Banks or mortgage broker? Your story

snowflake1989

Hi all,

Still in the process of saving a deposit but just wondering what have been people's experiences have you got your mortgage by going straight to the banks or a broker? Or what are you doing now.

silent_spark

My circumstances changed so I didn’t need a mortgage in the end, but I just went directly to a few banks and found getting approval very straightforward. I think the consensus is that unless you are an unusual case, or are looking outside the central bank parameters, brokers just aren’t worth it. Banks are very clear about what rates they offer, and the central bank is very clear about lending restrictions, so as a result mortgage applications are accessible and easy to navigate.

Jwacqui

I would recommend going straight to the banks. Once you gather the documents needed for one bank its just a matter of photocopying them for the rest or getting duplicate copies.
I found BOI great to deal with approval within a week (offer letter given on property). AIB only approved us after 2months and then sent a letter approving us in principal and the letter outlined two conditions attached to this :rolleyes:.

The only thing is BOI approved us for 6 months and AIB for 12 months and we are buying a new build so the 12 month approval is a great benefit!

Samuel T. Cogley

Went to a broker, no mortgage available. Went straight to the banks got an exemption and a mortgage with very little hassle straight from KBC.

standardg60

Brokers don't make money securing the mortgage, they do so by arranging unfavourable (to you) add ons like mortgage protection cover and/or house insurance. As long as you're aware of this you can use them to your advantage.

Mantis Toboggan

We decided on fixed rate and then looked online for the best rate available and went direct to that bank. Not sure why anyone would go to a broker, maybe if they weren't sure they'd get a mortgage or were looking for an exception.

Purple Sheep

I used a broker and am glad I did, despite having AIP from another bank by myself. There were things I still didn't understand correctly about APR and variable rates the broker cleared up for me, and later on when the bank got a bit unresponsive during the loan offer stage (it was August, peak holiday season) he had contacts inside to escalate things to and get things moving again. While I would have been stuck making a million phone calls to the call centre. I lined up home insurance and mortgage protection on my own and didn't get upsold on anything.

xalot

If you have time apply directly to all the banks. We went with a broker and he was a disaster, obviously on higher commission from one particular bank and kept pushing them when we wanted to keep our options open. He was also horrifically slow.

tweek84

I went with a broker a few years ago to secure a mortgage, at the time banks weren't too inclined to give anyone a mortgage and rates were high around 4.3% i think, long story short contacted the broker gave me a list of what documents were required supplied them and he came back with approvals from different banks. Very hassle free for me.
I am now considering switching mortgage provider and the banks are more inclined to lend people money i would probably go direct to the banks if i was looking for a mortgage they seem to want the business more now.

amcalester

I went direct to Ulster and BOI, pretty straight forward with each to get approval but BOI are amazingly slow at getting the paperwork out post approval.

I was approved 2 weeks ago and it's just delay delay delay now with BOI, each time the underwriters ask for more paperwork (which I have usually already provided) it seems to take 2 days to turn it around and get an answer, and then they ask for more paperwork.

I dread to think what they'll be like at draw down. I'm going to give BOI this week to get their stuff together or I go with Ulster Bank.

Blanchy90

We initially went with a broker and the highest amount he could get us was a good bit short on what we needed.

We then went to BOI and got the full amount we were looking for much quicker than the broker was coming back to us. After the offer from BOI I went back to the broker and asked could he match the offer and he couldn't.

Black_Knight

Went with a broker, even though we were going to be a pretty straight forward application. We just didn't know all the in's and out's of buying a house, and the broker was doing our pensions in our office so it was easy

Originally we were getting as good a deal as we could of if we went through the banks but she was guiding us through it all. Then EBS came out with a decent variable rate and 3% cash back (ESB not available to brokers as far as I know). I mentioned this to our broker and she ended up getting us switched from the <90% LTV to the <80% LTV (our LTV was actually around 86%) so happy days.

Not saying every broker would be like this, but so long as you're doing your own homework and not blindly following them you should be grand. Our broker didn't charge us commission either. She covered all the main banks and the banks paid her commission.

Richard Roma

We went with a broker. I work in banking but I believe that good broker who’s on the ball and has clout with the banks is worthwhile. He secured us a Central Bank Loan to Income Exception with KBC. It ended up being a complicated drawdown due to issues (not related to the broker) which arose. It was useful to have someone very familiar with the Bank’s credit policy to bounce things off.

A previous poster asserted that they were steered towards one particular bank which was paying more commission. Our broker told us that all fees are capped at 1% by law to stop such an event arising.

awec

Unless you think you're going to have difficulty getting a mortgage, for example non-permanent employment or a bad credit history, then a broker is just a waste of time.

Apply straight to the banks, it's really straightforward and you won't get anything via a broker that you don't get directly.

Catlady76

snowflake1989 wrote: »

Hi all,

Still in the process of saving a deposit but just wondering what have been people's experiences have you got your mortgage by going straight to the banks or a broker? Or what are you doing now.

I think if you are a first time buyer with no complications just go straight to the banks and see what offers you get, I feel if you are a 2nd time buyer and there are more issues then a broker is best they can get the best deal for you. Try the banks first yourself and see how you get on if you are not happy with them then try a broker.

snowflake1989

Thanks everyone consensus is to go with banks ðŸ˜