Mortgage broker or bank

chakademus

My partner and I, both 40, are starting the process of purchasing our first house.

Should we contact a broker or go straight to a bank?

ted1

The cheapest mortgage on the market is with Avant 1.95% fixed for 7 years is only a available through a broker

https://www.avantmoney.ie/mortgages/brokers

woodchuck

ted1 wrote: »

The cheapest mortgage on the market is with Avant 1.95% fixed for 7 years is only a available through a broker

That rate is only available if you have a 40% deposit, which won't apply to most people.

I think they still have a very competitive rate of 2.2% though with a smaller deposit.

Normally I'd say not to bother with a broker unless you expect issues. But I think it would be worth it to avail of the Avant rates.

ElitesTeam

How much are brokers to use anyway?

Troula

We are currently in the same dilemma.
Do I get a broker or just go to the bank?
I don't really expect any issues, but my wonder is to how fast a process can go.
I contacted a broker to check what they offer in general, and he mentioned that they go directly to the mortgage process of the bank and it will be much faster than going to the bank ourselves.
Specifically he mentioned that he can get an AIP from the bank in 1,5-2 weeks which otherwise can take 4-6 weeks.
Does anyone know if that is true?
It will be very important to get AIP from the bank as soon as possible as we want to take advantage of the 10% of help to buy which runs until the end of this year.
Any words of wisdom from anyone that's been through that?

Troula

ElitesTeam wrote: »

How much are brokers to use anyway?

It really depends.
From my research some have an once off fee, and others can take a percentage of the mortgage value.
Also, some want to be paid from the start while others after the mortgage agreement.

So all and all not an easy decision to make and the right broker to find

Pink11

Our broker is not charging us any fee. He explained he gets his commission from whichever bank we go with - so he is also not bias toward any bank.

frankzappa

Currently in the same stage, we went with AIB directly and through a broker with another bank.
In my experience the broker said a couple of things that i "Naively" believed, like "you gonna get an answer in 48 hrs" or you are going to get AIP in 2/3 weeks. We got AIP with the broker bank in about 5 weeks.
With AIB was a more straightforward process as my employer has a partnership with them and they know quite a good information on us already.

Where the broker can have an edge is on the conditions of the mortgage, they may be able to get you more money approved or better interest rates vs bank. As of now we are AIP with both, the broker, albeit very slow, provided us with a AIP fund around 10% higher than what AIB told us.
Funny enough, when i told AIB that, they said that we could work out in filling the 10% gap.

My ultimate advise is to go by yourself and involve a broker AND try to go directly to the banks that have the most attractive offers. See which one gives you the best conditions.

TheW1zard

chakademus wrote: »

My partner and I, both 40, are starting the process of purchasing our first house.

Should we contact a broker or go straight to a bank?

I went broker. 2.4% kbc

Edit: easiest process ever

Treppen

Pink11 wrote: »

Our broker is not charging us any fee. He explained he gets his commission from whichever bank we go with - so he is also not bias toward any bank.

You might find he has a limited selection of banks, so shop around.

My experience, banks are useless.

Shoden

I honestly can't see the downside of my broker. It doesn't cost me anything as he's on commission from the providers. Makes everything way easier. Compares all the products for you.

Troula

To be honest we are kinda inclined to go with BOI.
We already have accounts and savings there, and according to what they offer we can get cashback that can be very useful for the first expenses of a new house.
Having said that, I do want to see what other options are there but sometimes it's hard to figure it out.

To the ones that said your broker is free and gets commission from the providers would it be possible to send on a private message the information of your broker?
I would really be interested to look on that possibility as well.

ted1

Pink11 wrote: »

Our broker is not charging us any fee. He explained he gets his commission from whichever bank we go with - so he is also not bias toward any bank.

Check to see if it gets a commission from all banks or if he only works with some banks

Shoden

Troula wrote: »

To be honest we are kinda inclined to go with BOI.
We already have accounts and savings there, and according to what they offer we can get cashback that can be very useful for the first expenses of a new house.
Having said that, I do want to see what other options are there but sometimes it's hard to figure it out.

To the ones that said your broker is free and gets commission from the providers would it be possible to send on a private message the information of your broker?
I would really be interested to look on that possibility as well.

Well it depends where in the country you are based? There is brokers in every city. I think they're great though as they are someone you can bounce questions off.

