Introducing Your Local Independent Mortgage Advisor

Contrary to popular belief, a mortgage broker is not just another middleman that is lining up to take a cut. While it is true that mortgage brokers charge a fee for their services, they are some of the most hard-working advisers in the financial business. As their fees rely on matching individuals with lenders, hence, they go above and beyond to find you the best deal.

Yes, there is no difference between an adviser and a broker. Both of them are dedicated mortgage specialists that have an in-depth knowledge of the market and provide unbiased financial advice. There are three types of mortgage brokers/advisers:

• One that works for mortgage lenders
• One that is tied to a list of lenders
• One that searches up the whole market for a mortgage deal

Mortgage brokers generally do not provide advice free of cost. Depending on the value of the product or the mortgage you chose, they will charge you a fee for their services. In any case, a paid broker will check through your details to find the best possible deal for you.

A careful selection of your house, paired with the advice of a mortgage can be a solid investment. Property is marketable, and you can design and decorate it as you see fit without having to answer to a landlord.

The advantages of homeownership as opposed to renting, are as follows:

1. You are in control of your finances not being subject to rent increases by a third-party.
2. Any increase in the property value will become an asset to the client as opposed to a nil asset in terms of living in somebody else’s asset.
3. Most first time clients choose to cover themselves comprehensively in terms of insurance when they buy a property as opposed to when renting. Therefore clients generally feel more secure once they own the property.

The disadvantages of homeownership as opposed to renting, are as follows:

1. Mortgages are subject to interest rate increases; therefore should interest rates rise significantly, this can have a severe impact on the client's standard of living in terms of net disposable income.
2. The mortgage advisors remit or care must ensure that clients safeguard these interest rate increases in terms of building financial buffers for the future.”

The experience of using an independent mortgage advisor is usually a very positive one since the broker/advisor is working on the client's behalf and not the lender, therefore the more you can chat to your broker, and discuss your goals and concerns, the more he/she is able to establish your needs and wish list, and match them with the most appropriate mortgage available to suit your needs.

Hopefully, over the years you will build up a valuable business friendship as your broker continues to review your mortgage on a regular basis to ensure that you always have the best products on the market to maximize any cos reductions on your mortgage.

Although mortgage calculators give you a steering on approximate mortgage costs, and can be used as a helpful tool in giving approximate mortgage costs over a certain period of time based on a given interest rate, it is just a tool and does not give you exact examples of the various products on the market which are available as mortgage brokers do.

Your advisor will advise you as to the maximum available borrowing available to you within your financial budget and which lender offers the best deal for your circumstances which will take in to consideration the term of the mortgage, whether the product should be fixed or variable and the duration of the product chosen, whether the client requires complete flexibility in terms of overpayments or happy with certain limits; the level of flexibility the client requires in terms of carrying the product over to a new property should they move home(" Portability") and whether they should take out a Capital and Interest mortgage or interest only.

These are just a few examples of factors that your advisor will want to assess before making a recommendation.

Assessing the clients' "Protection" requirements is equally as involved and our professional advisors are in the best place to consult with on these matters, being sensitive to the clients individual circumstances and with the necessary knowledge and interpersonal skills required to fully establish the clients demands and needs and match them with a tailor made solution again from the whole of the market.