What to bear in mind when looking for your mortgage
There are many different mortgage deals available in the UK at the moment, and a wide range of sources available for those looking for advice or looking to take out a mortgage.
This can often make it difficult to decide which route to take or which mortgage products to choose, but there are a number of options available to consumers in the UK. The level of mortgage approvals has dropped over the past few weeks indicating a cooling in the market, but there are still some very good deals out there.
Many people wonder whether the best options is to go directly to a high street bank or lender in order to obtain advice about a mortgage. However, experts want that consumers should do this only if they are confident about finding a good value mortgage deal that will benefit them without too much assistance from professionals. This is because going directly to a lender means that you can only get advice and details on that lender’s products rather than on products available from a range of lenders. You should therefore know what you are looking for.
"When getting a mortgage directly from a bank or building society branch, you will not be getting advice, but rather information on a selection of their products. You will then need to make your own choice about how to proceed," said James Cotton of broker London & Country.
A broker, on the other hand, is able to source and compare a range of mortgages from a number of lenders, so if you are a first time buyer or are not confident about finding the cheapest mortgage deal yourself, a broker may be your best option.
"Having a wide selection of products is not the only benefit for choosing a whole of market broker. It's likely they will have a good relationship with the lenders they use; this can go a long way when unforeseen situations arise during the mortgage process. For example, if the borrower's home is undervalued or the lender is initially unwilling to lend the full amount required, then this can be dealt with more efficiently and quickly by the mortgage adviser rather than the borrower," said Stuart Cocks of broker Purely Mortgages
Richard Smith
1st February 2007
More Information:
- What Is A Mortgage?
With the price of property ever increasing and no sign of the long awaited bursting bubble of the housing market, we ask what can young first time buyers do to gain their freedom and set up a home of their own in such an expensive arena and what is a mortgage anyway?
- Don’t Forget The Extra Hidden Costs Of Getting A UK Mortgage
For most of us, buying a new home is both one of the most exciting and stressful times of our lives. It goes without saying then that this is not a particularly good time to find out that you may be facing a bill of thousands of pounds in extra hidden costs for getting the mortgage to buy the UK property.
- Why Does The Interest Rate Of Your Mortgage Change?
The biggest difference between a mortgage and other types of loan is the fact that the interest rate changes throughout the term of the loan. Why is this? And which type of interest-rate arrangement is best?
- The True Cost Of Your Mortgage
It’s easy to say “go and research the market place to find the cheapest mortgage”, but is it that easy to actually do it and how do you know that you have really got the best mortgage deal when you’ve finished?
- The Dangers of Negative Equity
The great thing about buying a property is that it’s a guaranteed investment, prices just keep going up, right? Wrong. We look at what happens when the bubble bursts and prices drop.
