Comparing mortgage rates

You may have read all those press reports spelling doom and gloom about the current housing “slump” and the difficulties faced by the mortgage market. That said, you are confident that things will change and that your future lies with owning your own home. There are enough banks and building societies out there, after all, so you will still want to compare mortgage rates from as many of them as possible Is this you?

An alternative you may consider is to choose the type of mortgage you want, decide on the size of mortgage you need and the term over which it would need to be repaid and use an online broker service such as Confused.com to let them source the best deal for you. This also means that with market offers changing quite as rapidly as they are at the moment, you will get the most up-to-date products.

Although all mortgage brokers will give you mortgage advice, remember that there are different types of broker and this will determine the type and range of deals you will be offered. “Tied” brokers, for example, are generally employed by the mortgage lender whose products he sells. Tied brokers typically will be unable to offer any wider choice than by going directly to the lender concerned.

For a wider range of offers, therefore, it would be worth considering a “multi-tied” broker who deals with a panel of selected lenders. Multi-tied brokers, however, still do not look at the whole of the market on your behalf and you cannot be certain that any mortgage offer made is not the one that earns the most commission for the broker, rather than being the one that delivers the best deal for you.

An independent mortgage broker, on the other hand, is tied to no single or group of lenders and can make his selection from across the whole of the market. Such independent brokers also tend to have many years of experience in the mortgage business and their ability to approach any lender should ensure that they find you the genuinely best deal.

If you want to be able to compare mortgage rates with the comfort and knowledge that your adviser is working under the umbrella of a fully-regulated, industry-wide framework, then your choice will probably be for an Independent Financial Adviser, or IFA. These are regulated by the Financial Services Authority, are required to hold relevant qualifications as a condition of their registration and will need to declare to you any interest likely to affect their selection of lenders they have made to help you compare mortgage rates

About the Author

Confused.com is one of the UK’s biggest and most popular price comparison services. Confused.com helps consumers save money on everything from mortgages to current accounts.