Reply to: Anyone recommend a trustworthy, impartial IFA in Manchester/Liverpool area?

[LondonManc]

Runcorn is something like 3rd world.

FTFY

I know a lad who has done a lot of business mortgage dealings such as helping finance house builds. He's based in north Manchester and has his own small BTL portfolio too. Not sure of his availability.

[d000hg]

Runcorn is something like 3rd on the list of worst performing UK towns however it's always bad to label an entire town as a dump - find a house on the outskirts and you might be fine.

[original PM]

Odd as I thought the bit of Widnes near the station looked ok?

3 bed semi near station £150K asking price

The house looks ok of course - and there are some nice houses in and about Widnes....

but have you ever been to Widnes town centre on a Saturday night?

[NigelJK]

Both tulip holes

Odd as I thought the bit of Widnes near the station looked ok?

3 bed semi near station £150K asking price

[original PM]

Trustworthy? In Liverpool :

Hey hey hey calm down

[Phil Rouge]

Trustworthy? In Liverpool :

[original PM]

I have been sniffing around this area for a BTL as both Liverpool and Manchester are Uni Cities and that area is the commuter belt. For general house purchase suggest they look in Runcorn/Widnes areas as housing is very competitively priced. If they only then need a mortgage for less than 3X the sole income do it that way via a traditional lender, who as has been said are finding the market a little challenging at the moment.

Both tulip holes

and also not that cheap mate of mine bought a house there - 3 bed semi new build best part of £230k

and it was leasehold not free hold and the lease was around 3k a year - which seems high may need to check that

[Jess@ContractorFinancials]

From the sounds of it, this isn’t entirely straight forward with the inheritance etc, however, I’ve helped a client in a similar situation recently and the lender was quite happy to accept that the deposit came from one of the borrowers with the income coming from the second borrower. It is possible to secure a mainstream mortgage based on what you have said above.

Following on from DallasDad’s comment, this could save your brother a bundle of cash if he applies through a mortgage broker rather than an IFA.

First time round, purchasing a house is a really daunting experience so completely agree it is important that he finds a broker that knows what they’re doing and that ultimately he can trust.

[NigelJK]

I have been sniffing around this area for a BTL as both Liverpool and Manchester are Uni Cities and that area is the commuter belt. For general house purchase suggest they look in Runcorn/Widnes areas as housing is very competitively priced. If they only then need a mortgage for less than 3X the sole income do it that way via a traditional lender, who as has been said are finding the market a little challenging at the moment.

[d000hg]

IFA typically = £250 per hour, does he really need that level of advice?
Wouldn't a mortgage broker working on a fixed fee be more appropriate?

Before either of those I would be off for a meeting or two with captive mortgage advisers in a few high street Building Societies first.

Maybe I'm mixed up, the firm we use has people doing IFA and mortgages stuff so I assumed it's all the same thing. Certainly we've never paid anything like that for mortgage advice! He probably could use some general advice on investments because once the dust settles he's going to find himself with several hundred thousand and no idea how to manage it, but that's down the line.

The mortgage issue is simply he doesn't know what mortgages really are and whether he should bother getting one or buy for cash, so a friendly broker who will guide him and not rip him off would be great

[DallasDad]

IFA typically = £250 per hour, does he really need that level of advice?
Wouldn't a mortgage broker working on a fixed fee be more appropriate?

Before either of those I would be off for a meeting or two with captive mortgage advisers in a few high street Building Societies first.

[Darren at Fox-Bartfield]

IFA

Of course, take a look at the main practice website and the Dynamo sites. Regulated and compliant therefore not able to employ undesirables.

Kim is a regulated IFA, details on on the link on the previous post.

[Mordac]

Could try the our IFA lady, she travels around quite a bit for clients including Manchester way, weblink here

Can you establish your bona fides? Only we had a bit of an issue with a certain "Darren from Leeds" a few years back, and some folk are still digging themselves out of the merde.

[Darren at Fox-Bartfield]

IFA

Could try the our IFA lady, she travels around quite a bit for clients including Manchester way, weblink here

[Mordac]

My brother is likely to be buying his first house soon, aided by inheritance from our late mum. He's not done anything like this before and is in the good position he's probably able to put up a 50% deposit, but it's a bit complex since he's the one with the cash and his partner is the one with the traditional job to get a mortgage on and I don't feel able to give him more than general advice... and I remember being new to the world of mortages, etc can be quite bewildering.

Does anyone have a good IFA in the NW they'd be willing to recommend, who would be able to meet him for a no-pressure chat? He lives in Liverpool, his partner is in Manchester and they want to move to the countryside outside Manchester so someone in either area would be OK.

Thanks!

If he's got 50% deposit, and no complications, try a couple of the building societies / banks, starting with one he or they are currently with. It's a competitive market, and he sounds like he's in a very good position. Plus he won't have to pay, and he can walk away if he doesn't like what he hears.