aren’t straightforward, for example, you may have:

  • Poor credit history 
  • Self Employed Income 
  • Mixed source of deposit (savings/gift) 
  • Let to Buy (keeping your current house and buying another) 
  • Contract workers/zero-hours contracts 
  • Affordability

Will lenders be lenient?

Most lenders try to stay relevant in the mortgage market by offering a better deal than their competition. The way they do this is by differentiating themselves on Lending Criteria. For example, some will be more lenient with Self Employed in Harrogate applicants or take a more sympathetic view on faults on a credit report.

Every mortgage situation is unique but if you approach an experienced Mortgage Broker in Harrogate then they will be able to reflect on past cases to see if there is a similar solution to decide the best outcome and hopefully find the lowest rate that’s available. 

But it’s not just about getting the mortgage. Even if an application itself is straightforward, we find that our customers rely on us for many other things. For example, we sit down and discuss how much they are going to offer on the property that they are buying. We often recommend other professional services too such as Solicitors and explain the different types of survey and protection available.

Speak to a Mortgage Advisor in Harrogate

Another key aspect which benefits customers is responsiveness which you are guaranteed with one of our Mortgage Advisors in Harrogate, with our Mortgage Broker in Harrogate we make sure that out of hours and weekend appointments are available along with responding to clients’ emails on an evening outside of office hours.

An overlooked factor of why a Mortgage Broker in Harrogate might be preferable is purely for the fact of time. Everyone is prone to have periods in their life when they’re just too busy and a mortgage application can sometimes be stressful and time-consuming.

Our Mortgage Advisors in Harrogate aim to take this stress away and handle the full transaction for you. Professional applicants see the real extent of the advantages of this as they have customers of their own that they charge out their services to so they see the reasons to have an expert on board.

Lenders are on par with Brokers in some departments but in others they are yet to step up. Perhaps lenders may want to advance ahead of Mortgage Brokers and will most likely avoid staffing up their branch networks and instead make investments in technology to transact with customers online which may be a disadvantage for customers who prefer a more face to face approach that’s available with our Mortgage Advisors in Harrogate.

Date Last Edited: January 2, 2024