What Does a Mortgage Broker Do?

By definition, a broker is a business that arranges or negotiates for something, on behalf of a client. A mortgage broker is a business that does just that, for a homeowner, home buyer or landlord who needs a mortgage on their property.

A mortgage is a loan that is secured against your property, which you will pay back over a number of years by monthly payments.

Jobs of a Mortgage Broker

Whilst a homeowner, home buyer or landlord can quite freely search for and arrange their own mortgage, it is much more commonplace for them to enlist the services of a mortgage broker, due to the range of services they offer.

One of the most important services a mortgage broker can offer, is the ability to cross-reference your information against thousands of products, across a multitude of mortgage lenders. If we were to compare, going directly to a bank will only see you limited to one companies deals.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the best deal with that mortgage lender may very well be the best deal for you overall, but this cannot be guaranteed. A mortgage broker is able to make those comparisons for you, oftentimes with exclusive deals only that broker can offer.

The role of a mortgage broker goes beyond this though, as there are many different jobs that a mortgage broker can do, before, during and even after your mortgage process. They will also vary from broker to broker; Just because we do something one way, doesn’t mean another will.

Another area that we stand out in, for example, is our ability to recommend suitable insurance options for you as a homeowner. Whilst it is an extra optional cost (you can say no!), our mortgage and protection advisors have a duty of care to ensure you can stay in your home, no matter what happens.

Before Your Application

At the very beginning of your mortgage process, you’ll likely speak to a mortgage broker’s appointment booking team. Their role is to take some initial information & help you find a time slot to speak with a mortgage advisor, at times that work with your busy day-to-day life.

Alternatively to that, you can bypass the need to speak with anyone at all these days, as many mortgage brokers (including ourselves) have a user-friendly and simple to use appointment booking system on their website, where you can often choose between telephone or video calls.

Once you are booked in, your next step will be to attend your mortgage appointment with your mortgage advisor. What will generally happen here, is you’ll provide them with a little more information to help them better understand your situation, so that they can in turn help you to proceed.

From there, they’ll likely take a look at a variety of mortgage deals, to find the most suitable one for what you are looking to do. Some mortgage brokers offer a limited supply of niche mortgage lenders, others offer a lot more, with some offering whole of market.

Whilst we don’t fall under the category of whole of market as a company, we can confidently say that we have a large panel of mortgage lenders, with mortgage products ranging from typical to specialist, and everything in-between.

Your mortgage advisor will advise and recommend the deal they believe is best for you. If you are happy with that deal, they will look to get you an agreement in principle (AIP). Our mortgage advisors can typically get this within 24 hours of your appointment.

Estate agents generally will request to see this from you when you make an offer on a property and it will also show the seller of the property that you are committed to your offer and are in a position to proceed with the sale.

Also, at this point, you will need to submit your documents to the mortgage broker you are dealing with. The documents required can usually vary between mortgage lenders and what it is you are looking to achieve in your mortgage process.

Some of the standard ones include proof of ID, income and deposit, last 3 months’ bank statements and payslips, as well as proof of VISA or right to work in the UK, if you are a foreign national (this can typically be done with a share code if you migrated from the EU).

Documents that apply more to specific circumstances include a P60 (not all mortgage lenders need to see this), business bank statements and tax calculations/year overviews if you are self-employed, and possibly an employment contract depending on your line of work.

During Your Application

After the latter steps have been achieved, a mortgage broker will then usually verify your documents and provide you with a mortgage illustration, detailing the agreed deal prior to submission. You can read more about these in our article “What is a mortgage illustration?“

From here, we will submit your application to the mortgage lender, and for you, it is a waiting game until they get back in touch with your mortgage broker to confirm whether or not you have been approved for the mortgage.

The work doesn’t stop there though, as mortgage advisors and administrators still have their own steps to complete. They’ll send copies of your documents to the mortgage lender and liaise with solicitors. During this time, our own mortgage advice team will be able to advise on property surveys for you.

There are typically 3 types of property survey you’ll be able to choose from. Basic valuation, which just works out the value and resale value of the property, home buyers valuation, which will go more in-depth and a full structural survey, which points out any areas that perhaps needs some attention.

Much as they did with your mortgage deal in your initial mortgage appointment, they will be able to best recommend which property survey you will need to take out.

As you await the end result of your mortgage application process, you may also have questions or concerns, wanting to know what is going on. Reputable mortgage advice teams will keep you informed regularly, often via email, so you are never left in the dark with your mortgage progress.

After Your Mortgage Offer

Sooner rather than later, the lender will have an outcome on your mortgage application, hopefully a good one! If you application is successful, you will receive a formal mortgage offer.

From here, it is mostly over to your solicitors to complete your mortgage deal and allow you to enjoy living in your property. There is still a little more a mortgage broker can do for you, however.

Here at UK Moneyman, when you are around 6 months before your mortgage deal is due to end, if you took out your mortgage with us previously, we will be back in touch to offer remortgage advice and help you take the next step in owning a property.

The Positives of Using a Mortgage Broker

As you can see, there is a lot that a mortgage broker can do for a mortgage applicant. For example, as touched upon, a mortgage broker can possibly save you a lot of time and money on your mortgage process, as they work hard to reduce your stress levels and bring you closer to mortgage completion.

Furthermore, as we also mentioned, mortgage brokers can often have a wider range of mortgage deals, sometimes including exclusive and even specialist mortgage deals. We have a large panel of mortgage lenders here and can recommend products for a variety of circumstances.

We can proudly say that here at UK Moneyman, we truly do care about our customers. After all, there is no us, without you! We put your best interests first, doing everything we can to save you money and put you in the best position financially, for what you are looking to achieve.

As an example of this, if you were looking to say take out a remortgage and enquired with us for remortgage advice, but your mortgage advisor felt like you would benefit from a product transfer, they will let you know, as it is always about what is best for you.

We feel our customer reviews are truly a wonderful reflection of how far we go for our customers as a mortgage broker, building relationships with customers and helping them when the time comes for them to perhaps find a better mortgage deal.

One further thing that a mortgage broker may be able to do, is get a mortgage lender to waive some of your mortgage fees or possibly incorporate them into your mortgage balance.

When speaking with one of our mortgage advice team, they will run through all of the costs and fees involved with your process with you, during your free mortgage appointment.

Why use a mortgage broker?

This is the ultimate question at the end of the day. If you are looking to try and save yourself time, money, stress and worries, by letting an experienced mortgage professional take the bulk of the work on for you, then a mortgage broker might be right for you.

We regularly find ourselves providing expert mortgage advice services to a variety of applicants, from those looking at first time buyer mortgages, to those looking for a buy to let mortgage and more.

If you would like to speak with a member of our mortgage advice team, use the online booking feature to choose a time slot and arrange a free mortgage appointment or remortgage review with a dedicated mortgage advisor, today, or give us a call on 0800 029 3757 and we will see how we can help you.