Experiences with REA?

M

MLE

Registered User
Messages
33
Re: Best Value Fixed Rate Mortgages-5 Year Term

Does anyone have any experience of dealing with REA mortgage brokers ? If so I would be interested in hearing of your experience as I am currently thinking of trading up and their offer sounds very tempting !
 
There are lots of existing threads in which people recount their experiences with REA. Most of them seem to be positive. There were a few negative ones too.
 
the only thing I don't like about REA is the fact that they advertise that they give you the commission back but forget to mention they are about the only broker that charge a fee for their service. It's just a sneaky marketing tactic to get the punters using them.
 
To be fair, if they advertise that they refund the commission, how do you expect that they will be paid?
 
They actually do state quite clearly on their website that they charge a fee, which includes legal services. The net cost is given as less than €300, (compared to €2000 which I paid to my solr last time). I just wondered how do they make their money ... you know the old saying "if something sounds to good to be true, it usually is". I completed their on-line application last Thursday and haven't heard from them yet, which doesn't sound like great service.
 
Having used a few mortgage brokers in the past, one of them being REA, I found that they just added another layer of red tape to the process.
 
REA are excellent, I was really impressed with them so I think any negative comments are from other jealous brokers !!!
 
I didn't use them but my only compaint was I was literally bombared with email for weeks telling me of their special offer til I eventually got around to mailing them back asking them to stop.
 
Askar said:
Why would someone who can find and post on the AAM website need a broker anyway?
Click to expand...
There are lots of reasons why some people might prefer or need to use a broker - e.g. they don't have the time or inclination to do the legwork themselves, they need to maximise their borrowings and a broker can help etc.
 
I also had positive experiences with REA - they set up a very good deal for me and I found them professional, timely and up front re charges. Plus the broker I was dealing with came up with other good suggestions I hadn't thought of.

For other reasons, I didn't go ahead with my plans but that wasn't REA's fault.
 
If I had of taken REA's advice (which was I couldn't get a mortgage), I wouldn't be living in my house now and about to pay my 10th mortgage payment! I'm very glad I shopped around.
 
ClubMan said:
There are lots of reasons why some people might prefer or need to use a broker - e.g. they don't have the time or inclination to do the legwork themselves, they need to maximise their borrowings and a broker can help etc.
Click to expand...
I have to say I disagree with Clubman on the first of these reasons - saving the legwork. You would need to know that broker had agency for best available deals in market and was not promoting the lender with the best commission, and by the time you worked that out it would be simpler to look up AAM or similar, and you still have to provide info to lender that broker needs to progress mortgage application. Even if they got you the best loan they might not get you the best mortgage protection policy (as I have learned to my own detriment!). In short, there is a lot of moral hazard in using brokers.

I personally know a case of 'maximising borrowings' which was fraudulent misrepresentation of the applicant earnings - but I presume you mean different lending criteria. Some brokers have mortgage calculators on their sites so it is not too difficult to find this out either without any extra legwork.
 
Yes, but REA s fee covers legal costs as well, which cost me 2k last time around . It's very easy to look up interest rates and apply for the cheapest provider, but why do all that and pay legal fees, if REA is cheaper? Is there a catch ??
 
MLE said:
Yes, but REA s fee covers legal costs as well, which cost me 2k last time around . It's very easy to look up interest rates and apply for the cheapest provider, but why do all that and pay legal fees, if REA is cheaper? Is there a catch ??
Click to expand...

Dunno if this qualifies as a catch but I would prefer myself to select my own solicitor to do the conveyancing work rather than have one allotted to me by a mortgage broker whose earnings and/or business model ultimately depends on commissions from mortgage companies.

In the event of any present or future dispute over some aspect of the mortgage (or indeed of the title of the property itself), I would be very wary to ensure that my solicitor would be motivated solely to protect my interests and I would be fearful if my solicitor had some direct or indirect loyalty to, or dependency on, the mortgage company or the broker.
 
Hi Ubiquitous

just to clarify point as topic is about REA, yes in order to avail of our Home Buyer Package which can include commission refund and legal conveyancing for your house purchase/re-mortgage, your must use a REA panel solicitor.

However, it is extremely important to note that all of the solicitors companies on our panel are independent and separate from REA and solely act for the interest of the client regardless of source of referral.

REA has just won Mortgage Broker of the Year for the second year running. The judges selected REA Mortgage Choice over all other mortgage brokers on the basis of our transparent approach to the business (to include our stance on commission refunds and lower legal fees) our innovation*and our growth.

We accept all the comments noted and take the excellent/good/fair comments with the bad

regards
Deirdre L

www.rea.ie
 
Hi Deirdre

Thanks for responding.

DeirdreL said:
However, it is extremely important to note that all of the solicitors companies on our panel are independent and separate from REA and solely act for the interest of the client regardless of source of referral.
Click to expand...

I don't want to be seen to be over-negative but I can't see how this can be guaranteed in all circumstances. If a solicitor is getting paid by a mortgage broker, rather than by the client, I would have thought then that their independence is automatically compromised.

If a solicitor is getting a sizeable volume of referral business from a particular broker, then surely their natural instincts in any difficulty or conflict situation will involve at least some reluctance on their part to jeopardise their relationship to that broker. If in turn the broker depends on (as most do) mortgage company commissions to sustain their income and/or business model, then the broker may also be reluctant (quite understandably) to jeopardise their relationship with the mortgage company.

It follows logically that in the above circumstances the solicitor has a mutual business interest with the broker and the broker has a mutual business interest with the mortgage company.

I personally don't think this is healthy. The solicitor's role should be at all times to act solely in the client's interests, and to defend the client's interests.

Of course solicitors will always protest that they do this. However judging from previous discussions on AAM and elsewhere, and from my own experience, it is clear that a minority put their own interests ahead of those of their clients. For example, a few years ago I found to my cost that some solicitors in my locality have an unhealthily close relationship to some neighbouring builders/ developers and will as a result refuse to take any sort of action against them.

Caveat emptor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top