Different brokerages in the industry vary in attitudes towards charging a fee for their services. This article delves into why we charge a fee, and how our clients benefit from this cost.
We charge our clients a broker fee for a variety of reasons, whereas some brokers on the market are free to use. However, as we’ll explain, the service you receive will differ considerably. As a question we’re regularly asked, here’s why we charge a broker fee for our services.
Don’t brokers get paid by the lender?
Yes, most lenders will pay a commission to brokers upon completion. Typically, this is a set percentage of whatever the loan size of the case (this percentage doesn’t change whether the loan is £50,000 or £500,000), and varies from lender to lender depending on the arrangements they have with the brokerage. Brokers receive this payment from the lender in recognition of the preliminary admin work they complete preparing documents for submission, as this saves the lender time and money.
Why should I pay a fee?
The two main reasons we charge a broker fee are the workload per broker, and the time each case takes.
Finding a lender that accepts your specific case and offers a product that works for your investment plans is a time-consuming task, especially for more complex cases! In order for a broker to do this efficiently, they need an in-depth knowledge of the market, which only comes with training and experience. Although a good broker will be able to do this more quickly than you (after all, it is their day job!), this will also include comparing individual mortgage products to determine the most affordable over time, rather than just necessarily the cheapest interest rate. Depending on the case, this can often be a good few hours of work.
It's no secret that mortgage applications involve a lot of administrative work, and while you will still have to do some of this, we’ll do the majority for you. Arranging and reviewing your documentation to ensure it’s correct and will be authorised can be lengthy; however, the benefit of using a broker is that there is less pressure on you. As an industry professional, the broker reviewing your application has the knowledge, experience, and skill necessary to ensure you a seamless process.
Brokers that don’t charge a fee
Companies offering free mortgage advice and services will typically deal with more customers at a time, and simpler cases. As such, they spend less time sourcing you a deal, and can ensure profit through just commission. However, whilst this approach may work for some, we believe that having a dedicated team looking at each case guarantees our clients secure the best deal available and have the highest level of support available to them throughout. Consequently, brokers and client relationship managers spend more time researching and working on individual cases, justifying the need for a broker fee.
When do we charge a fee?
We don’t charge for initial quotes or recommendations, despite how long this may take us to put together. Our brokers spend a lot of time researching and sourcing the best rates for our clients, and this doesn’t always mean the cheapest interest rate. Lenders have specific criteria and use different stress-test calculations, so you may be able to source one rate but not another. As such, our brokers will ask detailed questions to find a deal that suits you. Online mortgage searches may pull up a cheaper rate, but they won’t be able to find one tailored to your needs, experience or portfolio, so the initial deal may not be viable in the end.
Why choose Mortgages for Business?
With other brokerages in the market also charging a fee for their services, finding a provider that best suits you can be confusing and time-consuming. All our clients benefit from a dedicated broker and client relationship manager, from application to completion. Having these dedicated contacts means a more manageable process on both sides and ensures that getting in touch with us is much simpler for you. Similarly, as you will only deal with one broker, the fee will be paid only to them for the work that they do for you.
We are passionate that the following sets us apart from our competitors:
Recognition
We are delighted that the wider mortgage industry and our clients have recognised our drive for excellence across the different areas of our business with many prestigious market awards. We are also currently the only UK-based mortgage broker to have been awarded ‘Fellowship Status’ by the NACFB for our excellence in customer service and processes.
The average Trustpilot score for mortgage brokers is 4.3 stars, but we are delighted to have a score of 4.8. With almost 500 reviews at the time of writing, our clients continue to prove that our dedicated service is why they return to us time and time again. We are most proud of this recognition from our clients, and it proves that by charging a fee, we are able to provide the highest quality customer service.
Market Access
As an independent whole-of-market broker, our access to rates will ensure that will be able to find a deal that works best for you.
Tech Solutions
Our online mortgage calculator allows clients to see all the available rates they have access to, and they can filter through application types, property types, etc., to see what they could source. We also provide our clients with an online Landlord Portal which facilitates the mortgage process for buy to let applications. Our brokers and client relationship managers can quickly request documents from clients, who can track their progress and carry out any required tasks. Having this available has sped up the mortgage process for many of our clients.
Industry Presence
We want to educate and aid landlords in their property investment endeavours, which is why our team of brokers will upload case studies and blogs weekly to our website and feature them in our Investor Update. Through this, we want to show our current and prospective clients that we charge a fee for our extensive industry expertise.
We also regularly attend events and exhibitions and provide seminars for guests on the latest market news and how to succeed in property investment. As such, we have gained a respectable industry presence for our knowledge and level of service.
Qualifications
Whilst it’s not a legal requirement for brokers to be formally qualified, here at Mortgages for Business, all our brokers must have the relevant qualification for their property finance sector (CeMAP and/or Cert BB&C). A number of our Client Relationship Managers also study CeMAP to better understand the mortgage process. As such, whoever you deal with is highly skilled and trained to help you to the highest standard possible, differentiating us from other brokerages.
Speak to an expert
If you are interested in learning more about what we could do for your property investment portfolio, or looking to get started as a landlord, please do get in touch on 0345 345 6788, or submit an enquiry here.