I always laugh when I read posts such as 99% of what has been written in this thread.
What do you people expect from lenders or brokers for that matter? These people are not sitting scratching there thumbs waiting for your business to come in? Many of you may not realise that your letter of offer is in effect a legal document which must be carefully prepared, and the lender must be fully satisfied with all conditions contained therein, and also they will always do a final check on your application details to make sure they are happy to lend to you. (Approvals in principle- are not worth the paper they are written on, and are not legally binding)
The original poster said that they only decided to run with First Active (who do have a terrible service record- both to brokers & on the legal/drawdown side) 2 weeks ago, and is now trying to harrass a letter of loan offer. Might I remind everyone that 2 working weeks, is 10 days- if there is any DX, postage or other delay, or indeed if a new valuation on the property is required this will all take at least 50-60% of that time, and that also asssumes no existing backlogs in administration.
As a former banker it makes me laugh at the expectations of people in relation to mortgages. These are not terms loans, or overdraft tops- they have to be legally registered & stamped, therefore all documents etc have to be perfect. Just because you can call up your bank or broker for a car loan, and have the money approved, and issued within 2 days does not mean that the same process holds true for mortgages.
One other point I wish to make is that many posters seem to have a very sceptical view of brokers, with accusations of holding applications etc. While I cannot comment on individual cases, brokers are by far the best way for mortgage borrowers to arrange their finance. They are a marvellous assistance is tersm of providing choice, independent information, and indepth knowledge of the products available on the entire market (assuming you deal with a fully authorised broker whom holds at least 12-14 appointments). Any non financially employed applicant who thinks he/she can comprehensively research all products (close to 1,000 different options) is kidding themselves ( A little bit of information is a dangerous thing!!). All financial products are designed with inherent terms & conditions, and quite often they may not be in reality what they seem on paper- why do you think that the Irish banks are so profitable? A good broker can be invaluable in breaking down each product to help you in finding the most suitable mortgage for you, and in many cases they are not charging you a fee, and are rather paid in commission by each lender. This in my view is over half the problem- if they were charging you a hefty fee maybe their excellent assistance would be more appreciated!
By the way I am not a broker or do not have a connection with one. I am just someone who understands the financial system inherently, and gets incensed when I read of unrealistic expectations of any industry from people who have very little concept what is ACTUALLY involved.
By the way best of luck with repaying the mortgages, hopefully you all will be as demanding on yoursleves when it comes to making the sacrifices to make the repayments!