Good broker, bad broker?

Boardieman

I am currently waiting on my broker to get back to me with regards to getting our mortgage released. We went sale agreed on a house there about 3 weeks ago and low and behold once the information regarding the house was communicated back to the broker, they started throwing all these conditions at us, that were not mentioned on provisional approval. We are also now dealing with some junior adviser instead of the girl we were initially speaking to who fully understood our finances and application unlike this new junior adviser.


Apparently we are now waiting on the bank to survey the house, but the broker has been very bitty with their information in this regard and we have no idea when that is happening. Am I only kidding myself to think that I can get things moving quicker by pushing them or should the broker have enough cop on to organize this themselves and get back to us when the time is right to move forward. I am a little worried that we have already paid them and they are just pushing paper around their desks without actually getting things moving for us. Might it also be that the banks are just slow to react?

miezekatze

Would you not usually arrange the valuation yourself? We had to do it ourselves anyway, cost 150 € and was completed within just a few days. We are dealing with the bank directly though, not through a broker, not sure if that makes any difference.

Boardieman

Hi Miezekatze. Thank you for your reply. We were dealing with the bank directly initially, but we needed to go through a broker in the end to get more money. As far as I am aware the bank are supposed to come in first and do a survey on the house, where they determine if the house is okay to release your mortgage. Apparently the broker organizes this. We have already been informed that the house (although the broker and the bank have not even seen pictures of it) has a few snags that need to be addressed before the mortgage is released. Where I am baffled by all of this is, they haven't even sent anybody out to look at the house yet so why are they telling us these things without actually explaining to us how and when they need to be addressed first by carrying out a survey. The brokers keep telling us they are sorting things out with the bank but does it really take 3 weeks to organize a bloody survey or are they just twiddling their thumbs in the brokers office because they have better things to be doing like getting more money out of people for provisional approvals without finishing the job sufficiently.

Lyn256

The banks don't organise a survey-you do. What the banks do is a valuation. The banks send in a valuer to make sure that they value the house similar to what you're paying for the house.

The survey is separate and you organise and pay for it.

Boardieman

Lyn256 wrote: »

The banks don't organise a survey-you do. What the banks do is a valuation. The banks send in a valuer to make sure that they value the house similar to what you're paying for the house.

The survey is separate and you organize and pay for it.

That makes sense. Thank you for confirming that. The broker has already informed us that the bank has said that A, B and C will need to be done to the house before the mortgage is released! This is on the information we have provided to them regarding the house being a new build with a few bits still to go in. Will the valuation usually provide a snag list of what needs to be done before the money is released? Thanks again. Alan.

Lyn256

No from what I remember with the valuation-the valuer comes around, spends 5/10 mins looking and goes. Then if the valuation is similar to what you're paying and over the value of the mortgage-then the banks go ahead.

If its a new build-I'm not sure that you'll need a complete survey, more like you'll just need someone to do your snag list-from what I can remember (I bought new in 1999) that shouldn't affect the bank situation but that has to do with you, your solicitor and the builder and closing the sale (if you close without everything sorted it can be almost impossible to get remedied at a later stage)

Boardieman

The situation is you see the vendor/builder is gone bust and selling the house as is. The house is finished but is without a few essential fixtures and fittings. We had planned on finishing these few bits after we received the keys, but apparently the bank won't release the mortgage until they deem the house habitable.

I am worried that the broker isn't helping us to secure the house through a planned process of pleasing the bank. They are telling us the bank won't release our mortgage until the work is completed but at this time we have not been told how, when and to what level this work needs to be completed. We have been asked to value the various bits still required to go into the house and apparently this has been communicated back to the bank where it took a day to get information back in the beginning now we have been waiting for 3 weeks for what, I don't know.

It's got to the stage now where we are bugging them and all they have to say for themselves is "we are waiting on the bank to get back to us." As far as I am concerned they are being too vague with their information and the whole process has been a mess up to now.

When applying for a mortgage we were asked what property we were looking to buy and at the time we were looking at House A. Now we have just gone sale agreed on a house B and it's like we are back to square one again. All I can say is provisional approval means nothing in my opinion and it is just something brokers use to get money out of you without accurately explaining the conditions of approval.

Lyn256

I don't think that I can help you out any further with your situation except to say that the banks are a NIGHTMARE to deal with at the moment. It seems to be that if they can find any reason to NOT give you a mortgage, they will.

Hope someone else can help you out further

ork1

like the other replies, I suspect the problem is with the bank, even if you have received your letter of offer- see here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=86052628#post86052628


PS you are expected to pay for the survey and the valuation, even though the bank organises the latter

Victor

Traditionally, the valuation and the survey have been organised by the purchaser (you), working from the bank's list of approved people. Occasionally they are done by the same person.

I don't know what deal you have with the broker, but ask broker have these been done.