Mortgage Agents Fees?

ManUnited123

Hello !

I'm currently dealing with a Mortgage Agent and my understanding was that Mortgage Agents get their fees/commission from the lenders (i.e. banks) however the mortgage agent I just talked to mentioned that there will be a 350 Eur fee as they've changed their policies and they charge the mortgage seeker for this fees.


Is this a change across all mortgage agents this year? Anyone has any similar experiences with mortgage agents recently?

Thanks

Klaudia.

Hi,

I was speaking with 2 independent brokers. Both have 500 EURO fee.

The first one said that 'currently it's not a mortgage application, it's a mortgage presentation'. They need to 'seel' a client to the bank/s and present her/him as a perfect candidate for getting a mortgage, therefore the fee.

The second one said the fee will be returned after I draw down the mortgage they secured for me. They charge the fee as many people just apply for AIP but don't buy (therefore they don't get commission).

ManUnited123

Ok, has this changed since last year as previously agents used to make all their money from the banks?

FromADistance

I could perhaps understand if a fee applied to stop tyre kickers on the proviso that the fee is refunded when the mortgage is drawn down. Other than that, I'd be telling Mr / Mrs Mortgage Broker to go swivel UNLESS your mortgage can absolutely only be sourced through a broker and for some reason, it's the best rate you can get.

ManUnited123

Thanks guys -


Also can you engage with multiple mortgage brokers? I want to get my process started as quickly as possible and some of the mortgage brokers I've reached out to are quite slow (probably busy?).

Is it acceptable to use multiple brokers or would it cause problems?

muckwarrior

We attempted to go with a broker as there was a guy who supposedly had a deal with the INTO and offered his services for free to teachers. We were under the impression that this would normally cost a couple of hundred at least.

The bank he advised us to go with rejected his application that he submitted on our behalf. We then applied to the same bank directly ourselves and it was accepted no problem.

myshirt

muckwarrior wrote: »

We attempted to go with a broker as there was a guy who supposedly had a deal with the INTO and offered his services for free to teachers. We were under the impression that this would normally cost a couple of hundred at least.

The bank he advised us to go with rejected his application that he submitted on our behalf. We then applied to the same bank directly ourselves and it was accepted no problem.

Sounds like an absolute chancer.

cruizer101

Is there any particular reason you want to go with a broker. Unless you are an unusual case just go direct to the banks would be my advice.
The really isn't that much more to it, for the broker you will still have to get all your statements and payslips together, thats where most of the work is.
Banks all have mortgage advisors that will walk you through the process anyway.

ManUnited123

cruizer101 wrote: »

Is there any particular reason you want to go with a broker. Unless you are an unusual case just go direct to the banks would be my advice.
The really isn't that much more to it, for the broker you will still have to get all your statements and payslips together, thats where most of the work is.
Banks all have mortgage advisors that will walk you through the process anyway.

Yeah no particular reason. I guess i just want someone to help me through the process and advice me as well.. plus if its free, why not?

cruizer101

ManUnited123 wrote: »

plus if its free, why not?

Because nothing is free. Either they are getting a kickback from the some of the banks in which case their advice isn't impartial, or you are paying them.
They have to make their money somehow.

ManUnited123

cruizer101 wrote: »

Because nothing is free. Either they are getting a kickback from the some of the banks in which case their advice isn't impartial, or you are paying them.
They have to make their money somehow.

Yeah that's correct. What i meant by free is at least it's not something I have to pay for - i.e. no cash outflow (of course they will be making money through the banks).

You've raised a good point that they aren't impartial. Is there a way of looking at how much fees they are getting for recommending bank A instead of bank B? Or is that something that can be requested from them? Most professions require a disclosure of interest so I'm wondering if there's a way to get this information to see if the broker could be biased.

Either way, it's always up to the buyer to make sure they're getting the best deal. I think it's still beneficial to have someone make the application to the banks on your behalf to a number of banks but of course you still need to do your due diligence and make sure what the broker is advising you makes sense.

BaguMka

Don't waste your time and money with mortgage brokers unless you have unusual case. They get commissions from the banks so they wouldn't recommend you the best bank with best interest rate to apply to. Just go to bonkers.ie and check the banks with lowest interest rate (don't look at cashback as usually these banks have higher interest rate) and then give them a ring and book an appointment with mortgage advisor. They will explain you everything. It is easy and straightforward

cb123

I went with a broker, completely free. I got to choose what mortgage I went with. The rates were completely the same as if I went to the banks myself. I ended up going with Finance Ireland (they have a public sector mortgage), which wouldn't have been an option if I went alone as they only go through a broker.

Once I collected all the paperwork and got all that in order, the populated application was sent to me to sign. 10 days between signature and approval. Not as stressful as I thought.

Treppen

BaguMka wrote: »

Don't waste your time and money with mortgage brokers unless you have unusual case. They get commissions from the banks so they wouldn't recommend you the best bank with best interest rate to apply to. Just go to bonkers.ie and check the banks with lowest interest rate (don't look at cashback as usually these banks have higher interest rate) and then give them a ring and book an appointment with mortgage advisor. They will explain you everything. It is easy and straightforward

I went to banks first and it was far from easy and straightforward, plus their explanations (more importantly offerings) were terrible, awkward meeting times, then that was it, no email contact. Phone calls were rarely answered or returned.

Went with a broker, grand he was upfront and said it was a €300 charge. He was also upfront and said these are the banks we have an association with but feel free to compare other lenders rates (I did and they weren't any better).

Paperwork for different lenders was hassle but he just gave us the pile from all his lenders and we filled everything out in one go, no need to be doing door to door with banks.

Yes there was complications with employment contracts ( our contact situations were actually improving) which he said would be no problem to talk to the bank about (same bank I went to myself said outright NO). I'm a teacher so some bank employees don't know the difference between department contracts and Cid etc. People like to **** on Cornmarket as there are new brokers picking up business, but I found them great, even for advice on timing our sale and what would happen etc. Email anytime and they'd email back ASAP.

It's like when I got a window guy who lived 25 miles away to put in our windows and doors and made a hash of it, went local to fix it after, and the guy knew straight away by our street name what he'd done wrong. Called out and fixed it up.

If you are a straight forward permanent job then do your own maths and legwork if you have the time. Brokers do take a lot of hassle out.