BTL mortgage: Freelancer Financials or Contactor Financials

[Jack Kada]

I've had a real challenge with one of these brokers and am considering swapping to the other, but frying pan and fire spring to mind. However, no matter how busy they are, they should strive to provide a professional service or at the very least respond to emails and phone calls.

I won't (yet) say which one I'm disappointed with.

From experience, can anyone recommend one of these brokers over the other?

I tried both - Freelancer financials and contractor financials - and were not best pleased with both.

In the end I went with power mortgages who were EXCELLENT. I got a first class mortgage from them.

Thats just my experience mind you - Your mileage may vary

[Hawkeye]

I am currently trying to get a mortgage through CF and they are interesting. They choose to answer certain emails and then not others. I have still yet to get out of them the actual cost of the homebuyers survey. One minute it is £500 then the next it is £495 and then they take £500 from my credit card. I have not yet been sent their price list or T's & C's. I am curious if they are pocketing the difference sometimes. I am getting frustrated as who do you escalate to there!?!?! I do not want to lose the house I am buying at all so feel a bit trapped!

[Mark McBurney@CMME]

I am currently trying to get a mortgage through CF and they are interesting. They choose to answer certain emails and then not others. I have still yet to get out of them the actual cost of the homebuyers survey. One minute it is £500 then the next it is £495 and then they take £500 from my credit card. I have not yet been sent their price list or T's & C's. I am curious if they are pocketing the difference sometimes. I am getting frustrated as who do you escalate to there!?!?! I do not want to lose the house I am buying at all so feel a bit trapped!

What is the purchase price, and which lender are you using?

Depending on which lender you're approaching and therefore which surveyor they use - eSurv and Colleys are two of the main ones - then you would be looking at c.£500 for a Homebuyers report if your purchase price is between £100k and £150k; and £500 would get you a basic mortgage valuation if you were buying at around £350k/£400k.

Depends on which surveyor is being instructed, if you could let me know the lender then I could help?

[Hawkeye]

Hi,

The lender is Clydesdale. Purchase price of £110k. Thanks. Then at least I am paying the right fee.

Thanks

[Power Mortgages Ltd]

Hi,

The lender is Clydesdale. Purchase price of £110k. Thanks. Then at least I am paying the right fee.

Thanks

What deposit are you putting down?

Clydesdale have a minimum loan size of £100,000

Residential lending criteria | Clydesdale Bank for Intermediaries - (under minimum and maximum loan size heading)

I know under very strict circumstances they can sometimes agree loans of less than £100,000 if you are borrowing very close to the mark but this is not standard lending criteria. Even at 90% loan to value with a 10% deposit you would still be looking at a loan of less than £100,000.

Is this a residential mortgage (as opposed to buy to let) and if so, are you a first time buyer?

[matei]

For what it is worth, my experience with CF was quite positive.

We used CF to purchase a house recently, found them to be easy to work with and quite efficient. The only issues we encountered were when one of the brokers we were dealing with handed the case over temporarily to a colleague; there was a slight bit of confusion, but it was promptly resolved.

Other than that, any annoyances weren't down to CF - we were waiting on the lender (Nationwide) - again, minor, and the vendor's solicitors, who moved quite slowly. We had to get our side to nag them quite a bit to speed things along.

All in all it took about 3-4 months. Would use them again.

[Mark McBurney@CMME]

What deposit are you putting down?

Clydesdale have a minimum loan size of £100,000

Residential lending criteria | Clydesdale Bank for Intermediaries - (under minimum and maximum loan size heading)

I know under very strict circumstances they can sometimes agree loans of less than £100,000 if you are borrowing very close to the mark but this is not standard lending criteria. Even at 90% loan to value with a 10% deposit you would still be looking at a loan of less than £100,000.

Is this a residential mortgage (as opposed to buy to let) and if so, are you a first time buyer?

A lot depends on who your relationship partner is; we can generally go down to £80k without any problems.