I would also use the bonkers.ie mortgage calculator to compare what's available.

howsshenow

You should be able to deal with the High Street banks yourself. Before you go filling in all the paperwork get a heads up from them for how much you could borrow with your earnings,savings etc. Ulster Bank were very quick to tell me off and I appreciated them not wasting my time.
If you are thinking of Borrowing off KBC, go through a Broker as they will break your heart not picking. See other threads about them.

mojesius

We went with a broker as we wanted things done fast and we needed my bonus to be taken into account. Honestly, between all the paperwork required and back and forth with two banks we applied to, he was worth his weight in gold.

Didn't cost us anything as he gets commission from the lender.

Duke of Url

We were first time buyers and went directly to the banks. Mortgage advisers in the banks were excellent so there was no point in bringing in a middle man. I’ve seen on many of the treads were people applied the same time as us but used brokers and are still waiting for letters of offer.

Brokers don’t skip the queue when applying for mortgages. Mortgage Advisers help you get your paperwork in order when applying.

Shoden

If you're going to go directly just be sure to use a mortgage comparison tool. The difference between interest rates is insane over the course of the mortgage!

bobbyy gee

i would get fixed rate for life of loan one day soon you will not have cheap rates

GetHouseSurvey

chakademus wrote: »

My partner and I, both 40, are starting the process of purchasing our first house.

Should we contact a broker or go straight to a bank?

If you have a good grasp of the different offers, what they mean etc. and know what bank you want to go with, go straight to that bank... If you want to apply to multiple banks or (like me) need help navigating all the different mortgage types and offers, then chat with a broker.

If you look up Episode 2 of The Get House Podcast, it is discussed in detail!

awec

Shoden wrote: »

If you're going to go directly just be sure to use a mortgage comparison tool. The difference between interest rates is insane over the course of the mortgage!

Comparison over the course of the mortgage is a totally pointless exercise. Do not pick your mortgage based on this number.

If you're fixing then compare the fixed term, if you're not fixing I'd compare for ~3 years.

omicron

bobbyy gee wrote: »

i would get fixed rate for life of loan one day soon you will not have cheap rates

No such thing in Ireland, no bank will fix longer than 10 years and you pay a decent premium for the 10 yr fixed over the 5 yr.

Shoden

awec wrote: »

Comparison over the course of the mortgage is a totally pointless exercise. Do not pick your mortgage based on this number.

If you're fixing then compare the fixed term, if you're not fixing I'd compare for ~3 years.

I mean you're right but I suspect the amount of people that actually switch isn't that high.

gazzaman22

Anybody apply for the avant mortgages yet? If so what broker did you use, Do i need to pick from this list?
https://www.avantmoney.ie/mortgages/brokers

mousblaster17

Go with a broker. Went AIP a few weeks ago and he got me an exemption too. A hassle-free process.

gazzaman22

Whats an exemption might i ask?

jester77

Broker all the way. Had mine out this week. Here in Germany, they legally can't tie you down more than 10 years, so we were looking at my options after year 10. He had his portal open and we were putting in lots of different permutations to see what offers suit best for different scenarios. Fix full term if you can, I can get my mortgage down to 1.1% for the full term after year 10, plus I will be able to reduce the term by upping the repayments at no cost as my disposable cash increases over time.

pooch90

gazzaman22 wrote: »

Whats an exemption might i ask?

Allows you to borrow more than 3.5 times your gross salary as per Central Bank Rules, very very rare atm.

Pink11

Treppen wrote: »

You might find he has a limited selection of banks, so shop around.

My experience, banks are useless.

Mine works with all banks including the new one just added.

A real broker won’t charge you and will work with all banks, they’ll get the commission from the bank. The referral fee he/she gets is the same so there is no bias toward a particular bank.

Also gave us advice regarding switching when our fixed rate ends.

deeks

bobbyy gee wrote: »

i would get fixed rate for life of loan one day soon you will not have cheap rates

I've seen some ill informed comments on Boards over the years but this one must be close enough to the top of the tree.

Blarney_man

pooch90 wrote: »

Allows you to borrow more than 3.5 times your gross salary as per Central Bank Rules, very very rare atm.

Second exception might be less than 10%/20% deposit, but you can use either more of 3.5 times salary or less that 10%/20% deposit... Banks will also give you this directly... We got our AIP wit AIB in 10 minutes when we used their new online application tool... I don't see any benefit going through broker if you have healthy finances, any bank will literally jump on lending you money

We also used this official comparison tool

www. ccpc.ie/consumers/financial-comparisons/mortgage-comparisons/

Delete spaces in the link above, I'm new user so can't post links