If you are starting to think about using an Exeter Mortgage Broker but are not sure whether you should or whether it is best to go direct to the bank. I thought it might be helpful to share with you why our clients use us.
For some, it might be because you hope they will do all the hard work and find you the cheapest available deal. Maybe some have a complicated scenario or worse they have been turned down by a bank. Read on below to find out why using an independent mortgage broker in Exeter could be the smartest thing you’ve done this year and why our clients do.
Like old school banking but better!
For those of us who remember, banks used to be the cornerstone of most communities and everyone knew their bank manager. Back then it was usually the bank manager who was able to make lending decisions for a mortgage or a loan.
Then centralisation took over and bank managers became no more than customer service managers! Decision-making for lending was centralised and conducted by underwriters in an anonymous head office!
In much the same way mortgage advisors, financial advisors and the branches themselves are being centralised. This has led to lots of banks closing their branches up and down the country and their internal mortgage advisors either being made redundant or being moved into a centralised call centre.
Banks are closing!
There are of course many branches which remain open and some still have mortgage advisors. However, often you will find these are central hubs serving larger areas.
Where banks might once have had advisors in each branch, now they might at best have one or two covering a whole area! Nationwide, for example, reduced their advisors down to two for the whole of Cornwall!
This might be a good cost-cutting exercise, but it meant weeks of waiting before a customer could actually see someone.
If you are lucky enough to still have a branch, most will centralise their mortgage advice. You will likely be put on the telephone or have some form of video chat.
Exeter mortgage brokers versus the banks
There is no doubt, that some of our clients hate the impersonal nature of how banks now operate! They get annoyed having to wait days for a meeting or feel frustrated if they are put on the phone or video link to some impersonal call centre. When you work with an Exeter Mortgage Broker like us, you will receive personal service from people who care and who want to build a long-term professional relationship with you for your best interests.
We are not a big corporate entity, but friendly professionals who want to help people. The independent sector is very different from the banks!
Of course, that’s not to say, we see all our clients in person. But where we can, we certainly try as we want clients to be able to get to know us and to provide a personal service. Equally, we know not all clients have the time to meet in person and don’t particularly want to!
Funnily enough, some of our local clients, are just as happy working remotely as clients who live much further away. The key is to be able to work in whatever best suits the client.
As a small business, we are able to provide a better service than the banks. We have the flexibility to adapt and tailor our service to each individual, as opposed to a corporate bank which requires everyone to fit within their framework!
Benefits of working with an independent mortgage adviser in Exeter
You may realise this already but using an independent mortgage broker (like us) is a bit like having your very own personal specialist banker!
Except this one has access to a lot more options than a bank and can provide an ongoing personal service. You will get access to the whole of the market which ultimately will save you time, hassle and money.
Dealing with a firm like us is beneficial on many different levels:
- Save you time,
- Do all the hard work for you
- Save you money by ensuring you have the best possible mortgage deal
- Independence – we are not tied to any one lender and have no allegiances to any of them. Our allegiance is to you.
Is it worth using an independent mortgage broker in Exeter?
Whether you decide to use an independent professional adviser or not will usually come down to a number of factors:
- People are not always sure what we do or how we can help.
- Sometimes, they only think of a bank when they need a mortgage rather than an independent adviser.
- They aren’t sure if it’s worth paying for professional advice.
- They either don’t mind doing all the hard work or they would prefer someone else they can trust do it for them.
- They are either worried or not worried about their time and how long it might take.
- They are either confident or not that they can find the best mortgage deal for their circumstances.
- Believe it or not, some people don’t care if they pay more for their mortgage as long as they can buy the property? They are understandably focused on the end goal, rather than making sure the journey to get their is the best for them.
Of course, lots of people are still happy to trust their bank or do all the hard work themselves and this is completely fine.
However, the reality of someone doing it themselves and getting the best deal that fits their unique circumstances is probably quite low. I would suggest the probability of them not getting the best deal is pretty high.
More people are using an Independent Mortgage Broker:
Interestingly the number of mortgages that are applied for directly through the banks is falling sharply and people are increasingly seeing the value in using a mortgage broker.
Even the bank mortgage advisers are recommending people look at websites to find someone independent when they can’t help their customers.
You might be surprised to learn that about 70% of all mortgages are arranged through people like us, and this trend is growing.
There are lots of reasons for this and one is the fact the banks themselves are seeing the value in what we do and they are able to cut their costs as a result.
You might have noticed the number of branches closing, how long you have to wait to see a bank adviser and the move to speaking to someone in a central call centre (not a local branch).
With the independent sector, you get a much more personal service (almost a bit like the old school banking days), someone who is always available on the phone (without all the different automated options) and you have the confidence that someone is working for you and your best interests.
Advisers build long-lasting working relationships with their clients. Once someone becomes a client, they usually keep coming back for all their finance-related needs and seek our opinions and insight into the market/economy.
A professional adviser offers so much more than a bank. They are far more knowledgeable about all the options available to you because they are not restricted by just using one lender. They might also have skill sets in more unusual areas such as property investment and might be able to guide you in the buy-to-let sector.
Now it’s down to you to figure out what your next steps are and how you intend to move forward. Of course, we always want to help, but even if we can’t then I hope you found this little blog helpful.
Just to share with you, we have lots more helpful top tips and information on our website that we are happy to share with you so please do take a look.
If you would like to get in touch or just have a question, please feel free to get in touch or ask a question in the form below: