Be Excellent To Each Other

IIRC, someone had suggested that the moneysupermarket site was a bit biased. So which comparison site should I use to find a good mortgage deal? There are too many of the fuckers.

Yeah, someone needs to do a comparison site comparison site.

Could you just use a broker to get you the best deal?

Or better, an Independent Financial Advisor. That's what we're doing. An IFA is out to help you and isn't committed to any set of policies.

I know a very good IFA if anyone wants a contact, PM me for details.

I'd rather not have to pay one of those on top of the now ridiculous mortgage arrangement fees, ta.

When I got my house I didnt pay the broker anything.
They get paid by the bank who arranges your mortgage.

A broker is not the same as an IFA. Brokers aren't independent, most of the time.

The IFAs I've dealt with get a cut of the mortgage arrangement fees direct from the lender, so you don't have to pay them anything.

There is also the risk that they will push you to the mortgage which gives them the most commission.

Then they aren't independent at all and biased towards the ones who pay them well. Especially as people don't buy enough houses to ever find them out.

Also: This thread is meta.

Use common sense as well as the advice (if it is indeed impartial) I know it saved me time and money...

but your mileage may vary. Each person has their ownset of circumstances when buying a house which dictates which route they will take.

As someone pointed out I doubt many people here have bought more than 1 house so we're all noobs.

True, but my IFA tapped all my details into his uber-database, sorted by "monthly payment" or "total repayable" or "APR", and turned the screen around to show me there was no-one better than who he had suggested.

They can be crooks, they might be honest and fair. The latter are well worth seeking out and hanging on to. Just like mechanics or plumbers or any other services professional.

Only if they arrange it for you. Our one looks at the whole market and is recommending one that we will have to arrange ourselves.

Yes you have to pay an IFA, but you end up paying one way or another. At least you know (or hope) you are getting unbiased advice.

This is what our one did and he came on a recommendation from someone who had been using him for years.

Yeah, that's what mine does too.

But do the people who won't give him a cut, and instead pass the savings onto you get onto his database. I guess not.

Still if he gets you a deal in the top 25% say, then thats probably better than anything we could do on our own.

I could see he was showing some 800-odd mortgage deals spread across some 50-odd providers, not including some number that had been pruned because they didn't do the deals I wanted. I would guess there aren't many left out. Certainly, I made an effort to look out for the names of all the various major high street banks etc, and they were all in there.

Man, you ARE skeptical.