House buying - its not worth the stress

T

Tony

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got a call today to say that the vendors had refunded our deposit and were puting the house back on the market (i actually understand why now and dont blame them but 5 weeks isnt a lot in house buting terms).

so heres my story went to a broker to sort our mortgage 5 weeks ago and he was all smiles no problem will have an answer soon 3.5 weeks later still the same promises, he said he went to ebs and was waiting on them for an answer something which i now know is c**p as i asked them and they had no record of us. We took back our docs from him and went to ebs ourselves and were approved within a week, finally got the wheels in motion today just before i got the call about them taking it off us i feel like calling into the brokers to give him a piece of my mind (aka fist) are all brokers like this he just pretty much lost us a really good house and caused us 5 weeks of pain. i feel like sending a mail to him CC'ing his boss

Was anyone else in the same situation it completely turns you off house buying i dont want to hear another word about a house for at least 6 months.
 
Re: House buying - Who needs the Stress

Not all brokers are like this - I've used REA a number of times and the service has been excellent . V. fast turnaround and updates as to status regarding each of the lenders. Don't let this one bad experience put you off. Is it worth contacting the estage agent (or owners) of the house you are interested in now that you have approval (once you have approval in principle then that should make a difference) and fill them in that you are now all set and ready to go ? Try whatever it takes would be my opinion as they can only say no - but in the meanwhile look around for something else. Don't let this one person put you off .
 
Re: House buying - Who needs the Stress

I've used Rea recently (Brian in the waterford office) and have found them very good also. They listed out all the banks that they submitted my application to and let me know the status of each. Happy with the service so far.
 
Re: House buying - Who needs the Stress

Have had the same experience with two different mortgage brokers so last time went directly to the bank.
Both Mortgage brokers lost important documents and seemed to take so much longer to process stuff than the banks did when dealing with them directly.
 
Re: House buying - Who needs the Stress

i thought the best part of dealing with him was when i told him i was going to sort it myself he said that when we get approved come to him with the details and he will close the deal. i completely lost it when i heard that so basically he wanted us to do all the work and then he would still get his commission for doing absolutely nothing. all he seemed to do is to tell you what he thinks you want to hear its pathetic this guy was the nearest thing to a car salesman
 
Re: House buying - Who needs the Stress

I had a great experience with REA in terms of getting the loan approval, super fast time even in a situation where my employment situation wasn't the norm. I would highly recommend them.

Only issue I had was later in the process, had a potential problem with bridging finance that I felt they could have been more helpful on but ultimately everything was resolved satisfactorily.
 
Re: House buying - Who needs the Stress

Tony said:
he said that when we get approved come to him with the details and he will close the deal.
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i recently had a similar experience with a reputable broker. i mean they're supposed to be the experts (im a FTB) and be able to obtain approval for the amounts i want. i found that for all lenders (bar one) i got approved for more when i visited banks myself.

couldnt believe it when they suggested i forward copy of approval. i mean they get approx €3.5k for doing that. of course i realise that its not always the case and that usually they work for their money but still had to laugh......
 
Re: House buying - Who needs the Stress

Tony said:
i feel like sending a mail to him CC'ing his boss
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Why wouldn't you email his boss? This guy gave you a very poor level of service and this had major repercussions for you - why wouldn't you complain? Complaining mightn't do much for you but it might get the guy to get his act together and save others from being treated the same way.
 
Anybody had experience with Onelife in Dublin?
I suspect it might have been easier to deal with the bank directly,but I was told that mortgage brokers can get better deals.
Any thoughts anyone?
 
Now that you have approval surely its worth getting in contact with the owner of the house you want to buy (maybe through his solicitor) to find out if he still want to go through with it. After all putting the house back on the market takes time and more money for him and next person interested will have to get mortgage approval when you already have it?

I had problems with my sale before Xmas, the seller was under the impression I was a FTB from his own agent (who also was my agent for selling my house) I made the agent aware from day 1 that I was in a chain.
And when the seller found out I was in a chain 4 weeks later he gave me 5 days to get the 10% of purchase price to his solicitor or he pull out.
My house was just sale agreed at this stage but needed about 3 weeks to sort out all the paperwork before I get any money.

So I stuck to my guns and told the seller (though solicitors) that I would sign contracts but will get 100% payment in 3 weeks.

It worked, but not something I want to do again, very stressful b4 xmas.
 
JohnnyBoy said:
Anybody had experience with Onelife in Dublin?
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no

JohnnyBoy said:
I suspect it might have been easier to deal with the bank directly,but I was told that mortgage brokers can get better deals.
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From my experience, i would have to say no. it you use this site as well as other sources to obtain info, then there is no reason why you cant go into a bank and present your case as effectively as any broker. however some brokers do have preferential relationships with some banks which will mean they can get you larger amounts with these banks. these banks rarely offer the best rates on the market though.

also i have not seen any evidence so far of brokers being able to get preferential rates on mortgages.
not sure if anyone else has had any luck with this but would be curious to find out cause i have definitely read on this site before that brokers can do this.
 
I agree with all the posts regarding REA. We have dealt with them twice on a house purchse and once for a sale and they have been excellent. Sean (in Gorey office) is excellent i have recommended REA to many poeple in the past and all have been delighted with the service.
 
When I bought my first house, I didn't bother with brokers. I examined the newspapers for the cheapest lenders and promptly visited a select few of them for myself. In the end I dealt with AIB directly and have developed a very rewarding relationship directly with them that has fed into other areas. I also chose my own solicitor so I was sure i was getting my own independent advice, I get suspicious when someone with a direct interest "recommends" a particular solicitor.

Mortgage broking is easy to do (like any other service, it is made to sound complicated so you don't find out yourself how easy it is), it is nothing more than ringing some banks and dealing with a lot of paperwork. That's all I had to do for myself.

I have come to the conclusion for just about anything, that if you want something done, do it yourself. You'll get it done for little or no cost and you'll have learned a new skill in the process.
 
Brokers are no more than another layer of stress in the house buying process which are not necessary in my opinion.

I have had a number of experiences with incompetent brokers to last me a life time.

Dealing directly with the bank will eliminate this stress.
 
Theo said:
I have come to the conclusion for just about anything, that if you want something done, do it yourself. You'll get it done for little or no cost and you'll have learned a new skill in the process.
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I agree, and even if you dont get it perfect first time, at least your not blaming someone else and you are in a position to do something about it next time.
 
sabrina said:
I agree with all the posts regarding REA. We have dealt with them twice on a house purchse and once for a sale and they have been excellent. Sean (in Gorey office) is excellent i have recommended REA to many poeple in the past and all have been delighted with the service.
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i think the main problem here is that regardless of what broker you go through, you will get a different level of service dependant on who actually serves you.

if you are going to visit a broker, it would be beneficial to get the name of someone who is good (like perhaps Sean in Gorey office) as opposed to strolling in off the street and assuming everyone that works there can deliver the same standard of work.
 
I too went through a broker for my 2 previous mortgages and would not do so next time. Had mislaid documentation.Phonecalls not returned. When the banks were requiring extra information this was not conveyed in a timely manner. All in all would definately do this myself the next time (if there is one!)
 
I'm on my third mortgage and never used a broker. Ring the banks, shop around, garner as much information as possible from friends with mortgages, browse sites like this. It's not rocket science.
Don't mean to offend any brokers reading.
 
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